So I'm New And I'm Getting A Juwel 180l Tank...

[Nutorious]

.. Just before i do get one. How time consuming is looking after Tropical fish? I mean i really do want to get some and i think i would love to see them grow and breed etc. Though on the other hand i dont want to spend an hour a night cleaning it and stuff!

I realize you have to check the water frequently which i don't mind, its really the cleaning issuse on my mind. I don't mind spending an hour every week cleaning my tank and doing odd bits too it, but i dont really want to be spending a full day of my week just to look after the tropical fish.

Also for my next question . I really want some tetras and guppys, but i hear you cant put the shark and angel fish in with them? What sort of fish are able to live with Guppys and Tetras and other small fish?

Thanks alot. John.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi John and welcome to the forum,

I just got done with my weekly water change on our 106L and it took about a half hour of not very hard work. I started the siphon going that removes tank water (I can just leave the cannister filter running during this) and then used the gravel cleaner tube end of the siphon to stir up debris out of the gravel.. to help get more debris going out with the draining water. After about 40% of the water was out, I stopped the siphon and sponged a little algae off of the tank glass down near the gravel. I then walked to the bath, screwed the other end of the siphon to the sink faucet and turned on the tap water to refill the tank, walked back and put some dechlor into the tank to neutralize the incoming chloramines in the water.. I also adjusted the tap a couple times to roughly match the tank water temperature. Afterwards I recoiled my siphon hose and put things away.

It really was pretty easy and quick and its easily the most of anything I do to the tank during the week, just a quick weekend routine. From time to time I check for ammonia and nitrite with my test kits. Once you get into the routines its really pretty easy.

This is not to say that there is not a larger amount of learning and work upfront when you are new. There is. But you've found the absolutely perfect forum (in my opinion) for learning all that stuff and its hard not to find it somewhat fascinating and fun leaning the details.

So again, welcome, and I hope you decide to take up the hobby and enjoy your time keeping tropicals!
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Nick16]

it depends what you have in youre tank. some fish produce more waste than others. if you have a lpanted tank you might end up pruning. its not a cheap hobby and can be time consuming.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah i'd suggest around 1 hr a week is reasonable, there's a link in my sig about maintenance which should give you a better idea of what you need to do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

there's a bit of work at the start getting it set up correctly, the easiest way to do this is a fishless cycle (again link in my sig, also read whats cycling link) this takes around 4-6 weeks and basically involves testing the water twice a day and adding ammonia every couple of days, it's only about 10 minutes work a night and as i say it's just for a few weeks.

If you don't do this then you'll do a fish-in cycle which is much harder work and more time consuming, it goes on for just as long but you'll be doing water changes every day, as i'm sure you can imagine a series of large water changes will be much more hard work and take more time than running a few tests.

as with so many things in life preparation is the key, if you can get it right to start off with it'll be plain sailing, if you don't it'll cost more and take more time.

i'd advise you to also have a read of the link in my sig 'step by step guide to setting up an aquarium' which will help loads with your research.

so yeah, just read loads, ask whatever you like and we'll help you get things running as easily as possible!

 

[toshapetriji]

Once the tank is settled, then about 1 hour a week for maintenance would be about right. Looking after the fish is half the enjoyment though, it´s not a chore at all. Certainly better than Eastenders anyway.

Put the right amount of time into it and the enjoyment will pay you back 20 fold.

 

[Nutorious]

Oh great! thanks for all the replys.

Yeah my goldfish i had to do partial waterchange every day for a week when i first got them (yes i realize they are gold fish lol!). I have had them for about a year now just wanted to move upwards . Went into the fish shop today and saw all the tropical fish and the huge tank set ups <3.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, if you're deciding to go for it then can't emphasize enough how important it is to study up on the nitrogen cycle and prepare to do a fishless cycle for a number of weeks to get things started right. As MW says above, there are links with lots of information to get you started.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Spishkey]

i have a juwel 180L. and i spend around 30mins to an hour a day cleaning it.
the reason being is i opted for white sand and have two plecos in there, and they produce a hell of a lot of waste which shows up very well on the white sand, hence why it takes me so long daily to vac it all up!

i have 4 tanks set up, 2 x 60L, 1 x 180L and 1X 500L and must spend around a good 12 hours per week cleaning, maintaining etc. probably more than the average time but thats thanks to my selection of fish!

if you're going for normal neons, platys, guppys etc, it shouldnt take half as long. but be warned it can be an expensive and highly addictive hobby!

 

[fearce]

Setting a side 2 hours a week should be suffice for a community tank with guppies tetras etc... about an hour of that maybe used in one bulk maybe for a weekly clean and another hour on what ever you wish depending how much you get into it. These times dont include feeding!!