Complete Noob

[Mr Grumpy]

Hi

We were in a local garden centre over the weekend & happened to look at some fish as we always like to look in the fishy/pet section.

While we were there, we saw a little fish tank (Fluval Edge 23 litres) that we really liked the look of, we took a catalogue & once we got home, started to do some web digging. (We live in a smallish house with a lot of furniture, so this is why the Edge appealed to us.) I understand that noobies need a bigger tank, in case of mistakes, but we really don't have the space available for anything much bigger. We have been thinking about a fish tank for some time, but always felt the big tanks you see in shops were too big for us & the small ones were cheap & nasty. We have a cat.

A few questions if you don't mind....

Is Fluval a good brand & are the Fluval parts likely to be good quality?
Is a 23 litre tank too small for anything?
During the partial water change, how do you remove the water? A syphon?

For fish, we're thinking of 6x Cardinal Tetras & then maybe add 2x Octocinclus a little later? Nothing is fixed at all, but we'd like the fish to be colourful.

 

[mattyb75]

Welcome, as a nooby, I would look at a tank size of 50-60 litres, otherwise you will have more problems with controlling your Nitrite(NO2) and Ammonia(NH3) levels.
If you go a head with the tank you describe in the post, make sure you have a good (liquid) test kit.




Matt

6 Cardinal Tetras will be about the max for a tank of that size.
I work from the guide of 1cm of fish per 2 litres of water.




Matt

 

[Assaye]

Hi

We were in a local garden centre over the weekend & happened to look at some fish as we always like to look in the fishy/pet section.

While we were there, we saw a little fish tank (Fluval Edge 23 litres) that we really liked the look of, we took a catalogue & once we got home, started to do some web digging. (We live in a smallish house with a lot of furniture, so this is why the Edge appealed to us.) I understand that noobies need a bigger tank, in case of mistakes, but we really don't have the space available for anything much bigger. We have been thinking about a fish tank for some time, but always felt the big tanks you see in shops were too big for us & the small ones were cheap & nasty. We have a cat.

A few questions if you don't mind....

Is Fluval a good brand & are the Fluval parts likely to be good quality?
Is a 23 litre tank too small for anything?
During the partial water change, how do you remove the water? A syphon?

For fish, we're thinking of 6x Cardinal Tetras & then maybe add 2x Octocinclus a little later? Nothing is fixed at all, but we'd like the fish to be colourful.

Heya,

The Fluval Edge can be a great little tank if you stock it right and maintain it right. It's certainly a fairly tricky tank for a new fishkeeper to get to grips with!

23 litres is too small for 6 cardinals. These guys can reach 1.5 inches (or more) and need a lot of space to explore and feel safe. I wouldn't put them in anything less than 60 litres. There are some much smaller tetras (such as green neon tetras) that would be much, much happier in that little tank. There are also a ton of tiny microrasboras that are very colourful. Otos also need groups of 6+ so shouldn't be kept on their own or in pairs. A good bottom feeding alternative would be some shrimp as you could keep 6 or 7 in there with no problems, as long as you went for small, peaceful species (such as cherry shrimp).

You should consider looking at about 6 small tetras/rasboras (ideally ones that stay under 1 inch) and 6 small shrimp is you want bottom feeders.

Yes, you can get syphons to remove the water. These are best as many of them also double as excellent gravel/sand cleaners and this is a task that should be done weekly with your water change.

Have a read of the stuff in this link

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks for the pointers. We will spend some more time looking around & try to form some better plans.

 

[grumpysteve]

i just thought i'd pop my head in here to say i like your name!

assaye's stocking idea sounds brilliant to me for that tank. some shrimp are gorgeous and if you look around there's some beautiful rasbora's out there. if you find a fish you like but your LFS doesn't stock it, ask them if they can order it in, if they can't ask a few more shops. if you still have no luck tropicalfishfinder.co.uk (providing you live in the uk?)
i've got some cherry-spot rasbora (rasbora rubrodorsalis) and i think they're great, a small shoal of them would be right at home in your tank

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks everyone

We've tweaked our ideas a little..... We can move a chair from our bedroom into the loft & a leather recliner from our living room to our bedroom. This gives a quiet space in the living room of just over 1 metre wide in front of a North-East facing window.

This would free some space for a 100x40x55cm - 200 litre tank. We would aim to get the best equipment we could, with a backup heater.

Our target favourite fish for this tropical tank would be 4 Discus. We understand that Discus are sensitive fish & not completely suitable for Noobies (although I've read about more hardy hybrids). Could we plan some tank mates for the Discus & get them first, then look at adding the Discus after 6 months or so? Would tank mates like Neons & Cardinals be suited? I've read about possible issues with sucker bottom feeders, but is there any other algae feeders that would be suited?

 

[xamy_valox]

Hi,
I did the same as you. I went to a garden centre and saw the Fluval Edge but we got it as complete noobs and are doing fine so far!
I find it quite easy to maintain and other than 2 platy's dying (though I think it might be more of a case of where we got them from), the fish are doing great.
I've got 4 guppies, 2 platy's and one male Beta in my tank and so far it's not been too difficult (touch wood!!).
Amy.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Hi,
I did the same as you. I went to a garden centre and saw the Fluval Edge but we got it as complete noobs and are doing fine so far!
I find it quite easy to maintain and other than 2 platy's dying (though I think it might be more of a case of where we got them from), the fish are doing great.
I've got 4 guppies, 2 platy's and one male Beta in my tank and so far it's not been too difficult (touch wood!!).
Amy.

That's interesting, thanks Amy.