Help getting started with keeping Tropical fish
Discussion
Hello All,
I am after some advice with keeping some tropical fish. I've been thinking about it for a while, however when I do some research there seems to be loads of different advice and options I could go for, so I thought I would ask here as PH seems to answer most questions
So first up is picking a tank. I've had a quick look in a couple of local retailers, but a lot of the tanks seem to come with a cabinet, and all of these have been rejected by my OH as they all seem to be chipboard style which she really doesn't like. So does anyone have any recommendations for tanks that look like a nice piece of furniture? If I can't find anything I may see if I can get a decent sold oak cabinet and have the tank free standing on top. The other thing is size, what should a complete novice go for?
Next question is around the fish. I've read on the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate cycle, so I think I am good there, and I'll try and get the chemistry right before I start anything, but what are good starter fish? I would like a mixture, preferably some with a bit of colour, but if I have a couple of different varieties I want them to live together, so I guess I need to know which are aggressive and which are good neighbours?
Last question (for now!) is around plants. Should I be looking at live plants? Or just at plastic ones? What are good hardy plants that even my clumsy tank keeping would find it difficult to kill?
I am after some advice with keeping some tropical fish. I've been thinking about it for a while, however when I do some research there seems to be loads of different advice and options I could go for, so I thought I would ask here as PH seems to answer most questions
So first up is picking a tank. I've had a quick look in a couple of local retailers, but a lot of the tanks seem to come with a cabinet, and all of these have been rejected by my OH as they all seem to be chipboard style which she really doesn't like. So does anyone have any recommendations for tanks that look like a nice piece of furniture? If I can't find anything I may see if I can get a decent sold oak cabinet and have the tank free standing on top. The other thing is size, what should a complete novice go for?
Next question is around the fish. I've read on the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate cycle, so I think I am good there, and I'll try and get the chemistry right before I start anything, but what are good starter fish? I would like a mixture, preferably some with a bit of colour, but if I have a couple of different varieties I want them to live together, so I guess I need to know which are aggressive and which are good neighbours?
Last question (for now!) is around plants. Should I be looking at live plants? Or just at plastic ones? What are good hardy plants that even my clumsy tank keeping would find it difficult to kill?
The tanks here (especially the Oak cabineted ones) have always looked good and been good value:
http://fishkeeper.co.uk/site/storefinder
It's where I got mine and my fish from. They also have physical stores to see them 'in the wood'.
http://fishkeeper.co.uk/site/storefinder
It's where I got mine and my fish from. They also have physical stores to see them 'in the wood'.
I would look for a nice solid wood cabinet then find a tank that will suit it. You can buy them together but chances of finding one that will do the job together is slimmer.
Unless you have loads of money to chuck at it, i would look on ebay, 2nd hand tanks in as new condition can be had for less then half the price of a new one. My £380 tank and cabinet cost me £47 courtesy of eBay and you wouldn't know its 2nd hand
Unless you have loads of money to chuck at it, i would look on ebay, 2nd hand tanks in as new condition can be had for less then half the price of a new one. My £380 tank and cabinet cost me £47 courtesy of eBay and you wouldn't know its 2nd hand
Maidenhead Aqwuatics do a range of oak cabineted tanks but they're quite expensive compared to mdf/chipboard cabinets. I'd also be worried about the amount of movement in a cabinet made from "real" wood, it could potentially distort as the wood dries out and ages and lead to a cracked tank. ND aquatics are good. Seabray make a range of tanks with nice cabinets with real wood veneers. I have a Seabray tank and am really pleased with it.
If you get a sturdy bit of furniture you should be good for tanks up to about 100 litres, assuming the tank is about the same size as the edges of the furtniture. Any more than 100l and you want something purpose made or risk having rather a lot of water spread over the floor in 6 months time when the top warps and puts stress on the tank.
Make sure you do a fishless cycle, most humane way of setting up the tank, loads of links on google, lots of different ways of doing it. As long as you can get to the point where the bacteria can process 4ppm of ammonia to 0ppm ammonia/ 0ppm nitrite in 12 hours you're go to add fish.
In terms of beginner fish, I'd avoid neons, very temperamental these days and pretty boring once you get over the novelty of the colours. Choose fish that suit your local water conditions, makes things much easier in the long run. Guppies are boring too and you'll just be overun with babies that no-one wants. Go to a good local fish shop and have a look at what they have, write down the names of ones you like the look of and do some research at home before you buy them. Never impulse buy fish.
Bear in mind some fish need a minimum group size in order to feel comfortable (such as corydoras catfish, need a group of 6+ otherwise they just hide). Clown fish although they look cute in the shop as juveniles WILL grow into 12+" long monsters that need an 8 foot long tank.
Once set up, make sure you get into a regular water change routine, aim for 25% once per week and it will keep everything ticking along nicely. Never throw away your filter media despite what fish shops and the filter instructions say, just rinse it out once every month or two in used fish water.
If you get a sturdy bit of furniture you should be good for tanks up to about 100 litres, assuming the tank is about the same size as the edges of the furtniture. Any more than 100l and you want something purpose made or risk having rather a lot of water spread over the floor in 6 months time when the top warps and puts stress on the tank.
Make sure you do a fishless cycle, most humane way of setting up the tank, loads of links on google, lots of different ways of doing it. As long as you can get to the point where the bacteria can process 4ppm of ammonia to 0ppm ammonia/ 0ppm nitrite in 12 hours you're go to add fish.
In terms of beginner fish, I'd avoid neons, very temperamental these days and pretty boring once you get over the novelty of the colours. Choose fish that suit your local water conditions, makes things much easier in the long run. Guppies are boring too and you'll just be overun with babies that no-one wants. Go to a good local fish shop and have a look at what they have, write down the names of ones you like the look of and do some research at home before you buy them. Never impulse buy fish.
Bear in mind some fish need a minimum group size in order to feel comfortable (such as corydoras catfish, need a group of 6+ otherwise they just hide). Clown fish although they look cute in the shop as juveniles WILL grow into 12+" long monsters that need an 8 foot long tank.
Once set up, make sure you get into a regular water change routine, aim for 25% once per week and it will keep everything ticking along nicely. Never throw away your filter media despite what fish shops and the filter instructions say, just rinse it out once every month or two in used fish water.
lufbramatt said:
Choose fish that suit your local water conditions
Ditto plants. I live in a very hard water area. I have no trouble keeping fish native to soft water (most are captive-bred these days and pretty tolerant) but cannot keep plants that need soft water.Plastic plant has improved but (IMHO) it's still awful stuff.
Thanks chaps, all good info here. It also appears that ND Aquatics are about 10 minutes from my house so I'll drop in and take a look at what they have to give me an idea on tank size. It also looks like their are a few Maidenhead aquatics not to far away so I may go and take a look this weekend.
Gotta say that when I started up a tank as a kid (pre internet) I did just about everything your told not to do (bar fill it with bleach!)
I placed the tank in the conservatory which had lots of sun light throughout the day and would get extremely hot during the summer. I used ordinanry tap water and didn't bother to cycle the tank to stabilise the natrates/nitrites, I just bunged all the fish in at once. The filter would get changed very occasionally and water changes were similarly infrequent.
Yet despite all this poor care the fish seemed to thrive, I even had a breeding pair of Mollys.
I think that so long as you follow most of the generally held advice and don't get too hung up on all the intricate details, you should be absolutely fine.
I placed the tank in the conservatory which had lots of sun light throughout the day and would get extremely hot during the summer. I used ordinanry tap water and didn't bother to cycle the tank to stabilise the natrates/nitrites, I just bunged all the fish in at once. The filter would get changed very occasionally and water changes were similarly infrequent.
Yet despite all this poor care the fish seemed to thrive, I even had a breeding pair of Mollys.
I think that so long as you follow most of the generally held advice and don't get too hung up on all the intricate details, you should be absolutely fine.
Nickyboy said:
Turn7 said:
If you dont want live plants then silk plants are the way forward, not the flourescent pink plastic shyte that the likes of Maidenheads sell.
Do you have a god website for these?I've got live plants but even with careful quality control they're a pain in the ass
http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/hugo-kamishi-pl...
Get a Juwel Korall starter tank, comes with light, filter and heater and is a good size for a beginner.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Juwel-Korall-60-Goldfish...
Danios are a great starter fish, very hardy and good at coping with being 'bedding in' fish.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Juwel-Korall-60-Goldfish...
Danios are a great starter fish, very hardy and good at coping with being 'bedding in' fish.
Evening all.
So I've been doing a little research, although I still have loads to learn!
For my tank I think I am going to look at getting a Juwel Vision 180. I know it's probably quite large for a beginner, but since this is going to be going into our lounge I need to have one Mrs Mathmos will agree to and that's had the thumbs up! From everything I'v read it sounds like getting a slightly larger tank might be easier than a smaller tank to get to grips with.
For the fish I've been thinking about maybe a Plec and a couple of Betta's once I get the tank all set up, at least initially and then see how I get on. What do you guys think, will they make good tank mates?
So I've been doing a little research, although I still have loads to learn!
For my tank I think I am going to look at getting a Juwel Vision 180. I know it's probably quite large for a beginner, but since this is going to be going into our lounge I need to have one Mrs Mathmos will agree to and that's had the thumbs up! From everything I'v read it sounds like getting a slightly larger tank might be easier than a smaller tank to get to grips with.
For the fish I've been thinking about maybe a Plec and a couple of Betta's once I get the tank all set up, at least initially and then see how I get on. What do you guys think, will they make good tank mates?
juwel make good tanks and a 180 is a great size to start with, nice amount of water volume to keep it stable, and you won't grow out of it for a while. Only thing I'm not so keen on is the internal filters that are siliconed in (makes them a pig to remove) arn't that great, an external filter is so much easier to maintain and easier to replace it it goes wrong. Oh and some Juwel tanks use weird sized light tubes which mean you have to use juwel branded tubes when they blow. Also the curved glass of a bow-front tank can make your fish look a bit weird, but some people don't notice.
This looks worth a look:
http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplie...
^ nice looking cabinet and decent kit with it. I'd ask to swap the internal filter for an external one though such as a tetratec ex1200.
If you want a plec make sure you get a smaller one like a bristlenose (ancistrus)- "common" plecs grow huge and will turn into a 12" monster before you know it.
You can only keep one male betta or a group of females- you can't mix males and females permanently as the males will harass the females to death, and two males will fight. They do better in small tanks with very low water movement as their huge finnage affects their ability to swim against currents. Persoanlly I'm not a huge fan as they have been line bred to look the way they do and don't represent a fish that occurs in the wild. Each to their own though, I can see the appeal.
This looks worth a look:
http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplie...
^ nice looking cabinet and decent kit with it. I'd ask to swap the internal filter for an external one though such as a tetratec ex1200.
If you want a plec make sure you get a smaller one like a bristlenose (ancistrus)- "common" plecs grow huge and will turn into a 12" monster before you know it.
You can only keep one male betta or a group of females- you can't mix males and females permanently as the males will harass the females to death, and two males will fight. They do better in small tanks with very low water movement as their huge finnage affects their ability to swim against currents. Persoanlly I'm not a huge fan as they have been line bred to look the way they do and don't represent a fish that occurs in the wild. Each to their own though, I can see the appeal.
Edited by lufbramatt on Friday 22 March 21:55
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