Chris Bailey Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 After wanting a new tank for a while ive been searching everywhere to try find a tropical tank on a small budget. Luckly I managed to pick up a second hand tank from a family friend for FREE . Not sure how many litres it is exact but its 24" in length so roughly between 40-50L. At the moment I haven't added any fish as I need to let the tank cycle for roughly 3 days to let the water chemicals do there job etc. Still looking into options as to what fish I should add to my tank, so open to any suggestions. I've heard tetras, danios, guppies, swordtails are good fish to start with so will look into that further. Here is my new tank! Excuse the table cloth haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus GTE Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Looks like a good start mate My father in law is into his tropical fish and has had various levels of success with owning them. Basically different species live in different areas of the tank. Floor and middle etc. Also you should make sure that you don't have something too aggressive for the other fish cause it'll end up just killing everything. The pet shop should let you know what can go together etc. Small tip- he has 2 sea snails and they help clean the tank as the eat the alge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Looks like a good start mate My father in law is into his tropical fish and has had various levels of success with owning them. Basically different species live in different areas of the tank. Floor and middle etc. Also you should make sure that you don't have something too aggressive for the other fish cause it'll end up just killing everything. The pet shop should let you know what can go together etc. Small tip- he has 2 sea snails and they help clean the tank as the eat the alge My plan is after a few months to get a pleco to help clean the tank, need to be careful which one i choose though as they grow very fast. My plan is to get a hardy fish thay can get on with other fish so hopefully no fighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X13mgr Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 [ATTACH=CONFIG]208456[/ATTACH] My 350l corner tank. Pete the pleck down the bottom is 3 years old and about 16 inches long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X13mgr Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Can't go wrong with guppies mollies tetras etc. I prefer slow moving fish. Bit more relaxing. Angel fish are nice for that. Mid tank fish too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 [ATTACH=CONFIG]208456[/ATTACH] My 350l corner tank. Pete the pleck down the bottom is 3 years old and about 16 inches long Amazing setup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Can't go wrong with guppies mollies tetras etc. I prefer slow moving fish. Bit more relaxing. Angel fish are nice for that. Mid tank fish too Thanks for the tip, any idea how many fish I should be looking at getting for my size tank without being overcrowded. I heard Neon Tetras are better in groups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X13mgr Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Cheers mate. Costs a lot of money. Bit like the supra. Ye tetras guppies and mollies are shoal fish. Better in shoals of 6+ A small plec wud be fine they tend to grow to size of the tank. 6 neon tetras 6 mollies or guppies 1 plec 1 clown loach Wud set it it of nice and go from there. Depends what ur looking for really mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Cheers mate. Costs a lot of money. Bit like the supra. Ye tetras guppies and mollies are shoal fish. Better in shoals of 6+ A small plec wud be fine they tend to grow to size of the tank. 6 neon tetras 6 mollies or guppies 1 plec 1 clown loach Wud set it it of nice and go from there. Depends what ur looking for really mate Just a nice communial tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 LOL sorry! in the sentiment of Crocodile Dundee.......that's not a tank...this is a tank:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 LOL sorry! in the sentiment of Crocodile Dundee.......that's not a tank...this is a tank:D http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb118/Tricky-Ricky13/Tank2.jpg Bog off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X13mgr Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Sure is a big knife that one. I'd go with that for starters and maybe add couple when they've settled if u think there's room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
achagor Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 My turtles setup! one is called Rocky and the other......Turbo! Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitbox Junkie Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Just get your eco system set up and the rest should be easy are you having real plants? Is it fresh water or salt water tropical fish. Are you having strong or low currents around the tank? But looks like a great start Is 3 days enough time to let the water settle? Friend leaves his for 2 weeks but that's a big tank and salt water with live plant's and corrals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Just get your eco system set up and the rest should be easy are you having real plants? Is it fresh water or salt water tropical fish. Are you having strong or low currents around the tank? But looks like a great start Is 3 days enough time to let the water settle? Friend leaves his for 2 weeks but that's a big tank and salt water with live plant's and corrals I've been advised 2-3 days, get one fish to start the cycle, then after a week or so take the water to my local pet suppliers so they can test it. I have a plastic plant to start with but might upgrade to a real one soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 cycle the tank properly mate, make sure its ready before you introduce fish, dont put a massive bio load on the tank. Google Fishless cycling F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 this is the most important thing you will need to know before you add any fish http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_51/fishless-cycling-article.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berg Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Cycle on tropical tank should be fairly quick, but to save trouble you should grab an ammonia and nitrite test kit as you want these to read 0 before you add any fish Every tank is different so the rule of 2-3 days cant be used for all, most tropicals are hardy fish so a bit of ammonia and nitrite probably wont bother them but its best to do it right first time Its only really marines that can take weeks due to the live rock and shed loads of live bacteria, when my marine tank was first setup it was 3 weeks before i had 0 ammonia in the water, but the live rock had been out the water a while so had quite a bit of die off Definately do not shove too many fish in at once, add new fish a few at a time allowing the tank to get used to the extra bio load You could also use a cycling chemical which will rapidly cycle the tank as it blooms the bacteria rapidly, but again you still need a test kit to make sure its ready Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Thanks for the replies guys, my water is a tab hazy/cloudy currently which ove been told is perfectly normal for a new tank, its just the bacteria bloom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I've been advised 2-3 days, get one fish to start the cycle, then after a week or so take the water to my local pet suppliers so they can test it. Noooo! lol Dont put the poor fish through this and this wont work anyway, there is no such thing as letting the water 'settle'. You have to get the water cycled properly, if you can get some filter media from someone then bung this in the tank, buy some drift wood which is already in a tank and stick that in there to accelerate the cycle and bacteria build up (make sure you take the driftwood home in the some of the fishtank water and get it home pronto) , turn up the temperature on your heater as this will increase the rate the bacteria multiply. If you dont cycle property you will have lots of dead fish before the tank is fully cycled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Update! Treated myself to a Juwel Rio 180ltr tank the other month, been stocking it up with new ornaments and plants. Also got some nice new fish aswell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Its all about the rino pleco ,they stay small and not get massive like the common pleco, good choice as fush selrction is the most important part if fish keeping I have a fish I have had for over 10 years and its ridiculous nearly 30inches long and cant even give if away, such I shame I might end hp putting it down as it gets over 4ft in size , but still its pritty cool having a shark , eventhough its a catfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 Its all about the rino pleco ,they stay small and not get massive like the common pleco, good choice as fush selrction is the most important part if fish keeping I have a fish I have had for over 10 years and its ridiculous nearly 30inches long and cant even give if away, such I shame I might end hp putting it down as it gets over 4ft in size , but still its pritty cool having a shark , eventhough its a catfish Blimey! Luckily my plecos are all fairly small, they will probably top out at about 6 inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock on Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 A bit ott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted June 12, 2016 Author Share Posted June 12, 2016 Just thought I'd update this thread, the tank has come along way since I last posted. Ive changed to fine black gravel as the upkeep of the white sand was to much work, I'd be cleaning it 3 times a week to keep it looking presentable. Ive added more fish and have gone for the planted aquarium theme with real plants with various tiding spots for the fish. Current stock is around 40 fish which is about the limit for my filter and tank size. As you can imagine with more fish equalls more fish waste. So I clean the tank once a week, this includes cleaning the filter, cleaning the gravel to remove fish waste, clean the glass. I remove up to 50% of the water weekly and then add fresh water and use Tetra water conditioner to make the tap water safe for the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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