Hi, Very New Starter Some Questions Please.

[Ransom]

Hello all, a friend has moved into his girlfriends mothers house an has given me a 3food tank with a wooden stand, now i know nothing about fish keeping so i was hoping someone could point me in the right starting

now i understand i will need a few things sorting out before i am able to put any fish in the tank. But exactly what im not sure of.

I currently have this 3foot by 1foot wide by 1.5foot high tank and a lid only nothing else right now.
I am away next week so if i managed to get the filtration / good bacteria thing going i could leave it next week as there will be no one at our house. I plan on running a Tropical Fish Tank

My understanding is that i will need the following to preceed in fish keeping.

Skimmer > No idea what this is / Or what its used for.
Heater > Ok understandable but which one?
Filter > I presume this filters the old food out of the water? 1 or more? > Which one
Water Test Kit > ok understand this bit but which one?
Gravel or Sand > Which is best an does this have to be fish shop gravel and sand?
Life Plants > any perticular ones i should buy to start with?
Corels > any perticular ones i should buy to start with?
Lights > which lights / timers / are they water proff??
Fish Foods > ill ask the fish shop which is best.
Backing wallpaper to tank?

My plan is hopefully runing a nicly stocked fish tank with some shrimps / neons in a 10ish shoal / crabs as they look cool / i would like some 10ish Centermeter fish in there but want to start small and let them grow.

thanks all in advance im from the Buxton in Derbyshire area an if anyone know of any good shops close to where i am
any info is appriciated

 

[furryrabbit]

well , few things. firstly - there are two main types of fishkeeping - saltwater , and freshwater. the first is the one that involves the skimmer and corals. saltwater ( marine not brackish ) fishkeeping is much more complicated. you state you want neons , so you are starting with freshwater. as for the crabs - among other things they will eat your fish , so best to give them a miss for now. you do however need everything else on your list . sand can be bought at argos or whatever to use in your aquarium , but if you want gravel i would go for petstore gravel.

many test kits are available in your local fish shop. to start , try and get one that tests for a variety of things - ammonia , nitrites , nitrates etc.

a 3 foot tank is a good beginner tank , as there is a bit of room for error. you could keep quite a few neons in that tank , as well as many other types of tropical freshwater fish. browse the forum , or visit your lfs to see the many freshwater fish commonly available. ALWAYS RESEARCH YOUR FISH BEFORE YOU BUY IT.

it is very important that you cycle your tank before stocking it. fishless cycling is the way to go ( cycling is allowing the build up of healthy bacteria in your tank to support your fish , put simply ) , and if you search this site you will find a number of donors for filter media , from various different places. the helpful bacteria will live in this media - and by using mature filter media , you can cycle your tank very quickly.

finally , one more thing you need to buy is dechlorinator. this is available in all fish stores , and basically takes all the nasty stuff out of your tap water , ready for your fish.

edit - look for the filter media donot pinned topic at the top of the beginner section , im pretty sure theres a derbyshire donor.

 

[juicebox]

skimmers and corals are for marine tanks. i use "whisper tetra" filters and they work pretty well for me. you probably only need one, but some people will say it's best to get two small ones in case one breaks. "whisper" also makes heaters. i don't really know which types of heaters work best. test kits depend on your pet store. i think any standard test kit you find will do the job; you want to look for ones with tubes, though. the matter of gravel or sand is completely your choice, although i'd probably say gravel would be best for a beginner because sand can be tricky to clean. as for plants, you should probably get fake ones; real plants require a bit more equipment and knowledge. i think the lights that come with your hood (if it did come with lights) should be sufficient. if you have to buy some lights, a 30 watt incandescent lightbulb should do the job. a background is totally up to you.

your tank can only cycle with fish in it, unless you plan to do a fishless cycle. in that case, it'd require you or someone else being there to dose the ammonia. i wouldn't recommend crabs because they can kill your fish. remember to add your fish slowly and in small numbers before your tank has cycled and only have about three or so fish while your tank is cycling.

[edit]
furryrabbit beat me.

 

[furryrabbit]

[edit]
furryrabbit beat me.

lol , i had a feeling i was racing against someone else replying first

 

[juicebox]

[edit]
furryrabbit beat me.

lol , i had a feeling i was racing against someone else replying first

haha, me too. i also had a feeling i'd lose.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Heaterwise, Visitherm are highly recommended and have received good reviews. You need around 5 watts per US gallon but if youre in a mega cold climate and suffer from larger temp. fluctuations youll need more.

Water test kit wise I'd go for an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals API freshwater Master Test Kit. Online or £17.99 from Pets at Home.

Your best bet with backing paper in my opionion is to stay on the safe side and go for all black. Either black card stuck on with cello tape or black bin liner stuck on with vaseline. There's posts on how to do this on this forum somewhere.

Good beginners plants in my sig. or go here and look up easy to grow plants:

http/www.plantgeek.net/