New fish tank

[Mark A B]

So I decided I would get our twins a pet fish or two for their birthday next week.

Nothing too fancy I thought but something that'll look quite nice in the house.

So I picked up a smallish tank today. I've put the gravel in it and a few "plants" and filled with water. I've also bought one of those bubble machine things to put more air into the water so it's bubbling away and I'm waiting on the water settling.

Am I correct in thinking I'll be ok to put fish in by Tuesday?

Also any suggestions on what fish I could go for? Goldfish seem a little boring looking so any other ones I should look out for? I'm based in Glasgow if that makes any difference on what I can get my hands on?

[Mark A B]

Thanks for the replays so far guys. Have seen those neon tetras and thought they would look pretty cool and keep the kids happy with something to watch now n again.

So what methods have people used for cycling? One I read mentioned having a few fish in there to start off with and help? Is this correct?

I bubble thing I has a pump that pumps air into a little cone shaped thing that has a few stones in the bottom of it and a mesh like cone in the top?

[Mark A B]

Thanks for the detailed replies.

The tank is about 30L. I wasn't under any impressions that keeping fish was easy. I've had a few tanks in the past but all have been gold fish. Also had a pond in the garden which was about 7ft by 5ft but again was goldfish.

Also my family used to breed tropical fish and had roughly 20 tanks on the go in a heated shed but we're quite a distant family these days, so I thought I'd ask on here as the experience is much broader and you hear about more experiences.

I never had any intentions of popping Into pets at home and picking ten fish and chucking them all in the tank along with a fist full of flakes and a few maggots for the "gains" and standing back.

I've even had the offer of a much larger tank that I'll probably take once I get more experience as what I've read so far seems pretty interesting and let's face it is a lot more fun than crawling around under a car in Scottish winters!

So I'm not against getting a heater for the tank but can we use two scenarios?

One cold water and one tropical?

What cold water fish would you guys recommend and why?

Same question again with tropical?

I'd be happy with just a couple just to get us (me) started for now.