First time Aquarium Owner - Advice please

whitelightrider

Ok guys,

I just bought my wife a new Aquarium - Evo 70 - and I want to get it set up for Tropical fish. I know I need to leave the water in it for 5 - 7 days to get it ready for the fish.

So Im looking for advice on what plants, ornaments or fish that would be great for 2 complete beginners!

fred funk }{

First of all you need to know how a healthy aquarium works. You need to what's called 'mature' the aquarium, the nitrogen cycle.

First of all you need to build up good bacteria within the tank, mainly these live in the filter and also in the gravel. These bacteria break down the ammonia that the fish excrete to Nitrite and then they break it down to Nitrate which is harmless unless it's in high doses which is why regular water changes is necessary, change about 20% every week if possible but every fortnight should be OK once there's not to many fish in the tank.

When changing the water never use tap water because it contains chlorine that kills harmfull bacteria alwell as the good stuff you need in the tank. Also, when cleaning the filter use some tank water and as above never use tap water as it will kill the good bacteria. Most pet shops sell the water treatment.

I normally us cheap hardy fish like platys to mature the tank, maybe two. Idealy you should buy a test kit to test the water to see when the ammonia and nitrite has gone and when you get a nitrate reading this means the tank is maturing.

The main reason peoples aquariums fail and they kill dozens of fish is because they dont cycle the tank properly and over feeding is also a big problem. I feed mine a tiny bit every second day, remember what goes in comes out

There's loads of places on the web that give great info on fish, remember fish grow and a lot of fish sold in pet shops can grow to over a foot long so do your research. Ask in the shop for something hardy as these fish will be more forgiving of your mistakes.

Hope this helped

Kalahari

Don't use fish to cycle the tank, it is a cruel and outdated method. Fishless cycling is much better and often quicker.

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_fishless.php

As to what plants and ornaments to put in, you should decide what type of fish you'd like to keep first. Different fish have different water and habitat requirements, and they don't all get along together so it is a good idea to first decide what sort of tank you want. You could have a species only tank with just 1 species or a couple of very similar species, or a community tank with a variety of fish inhabiting the different levels of the tank. The plants also need different conditions, mostly based on lighting levels. Low light plants would be good for starting off, and anubias are good hardy plants.

For beginners i'd recommend a community tank of small hardy fish such as tetra, and as you get used to the tank maintenance and as the tank matures you could add in a couple of bigger fish like a gourami or bristlenose pleco. Some fish such as otocinclus don't do well in newly established tanks and it might be better to wait a good few months before adding sensitive fish.

Dioza

http://www.irishfishforum.com has a mountain of knowledge. Unfortunately i discovered this forum after i made my mistakes. But fish keeping is an enjoyable hobby, even more so if after a few months you get the hang of things and decide to breed a few.

whitelightrider

Thanks a million for all the advice folks. Im picking up the aquarium next week so will let it mature for 7 days and then start with the hardier fish!!

Just a quick question. We have a terrapin and got a new aquarium for him last week. Its bigger and came with in Interpet Internal Power Filter. The only problem is that I noticed the water is not crystal clear. There are bit floating along the top. Also there is a really loud hum from the filter. It can be heard 2 rooms away. Before I call PetWorld I was just wondering if this was normal?

Fishyfreak

whitelightrider wrote: »

Thanks a million for all the advice folks. Im picking up the aquarium next week so will let it mature for 7 days and then start with the hardier fish!!

Do that and you will have a heap of dead fish on your hands, listen to the advice. Get filter squeezings/established filter media or you will waste money and time buying new fish every week.

LEARN HOW THE NITROGEN CYCLE WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

whitelightrider

Fishyfreak wrote: »

Do that and you will have a heap of dead fish on your hands, listen to the advice. Get filter squeezings/established filter media or you will waste money and time buying new fish every week.

LEARN HOW THE NITROGEN CYCLE WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

So you dont want me to leave the tank with water in it for about 7 days while the filter and good bacteria work to mature the water in the tank?

godtabh

whitelightrider wrote: »

So you dont want me to leave the tank with water in it for about 7 days while the filter and good bacteria work to mature the water in the tank?

more like 4-6 weeks

Fishyfreak

The filter needs a source of Ammonia in those 7 days, leaving an empty tank like that is completely pointless. The bacteria need this to populate and multiply. This is why learning the nitrogen cycle is hugely important.

If you know somebody with a tank ask them for a slab of sponge and put it in the filter, it will have bacteria on it, then it would be safe to add 2 or 3 hardy fish (zebra danio i'd recommend). These fish will give the bacteria some ammonia to feed on and then the bacteria can multiply to enable you to slowly add more fish in the coming weeks.

Bacteria need fish (i.e Ammonia) to survive, fish need bacteria to breakdown waste to Nitrite and then to Nitrate. Nitrate is then removed from the tank by weekly partial water changes. That's the very short version. Hope it makes sense.

godtabh

Fishyfreak wrote: »

The filter needs a source of Ammonia in those 7 days, leaving an empty tank like that is completely pointless. The bacteria need this to populate and multiply. This is why learning the nitrogen cycle is hugely important.

If you know somebody with a tank ask them for a slab of sponge and put it in the filter, it will have bacteria on it, then it would be safe to add 2 or 3 hardy fish (zebra danio i'd recommend). These fish will give the bacteria some ammonia to feed on and then the bacteria can multiply to enable you to slowly add more fish in the coming weeks.

Bacteria need fish (i.e Ammonia) to survive, fish need bacteria to breakdown waste to Nitrite and then to Nitrate. Nitrate is then removed from the tank by weekly partial water changes. That's the very short version. Hope it makes sense.

Its not recommend adding fish. Its an outdated practice and the fish suffer

You can supply the bacteria by placing small amounts of fish food in the tank

Fishyfreak

What i'm recommending is not a full cycle with fish. I would not recommend that.

The established sponge that I said to add is more than enough to support 3 danios, the ammonia will not peak as the bacteria is already present. The fish do not suffer at all.

whitelightrider

Thanks folks. Ill definitely do some more reading on this. Last thing I want is to put fish into the aquarium and have them die. Ill look into the Nitrogen cycle more and speak to the people in PetWorld also about how to go about this.

whitelightrider

Folks thanks very much for the advice. It really is much appreciated.

Also has anyone had any issues with the Interped Filter I mentioned above? Last thing I want is for my terrapin to be in a tank with a faulty filter if its going to harm him.

event

i started my own tank last year and i used tetra safe start

http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetrafish/catalog/productdetail.aspx?id=1276&cid=3582

it worked perfectly and a lot of people recommend it

i use http://www.fishlore.com for any queries that i have, they help a lot