L Plates

[maplethistle]

Hello, we've just brought home our new aquarium - just got the stand put together, got all the rest of the stuff to do tomorrow - and should be ready to put in the gravel etc and to start the water treatment tomorrow evening.
Pet shop recommended gouramis to put in the tank next weekend. Were told these will get the tank ready to put in other fish after about 4 weeks? We really loved the guppies and I think clown loaches are lovely and tetras look nice too. Our tank is 90 litres.
Any ideas? We'd hate to have anything awful happen?
Would really appreciate any advice.
Thanks.

 

[Mikaila31]

You need to cycle the tank. This takes about a month. You won't be able to add fish till it is over. All tanks go through a cycle, you have the option of doing a fishless cycle or a fish in cycle. You can do what the store suggested as well, but it is very likely that the gouramis will not survive the cycle. During the cycle the fish are exposed to dangerous and often deadly amounts of toxins. Fish-in cycles also require daily water changes and water tests, and take longer than a fishless cycle. Overall they are stessfull for the owner. Fishless cycles are highly recommended, though it means watching and empty tank for a month. It is the best way to do it.

I suggest reading these links:

what is cycling?
how to fishless cycle
weekly maintance

Once you have read those links and understand the cycle process. I suggest trying to get a hold of mature media, this is filter media form a already cycled tank. It will give your cycle a boost and make it take less time.

Also one of the biggest newbie mistakes is buying any fish. You need to research all fish before you buy them. Guppies are great beginner fish, but should be bough 1male to at least 2 females, tetras need to be in schools. Clown loaches get over a foot long. Also your tank has a maximum amount of fish is should hold.

 

[LauraFrog]

You can't really keep clown loaches in a 90 litre tank because they just get too big, as Mikaila said around a foot long and they also like to live in groups. You could consider a yoyo loach, which isn't as colourful but is very attractively marked.

Gouramis are a great choice, they are easy to look after but you should definitely not use them as your first fish. They should go in when your tank is well and truly cycled. If you choose to do a fish in cycle, the best fish to use are platys and the next best zebra danios. Virtually all catfish, tetras and rainbowfish have a very poor chance of surviving a cycle.

A fishless cycle is definitely the way to go in my opinion - it's boring, but it gives you a month to figure out exactly what you want to put in the tank, and you know that the fish you buy are likely to survive.

Good luck!

 

[waterdrop]

I'm always amazed at the luck of the few people who stumble across a true tropical fish hobbyist forum like this on their first internet searches before they've actually made the big mistake and purchased fish for their first new uncycled tank. Welcome to the forums maplethistle!

The members here are great and are already giving you advice that's light years better than you would get in the LFS. Good Luck! Its definately worth taking this advice seriously and beginning to learn all about the "Nitrogen Cycle", the "Fishless Cycling" process, including liquid-reagent-based test kits, and proper tank startup. Even though the fishless cycling process seemingly takes a long time, if you use that time energetically for learning, it will barely give you enough time get a bunch of essentials learned, good fish choices figured out and some beginning practice on what aquarium weekly maintenance will be like for all the years following. Its a beautiful hobby and well worth the effort.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[maplethistle]

Can we just say a huge thanks to you for all your advice. It's so good to have sound advice and we're going to follow it. Going to spend the next four weeks being patient and doing some serious reading.
Watch out for us though, we'll undoubtably have some more questions before too long!
Thanks again.

 

[rabbut]

Some generally good advice thus far, but a note on Guppies. I note Mikalila and Laura Frog are from different countries to me and hence may have better imported stock/more readily available local bred supplys of Guppies, but trade bred Guppies generally drop like flies hit by fly spray in a tank that is fairly new. If you can keep them in a tank that is less than 6 months old, you are doing well. Try for locally bred stock if you get them, and make shure that your tank is well matured (been running with fish in for 4-6months) before you get any. If they settle and do well for you, great, they are easy enough to keep. A lot of experienced members on here (myself included) struggle with them though...

Great to hear you are going to fishless cycle (presumably with liquid ammonia over fish food) over taking the LFS's advice

Some Tetras can be nippy, so go look for and make a list of the ones you like. Post the list and we'll tell you which of the ones you like will work with Guppies if you are going to give them a go

All the best
Rabbut

 

[vinylman]

Hi and welcome. The first fish you introduce to your tank (when it's cycled) will dictate what you can add later on, particularly if the first lot are aggressive or semi-aggressive. Please use this cycling time to read up on as many fish as you can, as well as the fish they'll be compatible with. As for Gouramis, I'd avoid Dwarf Gourami as they're prone to a fatal Iridovirus. Lots of other choices, though. As has been pointed out, don't be discouraged by looking at an empty tank whilst it's cycling - use the time to research, research and research some more. Have a look at some LFS near you and try to get an idea of what will be easily available for you; draw up a list of the ones you like the look of, then post your list here. DON'T believe the shops when they say you'll need a bottle of this, and that, and this, and this. Once your tank is cycled, the only thing you'll need to put into it regularly is fresh dechlorinated water and food. And NEVER wash the filter media in anything but a bucket of old tank water; the media itself will last for ages, too - there's absolutely no need to change it every month, the manufacturers would love us to buy new every month. Any questions, ask away - there's always some of us awake somewhere. Please read as many of the pinned threads here as you can - they'll tell you everything you'll need to know. Starting off the right way saves a lot of grief (financial and emotional) later on.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree about reading the pinned articles...

In fact, makes me think of three things about the reading/writing aspect: First, read/re-read all the pinned articles you can.

Second, don't hesitate to read other peoples threads and interact, there's plenty of learning possible in other threads.

Third, don't hesitate to chit-chat and mention things you're doing/thinking in your own thread. The pinned articles are often just attempts to consolidate subsets of information that are given out on a frequent basis. Its quite difficult for them to cover all aspects of a particular subject and near impossible for them to cover the wide array of individual situations people can have, so its not good to assume that the pinned article is necessarily the whole story.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[vinylman]

Oh, absolutely W; nothing wrong in joining in a thread to find info. Chat is good, as are questions; if nobody asked questions, we'd still be living in caves. OTOH, I can completely understand a newcomer to the hobby (and of course, we could be the first site they've visited) being hesitant and feeling a lot of the posts are over their heads, but a quick explanation by a newbie usually breaks the ice. By coming here, most newcomers have already shown that they want to learn more (and they've realised that there IS more) than they've been told in a (possibly) less-than-great shop.