Fish - what kind?

A friend of my has a spare tank, and has offered to give it to me tomorrow so i can get some fish im not sure on the exact size, but she said it is big

I have had goldfish before, but have since read that they arent best in a tank... and do better in a pond, so not keen on getting them. I have also had mollys in a tropical tank, but once they died i didnt get anymore. I'm not sure they died coz i didnt set the tank up right or if it was coz i got them from Pets at home. The friends who is giving me the tank has 2 fish tanks, one coldwater and one tropical. Her brother knows a lot about fish, and he works in Pets at home, so she said i can go there and he will help me get all the right things etc. I am not too keen on getting fish from there, but his fish are from there and he has had no problems. Also, since he is helping me, i figured i could get the tank started with pets at home fish, and then next time get them from somewhere else, but when i know what i am going for.

I am getting the tank tomorrow, so whats the best way to set it up, before introducing the fish? What type of tank is the easiest to have, and what fish could i get with that type? I am thinking tropical would be the best... though i am not too sure whats the easiest. Although, i have had fish before, i didnt do too good a job so i am going to be really careful this time and get as much info as i can before getting the fish. Although my friends brother is helping, i would like to have some idea of what to get before i go. Any help would be much appreciated

Have no clue! However, when its finished Id like to see a pic, I do think these tanks look lovely.

Hi Lozzi, fish are actually a wee bit complicated to keep properly. You need to 'fishless cycle' the tank before introducing fish, this can take from 3-6 weeks. There are various ways of doing this, probably best to google 'fishless cycle fish tank' for in depth explanations of the methods and choose which suits you best. I used the method using fish food in a net bag. You will need a water testing kit, I got a good API one off eBay for £15. The liquid testing kits are by far the best and most accurate. What size is the tank you are getting? Do you have a heater for keeping tropicals or are you thinking of coldwater fish? There are various 'stocking level' guides for fish tanks online too. Generally less is more when it comes to keeping fish, much easier to keep water levels (as in ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte) correct when you are stocked properly or understocked versus being overstocked

Definitely agree with Peedie. Most important thing is to cycle the filter, basically this means that you build up lots and lots of beneficial bacteria in the filter medium. These bacteria are the ones that convert harmful toxins too harmless. The toxins get there by fish wee and poo, and the breakdown of any organic materials such as plants, dead leaves etc,

It does take time to build up the beneficial bacteria, but if your friend can give you some ceramics/filter wool from their own filter this will give a big kick start. As it will already be cycled and contain the bacteria that you need. You can just stuff it into your filter. This can halve the cycling time.

You will need a water testing kit too

It all sounds complicated but is isn't really

You then need a bottle of Ammonia from Homebase or any hardware store (make sure it is only Ammonia and does not contain any cleaning agents). The homebase one is about 9% ammonia. You use Ammonia as that is the equivalent to fish waste, only at much higher concentration, Some people use fish food as when it breaks down it releases ammonia, this method is a little more hit and miss though. (don't do what m OH did when buying the ammonia, he took the lid off and had a good sniff, it nearly knocked him out)!!

With our tanks we have sand as the base, and we add that to the clean tank, fill up the tank with water from the cold tap only as the hot tap can have things like copper dissolved in it from the pipes/tank. You will also need a dechlorinator, as our tap water contains chlorine, and it is harmful to fish, and to the friendly bacteria.

If you are going down the tropical route, put your heater in the tank too as the higher temperatures encourage the bacterias to multiply, An airstone is also helpful as it helps oxygenate the water, again which the friendly bacteria like.

A couple more things to consider is the actual capacity of the tank, as this will influence the size of your filter, heater, and how many fish you can have.

You can work this out by putting the dimensions into a fish tank calculator such as this one here (there are loads if you google it)

http://www.firsttankguide.net/calculator.php

There are also a couple of great fish forums that are really helpful such as this one

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php? You would need to register.

If you go to beginners resource centre there is loads of info about cycling, best fish to start with etc

Good luck, you can use the cycling time to research which fish to keep, it can be quite addictive. We ended up with 4 quite large tanks, although are now down to a sensible 2 lol.

Hope this helps, and I haven't put you off.

I agree with all of the above

I'm on TFF as VickiandKev, drop me a PM if you register there

I will if it looks good i will want to show it off

Thanks will google about the fishless cycle. I did read a thing earlier that someone wrote, and they were saying how people get fish thinking it is easy (themselves included) and that the fish usually always die. But they said to set the tank up, and that it only takes 5 – 7 days Will have a google about

My friend said I can take the water to pets at home, and that they test it so might try that. I’m not too sure on the size, but she said it was a big one and when she showed me the size with her arms, it was about 2ish feet by 1ish feet although, that is obviously not too accurate I was thinking about tropical coz I have heard they can be easier, and I think they look nicer. My friend is giving me a heater with the tank, and I have the one I had for the mollies about somewhere… not sure where though lol.

If I make it tropical, what would be the best fish to get? I don’t want to get types of fish that will eat or attack each other (although her brother should keep me right with that one!)

Thanks how long would I need to leave the tank after putting the ammonia in?

Do you think sand is better to use, than those pebble things? I will have to measure the tank tomorrow and then find out how many fish would be best Thanks for the links, will have a look on that forum and sign up… I am sure that will be very helpful when I am getting this underway Don’t worry you haven’t put me off I am getting so excited now!

Thanks not joing yet but will be joining in a few minutes

Years ago, I used to breed discus, and armoured catfish (hoplosternum thoracatum), and had a red tailed shark that was of show quality, I never showed him, but he went on to an owner who was interested in doing so - I discovered I was allergic to something in the water unfortunately, and used to get blisters all over my hands. I was always told and read, that fresh water tropical fish are easier to keep than any other sort.

My advice, other than reading up about the fishless cycle, doing your research and getting that sorted, is avoid undergravel filters like the plague, they're nothing but trouble, I don't know if they're still commonly used but I always found they just kept muck in the gravel which affected any bottom feeders. Also, research biotope aquariums, these are where you set up an aquarium to mimic a natural environment with appropriate species, and I always found they worked best (obviously, as they all suited the same temperature, water conditions and decorations), although I did have a few oddities, including the red tailed shark that was unusally very docile and so went in with the discus. Last piece of advice, is understock, choose carefully and keep it clean and simple, it just looks so much nicer, and is much healthier.

Looking forward to photos, I'd love to set up a big tropical freshwater tank again, if/when I get chance!

thanks I just googled a red tailed shark, and they look so cool! They look so interesting, and are really beautiful with that colouring

Yeah, i will take pics when its all set up, and hopefully it will be looking good! Just need to decide what fish to get

All excellent advice above.

2ft x 1ft is roughly about 60 litres.

Look for a hang on the back filter. Anything by Interpet, Aqua One, Tetra, Fluval, etc., should be good quality and should be more than adequate for a 60 litre. Make sure the one you purchase is powerful enough to filtrate your whole tank. Aquarium products can be fairly confusing, so asking for advice in the aquatics shop in person is probably best.

As for fish, it depends what you like the look of really. You do have to bear in mind that most fish sold are sold as juveniles and many grow considerably more than the size they are when you see them in the shop.

If you are new at the hobby, doing a simple community tank may be your best bet. A nice planted tank with a good sized shoal of Neons, some guppies or swordtail's or platys would look nice. There are many other tetra types that stay small which would look good, too. Again, look around aquatics shops and ask...much easier than asking what you could/couldn't have on the internet, cos' that would take forever.

thanks

My friend is bringing the tank round later so i can see what filter it is. I have been reading about some fish, to see what size they grow to (i have seen a few i would love to get but they are too big ) and what other fish they are compatiable with... Although, i have read comflicting things on whether or not Mollies are good in a community tank... but i do like the look of platies, guppies, cherry barb, and either the ghost or cherry shrimp, although from what i have read the ghost shrimp seems to be the easiest. I will need to do more reading