need a little general advise

[pee]

As you may or may not know. I got a frog in my tank ( which i started 3 weeks ago) and the poor little mite has to go back coz he will eat my fishies when i start to get them. I will be taking a sample from my tank to the store to be tested. To see if the water is fish-ready. I just need a little pointer as to what are the best fish to start of with and how many to get to start. Obviously I don't want new tank syndrome(done my reading up!!) I want a lively community tank. Should I start with top, middle or botten feeders?

Any info greatfully received.

Pete

 

[Josh Q]

How big is your tank?
-Josh

 

[pee]

30in long, 12 in wide and 15 in deep. aprox 19.5 UK gallon

Cheers Peter

 

[crackenhunter]

The advice I got when I started was to get some Neon Tetras which are quite hardy fish. I would say around ten to start with.

I have had a few fatalties in my tank due to one thing and another but all of my Neons are still alive and kicking, or swimming if you prefer.

They are a quite nice colour and look cool when they are chasing each other about the tank.

Hope this helps.
James

 

[StiX]

Actually, neon tetras arent all that hardy, and alot of neons around arent in that good of a condition!

For a new tank, i would suggest some livebearers - colourfull, lively, and easy to breed (if u want to of corse! ....and probably if u dont to ) or maybe some danio's

 

[crackenhunter]

I would take the advice of the guys on here.

I'm relatively new to this as well and I'm just going from my own personal experience.

I have had some dodgy experiences with Guppys and Mollies but as I say the Neons always seem unaffected and really healthy.

I've recently added some Zebra Danios and some Silvertips and so far no problems with either.

Like I said though, the guys on here are much more experienced than me so I would go with what they say.

 

[Waterloo Kid]

I started with 10 zebra danios and 10 glowlight tetras in my 400l tank. They went in on day 3 in the life of my tank so were potentially subject to high ammonia and nitrite levels. Of course with the size of the tank and the relatively low stocking level my parameters never got even slightly high (I actually never got any reading for ammonia!). I added Stress Zyme to the tank to try to kick start the cycling which could account for the lack of ammonia.

Do yourself a favour and get a water testing kit. You can get the whole set of tests for about £20 and it'll save you plenty of time and hassle trudging down to the lfs to get your water tested.

I may be wrong but I recall the water up your way being rather on the hard side which wouldn't be too good for the common tetras which prefer softer water.

Basically I'd advise you to test your water and know what's in your tank and then read up about the fish that are suitable for your water. Choose a few hardy fish to start and go from there.

As far as top, middle or bottom feeders goes, it shouldn't matter. Just make sure you don't overfeed them. Most fish are always hungry and will eat even if they don't need it. They will then excrete almost pure mashed up food which will rot in your tank and cause pollution problems.
If you want lively fish I'd suggest zebra danios. They are non-stop fish!

WK

 

[Alex]

I have to agree with zebra danios, very hardy fish. If you want any bottom dwellers, some of the corys are very hardy, eg. peppered cory. I found my glowlights are much hardier than my neons, but I must say neons for that amazing splash of colour are hard to beat. Remember to pick carefully as you could have these fish for years, so make sure they are not just hardy, but also that you really want to have them in your tank for the months to come. enjoy; setting up a tank is great fun.

 

[EddieW]

Alex,

If you want the neon type colours, I would go with Cardinal Tetras - slightly more colour than a Neon and they are generally a lot hardier than most Neons.

Cheers, Eddie