Tropical fish setup- Beginner

[TheCarFather]

Hi guys,

Basically I bought a 54l aquarium with a built in filter yesterday and today I have added live plants gravel rocks and a heater. The guy in the store i bought it from told me i didn't need anything else apart from 'aqua safe start up' which i added to the water today. He said after adding it i can start adding fish slowly in 3-5 days.

I'm a bit wary about this and want to do it the right way.

So how long do I need to leave it and what else do I need before adding fish?
Thanks,

[Nimby]

I'd agree, though I'm sure some people would wait a bit longer. But I think that's fine particularly if you are in a hard water area; it's more self-buffering than soft water.

Just don't start with anything too expensive or delicate.

[Mr GrimNasty]

You can't go wrong with a small shoal of zebra danio to start (if it fits in with your future plans).

[Frixturbo]

You need to cycle the tank... You can do it with a couple hard fish to get the cycle going quicker...

Here's my tank, ..

http://youtu.be/PWa6MXOukeI

[Turn7]

Read this

Buy this

Add a couple of dead fresh prawns and wait....

Add nothing until Nitrite and Ammonia are consistantly zero....

Edited by Turn7 on Sunday 16th November 18:07

[TheCarFather]

Thanks for the advice guys, will get some tester kits tomorrow and look into getting some hardy fish in a few days.

[TheCarFather]

Frixturbo said:

You need to cycle the tank... You can do it with a couple hard fish to get the cycle going quicker...

Here's my tank, ..

http://youtu.be/PWa6MXOukeI

Nice tank! I like the silver shark and the Pleco but having looked they grow waaaaay to big for my tank

[lufbramatt]

Google "fishless cycling" and follow one of the various online guides. Cycling a tank using live fish is cruel imo.

[Mr GrimNasty]

Some people like to vastly over complicate things don't they!

[Turn7]

Meaning ?