Hello From Manchester, Uk

[Suleika]

Hi TFF members

I'm a German girl who grew up in Spain and now lives in Manchester, UK.

I have some experience in aquatics as I used to keep a rescued Trachemys Scripta Scripta in a 200l tank and a Graptemys Pseudogeographica Pseudogeographica in a 135l tank. I used to keep some Platies and Balloon Mollies with the latter but my knowledge of fish is limited as the turtles were my focus. In 2006, I set up a turtle forum, with the aim to educate Spanish turtle owners and to help improve their pets' living conditions. The forums are still up and running and are now kindly run by another turtle expert - http/forotortuga.multiforos.es

I am now planning to set up a 100 - 200l tank with tropical fish. The idea is to find a relatively cheap second hand tank (any thoughts about where to find one are welcomed, eBay is probably the obvious one) and to invest in an Eheim Professionel external filter (I used to run these in my two tanks in Spain and never had any problems). I am planning to do fishless cycling but will contact some people from your mature filter media donation list to speed up the process.

I am thinking Guppies and Platies in a planted aquarium to start with - I also liked the Balloon Mollies but have read they prefer brackish water. Please feel free to suggest other small beginner fish. Will buy a test kit before making any decisions. The nearest LFS is Pets at Home - have already been there a few days ago to look at the fish and they seem well looked after.

Also, are there any books you would recommend? I have done quite a bit of research on the forums but maybe I should invest in an encyclopedia to help me choose the right fish?

Many thanks in advance for any comments and suggestions.

Regards

Nicole

 

[This Old Spouse]

A warm welcome to our forum!

Your ideas for guppies and platies looks good. Balloon mollies don't need brackish water. They really are a freshwater fish. As for books, this forum has proved to be a much better resource than any book I've read. More people with more experiences and opinions usually gets you the answers you're looking for in a quick and entertaining way.

Glad you joined us!

~Lisa

 

[Man of fish]

welcome! Hope you like it here!! Your ideas sound good by me.
Warm welcome,
Matt

 

[webbie]

Welcome to the site Suleika sure you will find all the help you need here,E-Bay is one place to look for used tanks,but another site is Preloved you can put in a local search to narrow down your choice

 

[Suleika]

Many thanks for the warm welcome. webbie, it comes up with the message 'You are not allowed to use the private messaging system.'

 

[webbie]

Many thanks for the warm welcome. webbie, it comes up with the message 'You are not allowed to use the private messaging system.'

Suleika there is also a classifieds section on this site where members sell used equipment see if there is anything available around your area,no idea about the private message thing,anything you need to know just ask ,someone on here is bound to know the answer,dont think sending you some filter material from the west midlands would survive the journey,fishless cycle seems the popular way to get your tank started,the first tank i set up i used Seachem stability, worked fine for me,just set up a little shellies tank did a fishless cycle on that,results about the same.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Many thanks for the warm welcome. webbie, it comes up with the message 'You are not allowed to use the private messaging system.'

You need to post a certain number of times (I think 10 or so ) before you can use the more advanced features.

 

[Cazgar]

Hi Suleika & welcome
You could try Gumtree too for a cheap tank

 

[XeroTolerance]

to the forums!

 

[BigC]

Welcome to TFF [font="Verdana] [/font][/color][color="#222222"][font="Verdana]Suleika....[/font][/color]
[font="Verdana] [/font][font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Pets at Home wouldn't be my immediate choice for livestock.
[/font][font="Verdana][color="#222222"]best to search out a dedicated aquarist shop (especially if you've access to transport) the staff will be more knowledgeable too. I'm sure our membership can recommend a few from their experiences.[/color][/font]
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]If you are looking to just have an aesthetically pleasing aquarium to look at then remember to choose fish to fill all the water levels Top, Middle, Bottom[/color][/font]
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Probably the most important advice I could share with anyone is "Join your local Aquarist Society"
[/color][/font][font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Here you will have access to everything you want via their vast experience...meet new friends and get a better insight into your chosen hobby[/color][/font]
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Good luck with you project and welcome once again to TFF[/color][/font]
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]Regards[/color][/font]
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]C[/color][/font]
[font="Verdana] [/font]

 

[fishprotector]

Hi. where abouts in manchester are you? i am in the east near the m60. i am running two big externals and could provide you with some mature media. let me know.

 

[Wills]

Hi if you are in Manchester no way should you go to Pets at Home you have so many awesome shops near you You should check out the Abyss for tanks as they do some pretty sweet deals but as said check out ebay and also Aquarist Classifieds.

Also if your looking to stock a tank and you live near there you have to go to Pier Aquatics in Wigan not that far from Manchester but one of the best shops in the UK, I dont mean this in a harsh way but after going there you might question if you just want to keep platies and guppies

Wills

 

[Suleika]

BigC, thanks for the advice. I have already read about choosing fish to fill all the water levels but still a little unsure about which fish would be good to mix. Looking through some of the species profiles on the forum, the following fish appeal to me:

• Black Molly
• Endler's Livebearer
• Guppy
• Balloon Molly (even though it says that due to heavy inbreeding their life expectancy is relatively short, plus iirc some years ago I was told on a German aquatics forum that these shouldn't be bought because of said inbreeding)
• Platy
• Tetra
• Danio

Have ordered a copy of Mini Encyclopedia of the Tropical Aquarium from Amazon though. Also going to wait for the API Freshwater Master Test Kit to arrive to see which fish are compatible with my PH level. Have also ordered a bottle of API Stress Coat + to dechlorinate the water.

fishprotector, that would be a really great help! We're in Droylsden. Will contact you once we have a tank and maybe we could pick some up!

Wills, will drive down to the Abyss in the next few days, looks great on website!

 

[fishprotector]

Oh that is close, I am in Audenshaw. I second going to the Abyss. It is a good shop for reduced price tanks. I got my 300l from there in a bargain deal. I have found that Maidenhead Aquatics (Ashton Moss garden centre) is one of the better shops for fish around here. Pier is good, but they have lots of tankbusters in there.

 

[Suleika]

That sounds good, Ashton Moss is just down the road!