Tropical fish - think I could get into this

[davidwort 0]

Bought my son a 50L tropical tank for Christmas and courtesy of a chap at work it has a few Guppys, Platys and Mollys in it and already a number of small fry :)

I'm already eyeing up some 2.5 to 3ft tanks on e-bay.

Like most hobbies these days there's a huge anount of information on the web that's helped me (and my son) start off and avoid a few of the common newbee mistakes, learnt about the Nitrogen Cycle for starters.

Can watch the fish for hours, they're a great antidote to the tech filled world that makes up a lot of our lives :D

 

I know there's at least one or two tropical fish experts on here, what do you reckon?

Will pop up a pic of the little critters in a bit.

here we go:

P1010729.JPG[/attachment:33zw52xk]

[sexybourbon 0]

i know what you mean me and the girlfriend got two goldfish when hungover once for a giggle but weeks later ended up buying a a 60 gallon tank for some tropical fish and like you said we always enjoy watching them and looking after them , it was a bit worrying at first as we didnt want to get anything wrong and killl them but all was good and now we have lots of fish lol .

we have two filver sharks , two clown loaches , three zebra fish, a sukker fish ,a micky mouse fish , a few others but my faves are these little silver ones with red heads and racing stripe tails lol.

the clown loaches are also great they are put in moods easy but on a good day they do hand stands and al sorts lol

if you havent yet got a tank make sure you pick the biggest tank you can fit staraight away as if you buy a small one once you have filled it with its max capacity of fish you will want bigger , then you have to go out and do it all again , bigger tank wait a month for the cycle to kick in then fill it up again

its also good to note not to put to many fish in in one go but maybe a few a month and a sukker fish is a good idea as they keep the tank clean .

if you have read alot about the tropical fish you will know that there are a friendly groupe and a nasty group so they cant been mixed , in my opinion i would go for the friendly , they are much nicer to look at and are very placid

[Critical_Mass 10]

Ive kept tropical fish for a number of years and yes i learnt some lesson the hard way. But i did learn, thats what was important.

 

Bit of advice for you, avoid barbs when you have fish such as guppies, mollies etc. Any fish with long fancy tails as the barbs like to nip tails. Also as above buy the biggest tank you can, but dont buy a tank taller then it is wide - its all about water surface area. A timer for the lights is a good idea as turning the lights on and off at set times is a good for the fish - also for no longer then 12 hours at a time, can be less if you dont have real plants.

 

One major rule and easy to follow - do not over feed the fish. Speaking of feeding, vary your fishes diet.

 

I did this for about 5 years and really enjoyed it. Im giving marine fish a go next - once i get my tank setup. Dont have the cash at the mo.

[davidwort 0]

So far we have fed them the usual tropical flake food, plus some defrosted frozen water daphnia a couple of times, they love those, even tried some crushed peas which they seemed to have a good go at :)

We aquired a couple of plastic plants, but I nipped out to pets at home and bought 3 different live plants which look much nicer, I've also got some test strips and some stress coat/dechlorinator and have done a partial water change and hoover a few times.

The Mollys in particular are plucky little things and have a good nibble at you if you put your hand in the tank to move plants etc.

Would like to get a tasteful larger tank for downstairs and will probably stick to the livebearer varieties we have for now they seem pretty hardy but characterful and fairly placid as you say.

I remember a mate having cichlids which did nothing but shift the gravel about, amusing but very terrritorial and you can't have many unless you get a mega tank.

[bristolbaron 10]

I would advise sticking with what you have for a while to get used to the routine of cleaning etc before going bigger.

I've kept tropical fish in a 60L tank for a few years now, using a large external filter as changing filters every week was getting expensive and time consuming!

 

My tank is currently fairly neglected, although the fish are still thriving due to the large filter. My water levels are perfect and I generally only have to top up rather than replace water between monthly filter changes.

 

My favourite fish by far is my Golden Nugget Plec.. He doesn't come out very often, but when he does it makes the cost worthwhile!

 

My other favourites are 2 Rams, 3 Corydora julii and a very well behaved male Siamese Fighter.. don't believe everything you here about them, if their one per tank they can be fine.

 

From experience major shops such as Pets at Home are terrible for fish.. displays are badly kept, lots of dead fish in the tanks and white spot on fish for sale! I'd avoid and find a decent standalone supplier or one within a garden centre. I use Maidenhead Aquatics in Bristol, but they have stores all over.

 

I'm doing a filter change tomorrow so will try to get some pics.. Unlikely to see 'Nuggins' though!

[KIPVW 0]

There was a good thread a while ago too David if you do a search, some members with Massive tanks :shock: :lol:

[Philuk 0]

I got 3 tanks now :D

 

I got one filled with African Cichlids got about 9 or 10 in there atm

Upstairs in my bedroom is another 100ish L with a couple of sevrums, silver shark, pair of kribensis, silver dollars,

then downstairs is a tank full of diddy fish mollys platys etc :)

[davidwort 0]

..I got one filled with African Cichlids

I do like them, real little characters, but I will stick to seeing how we get on keeping the Mollys and Platys for a while before attempting anything more, I need something calming like this for bad days working on the Corrados :)

[corradophil 3]

I've been into tropical fish for about three years. I really like planted tanks, and probably spend more time on the plants than the fish :cuckoo:

 

Here's mine.

 

[davidwort 0]

I've been into tropical fish for about three years. I really like planted tanks, and probably spend more time on the plants than the fish :cuckoo:

 

Here's mine.

 

looks nice, how do you clean sand though :scratch:

apparently in the far east a lot of tanks are run for the plants and fish are only added to aid the growing environment for the plants :)

[corradophil 3]

I use a siphon cleaner but rather than sticking it into the substrate like you would with gravel I hold it about 20mm above the sand and move it around which causes the waste to float up off the sand and get sucked up. Also I stir the sand around which makes it look better, and releases any toxic gasses which build up from rotting debris.

[daves16v 1]

The missus took a visit to our local garden/aquatic centre recently and now quite likes the idea of a tank in the lounge.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

We got rid of our tank last year. It was a Juwel Rio 240. Lovely bit of kit but it was a lot of maintenance, which we finally grew tired of after 3 years! Our African dwarf frogs kept dissappearing too. They'd either swim into the filter box or climb out and die in the corner of the house somewhere, poor things. I blocked off all the possible escape routes but they still managed to get out!

 

Be careful with the live plants. A lot of fish chew at them, Clown Loaches especially. We didn't find a single plant they wouldn't peck at.

 

I might get another tank in a year or so when we've finished redecorating the house. I really fancy a cichlid tank this time round. So much more variety and colours, they look stunning most of them :D

[CazzaVR 0]

Been keeping freshwater tropicals since I was a kid. Currently got a tank in the lounge- one leopard plec (very shy!), one big angel, a shoal of columbian tetras and a mixed shoal of cardinals/neons. Really need to give them a clean as it's been a couple of months :oops: Once you get the plants established it's great. As said above a timer is a really good idea. If you start getting too much algae, just knock off 30 mins and see how it goes. Once you get the light perfect, the plants grow well and the algae is kept to a minimum.

 

As mentioned, defo avoid barbs (especially tigers) with long finned fish such as guppys. I'd also avoid sharks (black red-tailed + rainbow) and certain tetras such as serpaes, phantoms, congos and bleeding hearts, as these can get a little nippy.

 

They're well worth the bother! 8)

[Philuk 0]

will get some new photos of both my main setups later on and post em up! i put some plants in my upstairs tank and it wasnt even the dollars which attacked em it was the sevrums! they are getting to the size of the dollars now which is about 4" in diameter

[Critical_Mass 10]

There was a good thread a while ago too David if you do a search, some members with Massive tanks :shock: :lol:

 

That was the thread i started and they would have been Andrew30's tanks. Though that thread was based around Marine fish as opposed to Tropical.

[Critical_Mass 10]

Just to add something in regards to the substrate, sand imo is better then gravel as its easier to clean as the waste stayed ontop of the sand and there was less disruption to the tank, just suck it up with the siphon. Though it can look a little messy with waste being on the top - just keep on top of it. Also plants thrived better with sand as the roots were able to dig in more.

 

I agree with the pets at home comment, every time ive been in there, there's been dead fish in the display tanks. Stay clear imo also. One thing pets at home ARE good for are the frozen foods. They're small trays divided into sections. They're perfect.

 

The strip tests are ok, but they're not 100% accurate. Get yourself the liquid droplet test kit. Not cheap but worth it.

[davidwort 0]

Just to add something in regards to the substrate, sand imo is better then gravel

might well look into getting some, I prefer the more natural look of it too.

 

I agree with the pets at home comment, every time ive been in there, there's been dead fish in the display tanks. Stay clear imo also. One thing pets at home ARE good for are the frozen foods. They're small trays divided into sections. They're perfect.

I must admit I have seen some dead fish in their tanks, the rest looked healthy though, although :|

all I've actually bought from there is the frozen daphnia :) and a fry net/cage to stop the bigger fish eating the new fry, the fish came from someone at my work who was giving away all his fish, I only took what I researched would thrive in our smallish tank but at least I rehomed some rather than buying from a petshop :)

[Critical_Mass 10]

Careful what sand you use then David, as some sand will contain silica which is not the stuff you want. I went to B&Q and got some play sandpit sand which was safe. Pet shops may sell the right stuff too, but often i find there's a premium on it.

[corradophil 3]

Careful what sand you use then David, as some sand will contain silica which is not the stuff you want. I went to B&Q and got some play sandpit sand which was safe. Pet shops may sell the right stuff too, but often i find there's a premium on it.

 

Mine is childrens play sand from Argos. It was about £3 for a bag, which was enough for my tank.

[Philuk 0]

Careful what sand you use then David, as some sand will contain silica which is not the stuff you want. I went to B&Q and got some play sandpit sand which was safe. Pet shops may sell the right stuff too, but often i find there's a premium on it.

 

Mine is childrens play sand from Argos. It was about £3 for a bag, which was enough for my tank.

 

 

i also used the argos stuff originally but i got sick of emptying the filter of it! na dll i could think when i tipped the old water down the drain was how long till this is blocked? so i changed back to gravel but i wanna change to a different gravel now as the white bits have gone acky and green!

 

here are some pics of my bedroom tank!

 

[davidwort 0]

yep, I wasn't going to put bright orange building sand in there :)

I'd read that playpit sand was OK, but would probably have gone to a proper fish supplies place, need to get some more food and a few other bits and bobs at the weekend, will see how much the shop wants for aquaruim sand.

I'm still hankering after a 150-200 litre tank, but being a little sensible it might be later this year

I like the look of:

Juwel Vision 180

juwel180.jpg[/attachment:2u7rqw0b]

bit eye-watering in price!, probably look second hand

[v8rumbler 0]

Well I didn't expect to be discussing this on here. Tail end of last year we bought a small aquarium it is cold water with 4 fish and originally 3 plants (the fish destroyed one) I have read about the nitrogen cycle , which from what I understand will kick in at between 3-6 weeks and keep the water clear but it seems to be always a little green. I chance 10-20% of water weekly. Any advise? we have had the tank about 7 weeks

Darren

[davidwort 0]

Err, is that really your tank in the pic?, do a quick web search, bowls are not only a big :nono: but goldfish are messy, grow far too big and need a massive tank in relation to tropicals, they're best off in a pond IMO

To keep water quality even half well balanced, you need something approaching 40-50 litres and even then you need to change 1/4 of the water every week or so if you are keeping more than a couple of (cleaner) tropical fish.

Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true.

[v8rumbler 0]

Err, is that really your tank in the pic?, do a quick web search, bowls are not only a big :nono: but goldfish are messy, grow far too big and need a massive tank in relation to tropicals, they're best off in a pond IMO

To keep water quality even half well balanced, you need something approaching 40-50 litres and even then you need to change 1/4 of the water every week or so if you are keeping more than a couple of (cleaner) tropical fish.

Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true.

 

Yeah that's mine :camp:

 

It only holds 25 litres-- so I guess I am b****ed then! I thought that goldfish would only grow to the size of their environment :shrug: This whole scenario started when my daughter went to the fair--guess what she won?

 

Darren