Which Fish For My First Tank?

[jonnyc]

Hi everyone.

I have recently bought a Juwel Rekord 120, 120litre, 39" LONG, 12" WIDE AND 16" HIGH.

This is my first attempt at keeping tropical fish and I will be starting the fishless cycle soon.

I have had a look in 3 shops and so far the fish I like the look of are:

Neon Dwarf Gourami
Neon Tetra
Lamp eye
Siamese flying fox
Redline torpedo Barb
Pink kissing Gourami
Silver Dollar

Would these species be suitable in a community in a tank this size and how many of each?

I would also like one or more bottom feeders but none really have taken my fancy so far, so open to any suggestions.

Cheers
JonnyC

 

[Colin_T]

neon dwarf and other dwarf gouramis often carry a virus that kills lots of them. It doesn't normally affect of types of fish but can affect any type of gourami. Most should be fine but there is always a chance of a sick fish making it into the tank.
Pink kissing gouramis get big (8-12inches) and are too big and agro for a small tank. If you get little ones then they will be fine for a year or so but eventually they will need a bigger tank.
Silver dollars eat plants and grow to 5-6inches. They also need to be kept in groups so probably not a good choice for your tank.
Neon tetras & lamp eyes should be fine but need to be kept in groups of at least 6 preferably 10 or more of each species.
Not sure about the torpedo barbs.
Siamese flying fox is fine and will clean up excess food and graze on algae.
Good bottom feeders are Corydoras catfish. There are heaps to choose from.

 

[Jallen]

Kuhli loach = awesome bottom feeder.
Images:
http/www.brettb.com/images/KuhliLoach3.jpg
http/www.aqua-fish.net/imgs/fish/kuhli-loach-profile.jpg
http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/images/AL0015.jpg

I have 5 in my 15 gallon and 6 in my 30 gallon. They are totally unagressive, are social fish which like to hang around with each other, and at night, and sometimes in the day, they swim around the front of the tank really fast. They also will burrow in your sand or gravel. They are my favorite fish, because they are just so interesting to watch (they will poke their heads inbetween bits of gravel looking for food and can swim through little holes and things - try adding java moss to a kuhli loach tank, they love getting tangled up in it )

 

[Truck]

neon tetras are not suited to new tanks, they prefer mor matured water so wait 6 months before adding them, a good alternative would be zebra danios, fast little buggers. and they like dartin between plants and they shoal.

 

[Paavn]

you could also add shrimp into the mix if you have non aggressive fish. they add quite a bit of color and clean up pretty good.

i'm also looking into a community tank and after looking at all the temperatures, KH and pH of the different fish
this is the list i got with the preferable tank readings as:
Temp: 74 degrees
KH: 9
pH: 7

• Red Eye Tetra
• Bleeding Heart Tetra
• Glowlight Tetra
• Neon Tetra Jumbo
• Blue Cobra Guppy
• Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami
• Dwarf Gourami
• Flame Dwarf gourami
• Zebra Danio
• German Blue Ram
• German Gold Ram
• Red Crystal Shrimp
• Red Cherry Shrimp
• ghost/glass shrimp
• Japonica amino shrimp
• Singapore flower shrimp (will outgrow everything else on the list lol)

ps. the list is of fish and shrimp is what i would personally like in my tank

 

[Truck]

i wouldnt put any gourami in a new tank same with the rams. and in recent years guppys are getting weaker and weaker, so i advise against them too. its a shame really.

also most shrimp wont like a new tank either, some are picky over water conditions Etc.

a jumbo neon tetra is a fully grown neon tetra (so its old and wont last long )

 

[Paavn]

hahaha thanks truckasauras123 im pretty sure thats something the LFS wouldn't have told me.
and it just made the selection process alot easier

 

[Truck]

no problems mate.

 

[B13]

Kuhli loach = awesome bottom feeder.

I second the Khuli Loaches! I love mine to bits!



If you get a Siamese Flying Fox, only get one - because they are (in my experience!) a bit territorial... I had to get rid of one from my tank as it was mercilessly bullying it's 'friend'...


Danios are fun lil' fishies: nosey and bold as anything!!

 

[jonnyc]

A member of my family just came back from a maidenhead aquatics with a bottle of Nutrafin Cycle and told me the guy said theres no need to do a fishless cycle but to let the tank stand for a week then add some lampeyes and the Nutrafin Cycle.

Don't worry I am not adding any fish, I will still do the fishless cycle as it seems obvious to me that even if the fish are hardy its still not fair to expose them to the toxic chemicals in the cycle.

Will the Nutrafin Cycle help to get the fishless cycle underway as no shops near me seem to sell any source of bacteria from an established tank?

 

[Truck]

its been said to be good stuff, but i suggest you DONT use it. and what does leaving a tank do? make the water go stale and nothing else.

 

[Paavn]

i mannaged to find myself a bottle of safestart by tetra. theres quite a few people that have sworn it works so i thought i'd give it a shot. i''ll post my readings/log in a couple of days

 

[jonnyc]

I am using the API master test kit.

Should I put the test tube on the white background (actually touching the card) to the right of the colour charts or should I hold the test tube sightly in front of the white background as there is a huge difference in colour, the contents of the test tube appears much darker when it is held on the card as a pose to holding it slightly in front.

Either way I fear I have drastically overdosed the Ammonia. I have changed 80 litres and now when I hold the test tube on the chart it looks closest to 4ppm, if I hold it slightly in front of the white background it looks like about 1 ppm.

2 days ago I managed to get some squeezings from an established filter sponge, could the bacteria from the squeezings have survived 48 hours in an overdosed tank?

 

[Paavn]

i hold mine against the white background and do that every time just to make sure i get consistent results, but i did that as well (the tank overdose) and my tank is cycling now. the only way you'll be able to tell is when you test for nitrites if you get results. it is pretty hard to tell a slight difference in the ammonia according to the card

 

[OldMan47]

The bacteria may have survived the overdose of ammonia. Your testing over the next few days will either tell you that you have a successful clone or that you are at the beginning of a cycle. I lay the bottle against the card when I use the test.