Best Fish To Start

[deputy dawg]

Hi all ... First post and very new to keeping fish well we all had to start somewhere but I have to say from being someone who thought you filled up a tank and put in the fish the reality of it all was mind boggling...However what I have to say is so far it has been a terrifc learning experiance

I have a 60 litre tank which is now ok to start with a few fish...I am sure it will have been covered in this forum but would no doubt take me an eternity to find it...Could people let me know the best fish to intially start with....I am led to believe only 3 or 4 but I just want to know which ones will be beneficial to a new tank and not get too distressed....

No doubt like a lot of people I would like to end up with a lot of colour but fully understand this may not be the case intially

Cheers

Kev

 

[blackghostknife]

HI

Welcome, first question, have you done a fishless cycle? Do you know what a fishless cycle is?


Here's a link to the beginners resource centre.
http/www.fishforum...esource-center/

 

[deputy dawg]

If you asked me that I two weeks ago I would have looked at you like an alien...but all the reading I have done i now probabily know a little amount..I used Nutrafin Cycle over a period of ten days, I know not the best method bt I was reliably informed should be alright...My water was checked and I was told that it was now ok (Fingers crossed) Reading other posts on here the last thing I want is for children to see fish in distress/passing away

 

[blackghostknife]

Well if you here then you are already taking the correct steps, have you added any fish yet? How many? I know you want to add some fish, but have you added any already? Also check your water often and to 50% water changes if anything changes.

Good Luck

 

[Louiseness]

If you asked me that I two weeks ago I would have looked at you like an alien...but all the reading I have done i now probabily know a little amount..I used Nutrafin Cycle over a period of ten days, I know not the best method bt I was reliably informed should be alright...My water was checked and I was told that it was now ok (Fingers crossed) Reading other posts on here the last thing I want is for children to see fish in distress/passing away

Nutrafin Cycle probably won't have done anything, Your water will test as OK because it's essentially still just plain tapwater - there's no ammonia source there to create any problems. If you're worried about your kids seeing distressed/dead fish you'd be better to do a proper fishless cycle - there's a sticky about it at the top of the forums.

 

[willowstwin]

I was exactly the same as you, so I fully sympathise, and although I don't have kids, I personally don't like to see animals distressed.

So I joined this forum and everyone has been mighty helpful.

First things first, read this topic:
Fishless Cycling

Basically, what happens is, the fish produce ammonia which is toxic. Bacteria (2 types specifically) need to grow in numbers to help process this waste. Your Nutrafin claims to have the bacteria that do this, to kick start your tank... what the fail to tell you is that even if this were tru, the bacteria can't survive without fish waste. However, you go ahead and put fish in, and they're swimming around in semi-toxic levels of ammonia - the bacteria don't multiply THAT quickly - and even if this doesn't kill the fish, it can cause health problems which may cause them to suffer "silently" and live a shorter life than possible.

You don't want the fish to suffer and/or die, so, what do you do?

First off, get yourself the following things:
* Shop bought ammonia (pure ammonia - usually ~9% ammonia)
* A water testing kit (preferrably a liquid based one, the test strips aren't greatly accurate)
* Find someone with an established tank (or ask your LFS) for a source of mature filter media - basically, this is a used piece of filter sponge, and/or ceramic rings (depending on your filter type) which is already teaming with these amazing bacteria, and will kick start your cycling process.

Follow the instructions on the above thread, if stuck/worried ask on here, post your water stats etc and get your tank cycling.

It may seem like a lot of hassle (and a boring empty tank) BUT...

a) You can add your full quota of fish when it has finished cycling because you've made sure your bacteria can handle the waste
b) You're ensuring that the fish won't suffer (as they won't be swimming around in toxic levels of their own waste)
c) You're saving yourself work from the very start of putting your fish in - a fully cycled tank means you don't have to go through regular (and I'm talking every day - every other day) water changes to get the toxicity down.

All in all, you'll have a better tank if you cycle. Try to get some mature filter media and things will go speedily. I got some from a 4 year old tank and mine was in phase 3 of the cycle in 2 weeks. I'm now building up my fish stock, but only because I'm picky and can't decide on my other fish, but I now have a school of neon tetras happily swimming in my tank.