Suggestions For Beginner

[rjwknight]

Hi all,

Having just moved into a new flat I am planning on getting a Juwel Trigon 190 aquarium. I have done a fair bit of internet research and plan to get the tank in a few weeks. I then intend to fishless cycle whilst I raid my local library for books to finialise my plant and fish selection.

I have a wish list of features for my planned tank and would appreciate some advice.

What I want!

Live plants ( I love the naturalistic looking tanks )
Natural looking ornaments ( bogwood, caves and hollows )
Several groups of small fish ( danios, tetras, etc ) Brightly coloured if possible.
A few larger non agressive fish as centrepieces.
1 or 2 bottom dwelling fish. ( nothing that grows too large. )
Shrimp. ( Assuming they won't eat the other fish or be eaten. )
Not to kill any of the poor blighters!

Any advice appreciated, I realise I may not get everything on my list. If anyone has a tank with a similar setup to the one I intend I would love to see pictures.

Note: I do intend to add the stock slowly, last thing I want is to rush this... i would feel very guilty if they died due to my incompetence.

Thanks in advance.
Rob

 

[PaulasPets]

Sounds like a good plan! The shrimp will be fine, they are great for keeping the tank clean. Have you desided on a filter yet?

Paula

 

[chibi]

If you want some bottom dwellers that don't get big, go for corydoras. They are really cute and come in many different species. They prefer groups of 5 or more, but they barely get to be 1.5'' long, so it usually isn't a problem. Good luck!

 

[dwarfgourami]

How about the following:

for centrepiece a trio (1 m, 2 f) of lace/pearl gouramis

a shoal of 10 glowlight tetras, or black neons

6-8 harlequin rasboras

6 corydoras or 1 bristlenose plec

8 amano shrimps

Once you have done your fishless cycle+ big water change, you could add about 2/3 of you stock- say the rasboras, corys and tetras (if you choose ordinary neons, they might want to go in last)

 

[Glod]

For nice bright tetras I'd also consider Cardinal Tetras in shoal of about 10, they're quite striking.

I feel the Glowlights might be too similar to the Harlequins which are also great fish.

Everyone loves Corys

If Pearl Gouramis are not your thing ( lovely, peaceful fish ), maybe some Rainbowfish ? They get to about 3-4 inches and will shoal nicely. Dwarf Gouramis are nice too, stay away from opalines and three spots tho, they get a bit aggressive.

Other brightly coloued fish you might want to look at include Platys and Guppies, these are livebearers tho so be careful or you'll end up with a tank full of fry Try and get all males (if guppies) or all females (if platys).

 

[rjwknight]

Thanks for the suggestions, given me some new things to think about and a new list of questions

I like the look of the Leopard and Panda Corys. Would 3 of each be a good idea or would they be better as a single group of 5 or 6?

I see that the Gouramis can get quite big, up to 4", could this be a problem for the shrimp later?

Also are the Amano shrimp likely to fin nip?

Paula: I was planning on buying the Trigon tank as a package with filter, lights, etc. Is there any reason to get an alternate filter?

Finally, no one has suggested danios, are they likely to be a problem for the others in the tank? I understand they tend to zip about the place, would this upset the more peaceful fish?

Thanks again.

Rob

 

[OohFeeshy]

Danios would be fine, but they tend to take over the tank because they move so fast. The shrimp should be OK, as long as there are plenty of hiding spots you should be fine. It might be best to go for a large group of leopard cories, pandas are much smaller and can be very sensitive.

RE Juwel filters, while they're good as internals go, they take up an awful lot of room and stick out quite a bit, plus with small fish they are known to suck them up, which isn't good. Many people take them out and replace them with an external filter such as an Eheim, these are much better and you can hardly see them.

I would reccomend a sand substrate, maybe with some sort of planting substrate underneath for better plant growth.

 

[rjwknight]

Ok, so it looks like an external filter would be a good idea. That seems to be another £70 or so I hadn't budgeted for. Should I go for the Eheim ecco or classic? I don't really understand the differences well enough.

To be honest I had hoped that by buying a complete kit I go avoid these more technical issues until I had some experience. However it's probably better to spend a bit more cash and time up front and get the right setup for me and the fish.

Are there likely to be any other hardware components I need to consider replacing?
I guess lighting might not be good enough for plants in a basic package.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Might as well go for the Classic, cheaper and just as good. You could probably sell on the Juwel filter, and if it comes with one of those textured backgrounds, that too. You may need to add in another light for some plants, but that shouldn't be too expensive.

 

[dwarfgourami]

If money is short, you don't HAVE to ditch the Juwel filter, that's a matter of personal preference. I have kept mine in all three tanks. I have never had fish sucked up by them, despite having kept fry in all three tanks. A fish that gets sucked up by one of these was probably on its last legs anyway. (Of course, khuulie loaches may CLIMB in, but that's a different matter, those things will climb into anything).
It's only if you have very messy fish or are overstocked that a more powerful filter will be necessary. Which won't be the case in your tank.

You might want to get a more powerful light bulb, but that's not very expensive. And there are plants, such as Java fern and anubias, that can cope with very little light.

I would not keep danios with pearl gouramis- simply because the danios are hyperactive and the pears are all for a peaceful life of graceful living. It is as well to decide from the start if you're aiming at a peaceful or a robust tank.

If you buy amano shrimps at a decent size and provide hiding places, there should be no risk of them being eaten. And they don't fin-nip either.