Talk To Me Like Im A 5 Year Old ... :)

[MasterHu]

Hey Forum,

Firstly id like to introduce myself my name is Jonny, and I'm completely new to the world of fish ... i have always went for exotic animals, currently sporting two Tarantulas and a Ball Python, anyways enough about that, id secondly like to apologize about the wall of text about to hit you all, but i would greatly appreciate any amount of help no matter how small or big it is:

Ok so the other day, my friend was telling me he has a Hex Fish tank, he is going to throw away as he has no space, and or need for it, i asked him about it and found out he had pebbles, for the bottom and plastic ornaments to go with it, and working filter, so i said id take it as a fish tank would look nice in the living room, and I've always found them so soothing to look at especially when i read on a night, it would be nice to have it humming away in the background. However, he was unable to remember the exact size of it, having looked into it i believe it to be a 60L/15Ga Hex fish tank .. so its a fair size.

OK basically as the title says i need to be spoken to like a 5 year old, as in my mind i had set having spoken to some people today, i would like to have beautiful colored fish swimming around, swishing and swooshing showing off there beautiful colors and fascinating anyone who sees them.

SO:

What type of tank should i make this? Freshwater / tropical? .. if so help me with what i need..

secondly i know all about the cycle, tank is empty atm hoping to gather information and fill it up to get the cycle going..

what fish is nice starter fish, and are durable to the cycle?... also i would like to have 1 medium fish which would be the "main attraction" and other small fish darting around.

DO i need a pump and a filter? or just a filter?... should i keep the pebbles or replace with sand? ... and do i need live plants?

Please Help, i'll leave it there for now, and any other questions as people hopefully post to help me i'll ask them

Greatly Apprecaited Jonathan.

 

[K_Hedin]

Hi Jonathan. Welcome to our friendly forums. Great to hear that you want to start keeping fish. I would start in the beginners resource center and read some of the articles. Especially about cycling with and without fish. The link is below. Once you have read a few articles you will know a little more about what you will be wanting to setup and from there everyone can pitch in and tell you lots of crazy ideas.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

 

[fluttermoth]

For a fish-in cycle, zebra danios are the usual recommendation, but (most!) people on here would urge you to do a fishless cycle using household ammonia to grow the bacteria. There is detailed info on how to do this in the beginner's resource centre here; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/ and many people on the forum will be more than happy to talk you through it

It would be best to think about stocking later in your cycle, as what fish we recommend depends a lot on your water; how hard or soft it is.

If the pebbles are large (like marble size or bigger), I'd recommend you to change them for gravel; food can sink down and get trapped inbetween the stones if they're too big and can pollute your water. Sand is great, especially if you want corydoras catfish later, but it is a little harder to maintain than gravel.

As long as your filter is creating ripples on the water surface, you don't need an air pump; that's just for decorative purposes and a matter of personal choice

You don't need live plants, but they do look nicer (in most people's opnion anyway!) and the fish certainly prefer them. There are plenty of aquatic plants that are easy for beginners to grow.

Hope this has helped; there's always someone about to answer any questions you will have. Best of luck!

 

[MasterHu]

OK, im starting to read through this first, i know about the cycle, etc etc .. but still reading, im curious though?.. freshwater fish tank = .. filter? decor thats it?.. tropical = that + heater? is that the difference? ...

Also the pebbles are around 3 inches long id say so a fair size, and plants id like to add some at some point to make the tank look nice, and if the benefit fish thats all ways a plus. ?....

what happened to the days of gold fish .. small tank 1 plastic plant and a place to hide... #40## these fish that make my eyes go O.O lol

Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

OK, im starting to read through this first, i know about the cycle, etc etc .. but still reading, im curious though?.. freshwater fish tank = .. filter? decor thats it?.. tropical = that + heater? is that the difference?

Yep; that's the difference! Plus you can keep far more tropicals in the same size tank than coldwater

Also the pebbles are around 3 inches long id say so a fair size, and plants id like to add some at some point to make the tank look nice, and if the benefit fish thats all ways a plus. ?

Yeah, those are quite big pebbles; you're going to get lots of gaps for the detritus to get stuck with those. I'd get some gravel (or you could get sand, up to you really) and maybe you could put a few pebbles on top if they look nice and you like them.

.... what happened to the days of gold fish .. small tank 1 plastic plant and a place to hide... #40## these fish that make my eyes go O.O lol Thanks

Er..the goldifsh died? Or they manged to survive for a few years because they're a remarkably tough fish that live through things that would make the smaller tropicals keel over and die?! But as goldfish can live for 20 years and grow to at least a foot long I can guarantee they did not have the great lives they should have done We still see on this very forum, practically every week, people who have been sold small, plastic fish tanks and goldies to live in them *sighs*

 

[sXeLifer]

Hey buddy Im new to this site but I've been keeping fish for around 4 years now.

Platy, guppy, mollie all of these are great started fish and most have great colours and are very friendly fish all will get on with each other. Guppy platy
Mollie

If its a 60L you dont want a plec although these are classics in the hobby and are great to watch they will rapidly outgrow your tank. Plec

Corydoras are easy to care for and are incredibly peaceful and love to school so are best in numbers of at least 3 My link

Neon tetras are classics and a school of them look Uber cool as they have great colours and gleam so if you have say 8 or more they could always be the centre-piece My link

A couple of Bala "Sharks" are great to watch too and interact well with each other.My link

Red Sharks and rainbow sharks grow big but take time to do so and are only suitable when theres one of them but they're good on they're own 1 - Red tailed shark My link 2 - Rainbow shark My link

Thin line loaches are personal favourites of mines. when i purchased these i was a newbie and never realised there should be at least 5 of them for them to be "happy" i got two and LOVE to watch them scavenging for food. My link


Most dwarf gouramis are beautiful and will get on fine when in pairs (male with a female) My link

Dont buy Clown loaches at this stage as they are VERY susceptible to ich and although considered favourites can be difficult to care for. My link

Any so called "algae-eater" or "suckermouth" are good whilst young and small but get aggresive and territorial with age My link

Angels no matter what you hear will inevitably become aggressive so these are no no's for now My link

Cichlids generally will only get on with cichlids so avoid them My link

 

[MasterHu]

Ok, so if i get heater? for the water it will be suitable for tropical fish? .. also the above poster thanks, and thanks for all help its greatly appreciated,

im curious though, were can i get sand for the bottom and can i get plants that will live in sand?

 

[sXeLifer]

Ok, so if i get heater? for the water it will be suitable for tropical fish? .. also the above poster thanks, and thanks for all help its greatly appreciated,

im curious though, were can i get sand for the bottom and can i get plants that will live in sand?

Yeah a heater at 24-28 degrees will do you that will allow fish to thrive. If your UK look at petsathome.com they do 10 kilos for £11 the us i think you can go on ebay, petco, theres a few places in the us that will do aquatic sand make sure you read it and its ph neutral.

Most plants will live in sand happily others will thrive in it.

 

[MasterHu]

I am UK, and thanks, i'll check them out got a pets at home quite local ...

SxeLifer, if i may ask, do pets at home do tester kits? for the water? .. its just they are at times expensive, and i know i could get things cheaper if i knew what i was looking for

 

[fluttermoth]

A couple of Bala "Sharks" are great to watch too and interact well with each other

Red Sharks and rainbow sharks grow big but take time to do so and are only suitable when theres one of them but they're good on they're own

Dont buy Clown loaches at this stage as they are VERY susceptible to ich and although considered favourites can be difficult to care for

Sorry, sXeLifer, I'm not 'having a go' at you or anything, so don't take this personally, but NONE of those fish should be anywhere near a 60l tank The Bala shark, for instance, can grow to a foot long and needs to be in a shoal of at least 5 or 6...same for the Clown loach.

neon tetras are classics and a school of them look Uber cool as they have great colours and gleam so if you have say 8 or more they could always be the centre-piece

Cichlids generally will only get on with cichlids so avoid them

Neons are great, but do not do well in tanks that are less than 6 months old, even if they've been properly cycled. There are plenty of cichlids that get on with other fish; not all cichlids are as aggressive as the Mbuna you linked to! Apistogrammas, for example, make lovely community inhabitants and many people on this forum have them.

MasterHu; the play sand that you can get from B&Q or Argos is much cheaper than 'proper' aquarium sand and is just as good. I don't know what test kits P@H do, but most of us on here recommend the API master test kit, which you can find for £15- 20 on Ebay. It seems expensive, but will last you a long time and be invaluable to you in your early days of fishkeeping! You need tests for ammonia and nitrite as a bare minimum, but nitrate and pH would be very useful too.

 

[MasterHu]

OK, MasterKit got it, just checked argos.co.uk Children play sand 15kg bag 2.99? ... and fluttermoth, what fish would you recommend?

 

[fluttermoth]

I think Argos's play sand is about £3 for 15 kgs; would would be loads more than you'd need but it is easy to end up syphoning a load out during water changes, so it's good to have some spare to top up with

As for recommending fish; well; I try not to do that as everyone has such different fish that they like! It's best to go and have a look round your local fish shop and see what they have; then get back on the internet and look them up (asking for info on here is a good idea as well; people will soon let you know if there's going to be a problem!)

Not all shops have good information and you don't want to get stuck with something that's going to grow to 4 feet long! (seriously, there are some fish sold in shops that will grow that big; be warned!)

For the size of your tank, you're looking at keeping maybe a dozen small (one or two inches) fish. If you were to push me, I'd say, maybe 6 or 8 ember or coffee bean tetras or celestial danios, and 5 or 6 otocinclus or pygmy corydoras; but any of the fish that grow to an inch or two would do well.

I honestly think that a nice shoal of small fish looks much better than a mismatch of loads of different kinds, and if you stick to the small fish, you don't have to worry about getting overstocked or things growing out of your tank
It also looks more natural and 'in proportion' to the size of the tank and is more pleasing to the eye, in my opinion anyway

 

[MasterHu]

Ok, ive took that on board im curious, as i haven't really checked but will tomorrow (today which ever way you view it) .. how much live plants are for fish tanks?

 

[saltynay]

Plenty of tropical replies already I can see from skimming, I don't have the time right now to debate who is correct or not but the sharks are a big no, the tetras are a little no. If you go tropical then I would do (in the order I would add them)5 x Kuhli loaches or corydoras catfish, 15 x red cherry shrimp, 2 x African dwarf frogs, 10 x Endler males, 1 x Betta. splenden.

Personally I will keep it simple and cold water though for your first time, whilst still making it beautiful and challenging. Filter + water + a pair of paradise fish = The challenge breeding them and caring for the young. If you start out thinking cold water whilst you read up, then if you change your mind in the month it takes to cycle you can always stick a heater in and gradually increase the heat (slowly over the course of a week so the bacteria don't recess).

 

[sanka101]

I started out about 4-6 years ago with a 10g a filter+ heater and some fish I knew nothing about! I still have 1 of these fish, I lost a couple the rest i sold a long time ago.. Id say start with something easy 5x cory or kuhli loaches (both are fun to watch)
3x Otocinclus
2x african Dwarf frogs (research before hand as some people are sold african clawd frogs by mistake or the tank is labled wronge and this mistake could cost yu everything in your tank- ACF get real hungry )
7x Female bettas (will play and chase each other, each has a noticable personality!)
Or substitute females for
1x Male Betta
5x guppies/ plattys
or substitute the bettas for
5x male guppies/ endlers
1x dwarf gourami