Starting A Tropical Tank

[maj]

Howzit!

i recently got hold of a 1.2m tank.
Have been searching and researching info all types of routes i can follow,ie marine,tropical or planted.

What is all involved when starting out a tropical Tank,planted tank?(hoping to put malawi's in the tank)
or wil it be easier to go the tropical route with just some some rocks and vine/driftwood?

As for Co2 levels and chemical balance,need lotsa advise on that subject.

any advise will be appreciated!

 

[ZoddyZod]

firstly have a read through the pinned topics in the 'New To The Hobby' section.

The most important topic you MUST read is 'Cycling'. This is crucial to understand before you start planning on what fish to have.

Once you've been through the topics, come back and ask any questions you have.....

 

[maj]

firstly have a read through the pinned topics in the 'New To The Hobby' section.

The most important topic you MUST read is 'Cycling'. This is crucial to understand before you start planning on what fish to have.

Once you've been through the topics, come back and ask any questions you have.....

after i posted this topic,i saw all the posts that relate to what i want to know

sorry!

im actually tryin to find the post that tells me what exactly cycling is.....

 

[ZoddyZod]

it's in the...

Beginners Resource Centre

 

[maj]

it's in the...

Beginners Resource Centre

thnks

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, within there you want to read the Nitrogen Cycle, the Fishless Cycle, the Fish-In Cycle and Tank Startup articles. You may need to read the N Cycle and Fishless articles a couple times to get the hang of it and after all or during this you may want to ask questions here in your thread. Its not necessarily easy to get it just from the articles.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[discus_lover]

1.2 meter means about 4 ft.you may keep angel or discus in a planted or semi planted tank...for proper filtration and ph level you may read this blog...
http/discusfishcaresecrets.blogspot.com/

 

[maj]

1.2 meter means about 4 ft.you may keep angel or discus in a planted or semi planted tank...for proper filtration and ph level you may read this blog...
[URL="http/discusfishcaresecrets.blogspot.com/"]http/discusfishcaresecrets.blogspot.com/[/URL]

Ok,now that iunderstand wot the cycling is,im goin the fishless cycle route and will be startin this wknd with it.

Next question is,what fish can i put in the same tank?thinkin of goin community tank as im seeking lotsa colour and lively tank.
What types can live together?can i mix malawi's with?any suggestions?

 

[ZoddyZod]

Next question is,what fish can i put in the same tank?thinkin of goin community tank as im seeking lotsa colour and lively tank.
What types can live together?can i mix malawi's with?any suggestions?

Good choice on the fishless cycle, much less hassle and much better for the future tank inhabitants.....plus lots less work for you!

Picking the fish is the best part! I'd suggest starting off on google with the types of fish you want and finding 'care sheets' which contain information about suggested pH/food/temperature/tank mates etc.....then you can start to build a list of what you want and what their needs are. Once you start doing this you will quickly start to see what you can mix in the tank. Once you've got a little list sorted, there's loads of people here who can give you advice on what you are planning to keep.

good luck!

 

[waterdrop]

I agree, good choice to fishless cycle. It can take a couple of months to accomplish it but at the end you'll have a good working biofilter. During that time you have the perfect opportunity to be doing the fish stocking plan that you're starting to talk about. Its hard work (but fun, as ZZ says!) and the more research you pour into it by doing your "homework," the more you'll appreciate the comments from the members when they critique your stocking lists.

It works much better when you prepare lists of specific fish you want (based on looking at the pictures) and hope will work based on your checks of the sizes they grow to, their personalities with other fish, their preferred hardness and pH range, their minimum shoal size and other things like that.

In the end you'll want your final lists to sort of work out by passing 3 general waves of concerns: whether the fish will work in the type water in your area and the shape and size of the tank you have; what sorts of groupings of same-species fish are needed for your choice; and finally, how the chosen fish will interact or be a problem with the other chosen fish on the list.

So you can see its much better to go into this realizing it'll go better if you take a while and be patient and just try to enjoy the process along with your fishless cycle and other startup things you'll be working on learning.

~~waterdrop~~