tropical fish?

we were at pets at home today and were looking at the tropical fish. We are really interested in getting some when we move but dont know much about them. We've been told they are hard to look after, but we are dedicated enough to do our best everyday for them. anyway, does anyone own or have owned tropical fish and what info do u have on them?

we;ve seen some good tanks for about £100 or so with a stand, and it comes with all the bits u need like heaters and filters and stuff.

CC has tropical fish .she might be able to help

I've kept them for years, but I've got a bunny just back from the vets warming up on my lap at the moment so can't type much right now!

I think tropical fish are relatively easy to keep - easier than coldwater (who produce lots of poo and hence water quality can be an issue). The hardest are salty water as everything has to be just so, otherwise they die easily, and are expensive! Some tropicals are easier than others but a normal "community" tank (i.e. lots of small fish which get on rather than are territorial) is fairly easy I reckon.

(edited to put a y after salt otherwise it thinks I'm saying a rude word with the next one along )

I have a tropical tank, a marine tank and lots of Betta (siamese fighting fish!). Tropicals are rfeally easy to look after. Just get the tank (and stand/cabinet if you find one you like). Id recommend one of the juwel ones as they come with filter and heater. I have one thats about 20 gallons for my marine tank and that cost £70 without the stand - Its an extra £20 for the stand i think- something like that! And then, you MUST cycle it before you put the fish in or they could all die (i didnt cycle my first one and everything but my fighting fish died )

Have you decided what fish you want? If you decide what fish you want first its probably easier as you can work out the best size tank for your fish

The only things i do regularly with my tanks are 'water changes' which i do weekly which is basically syphoning out the mess at the bottom, and about 10-20% of the water and replacing it with clean water. And i feed my fish twice a day - and thats about it for my tropical tank! Marine tanks are really difficult as you have to monitor the water VERY carefully and have to have two of everything incase one breaks

Edited to add: try this forum for more advice: http://www.uk-aquarist.com/index.php?act=idx

My sister has had them for years, they aren't hard to keep unlike the Marine ones which fluffybunny mentioned, they have to have the water just right or they die and they are very expensive fish to buy some of them were about £30 or £40 each Guppies are very hardy and breed very very easily and black mollies too from what I remember. Don't think you will have any problems Jenny and they are lovely and relaxing to watch

I love tropical fish! My dad kept them when we were growing up and I used to sepnd hours watching them! They're not too difficult if you get the hardier ones like guppies and have time to clean them out once a week.

cycle the tank? how long do i need to wait before i add fish to a tank?

I've always wanted to own tropical fish

but always thought they wee very high maintanance

We left our tank to settle for about 2-3 weeks before adding any fish

You mustn't add them all at once either, only add one or two for the first few weeks, then add them slowly after that. It's because it takes a long while for the bacteria to mature, so if you add fish too quickly, the bacteria won't be there to break down their waste products and they will effectively die in their own poisonous wastes! It takes a while for the bacteria levels to get high enough to be able to break down all of the waste.

As part of the setup you will need to buy a nitrate (or is it nitrite, I can never remember) test kit, and test the water regularly - every day to start off with. For the first few weeks with fish in it, you may need to change up to 50% or so of the water each day to keep the poison levels down. Slowly reduce the amount of water you change and once the levels have stabilised you can start to add more fish, but again not all at once, or the bacteria levels won't build up quickly enough to cope with the increase in waste.

If you know someone with a mature tank, you can get them to wring out their filter into your water, this can kick start the bacteria, or I have a feeling you can also buy some bacteria now to get it going??

It's the same reason why when your tank is mature, you should only change a little of the water, and only wash stones/filter etc in existing tank water (so for example if your filter needs washing, you should wash it in water you have taken out of the tank). If you wash it in tap water, the chlorine will kill off all the nice bacteria which you want to keep!

But honestly, it's not that hard. The hardest bit is setting up the tank and keeping the first few fish alive until the water matures. Personally I prefer to take it slowly but have never had a fish die yet while I've been setting a tank up.