New Hobbyist - Tropical Fish tank

[KAFish]

Hi all glad ive found a forum that seems to still be functioning well!

Ive been toying with the idea of keeping my own fish for about a year now, lockdown and now working from home has driven me to take the plunge, to provide some tranquility in my home/office.

I am currently on week 2 of my first aquarium.
Aquarium size: 56 Litres
Dimensions (HxWxD): 35.5cm x 59cm x 31cm
Comes with CF1 filter and i purchased a 100w heater.

My aim is to keep Tropical fish

My progress so far:
Black sand subsrate
1 piece of driftwood
a few pieces of dragonstone some with moss attached..

Plants:
Hygrophilia siamensis 53b
https/tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Hygrophila'Siamensis53B'(053B)/4493

Java fern
https/tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Microsorumpteropus(008)/4408

Taxiphyllum Bariberi
https/tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Taxiphyllumbarbieri(003POR)/4391

Heteranthera zosterifolia
https/tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Heterantherazosterifolia(096TC)/4544

Ludwigia Rubins
https/tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Ludwigiarepens'Rubin'(033D)/4450

Saggitaria Subulata -medium co2 - i have no co 2 injection.
https/tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Sagittariasubulata(079)/4530

Murdannia Keisak
https/tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Murdanniakeisak(135)/4763

I am on week 2 of my Aqua Care bio boost fishless cycle As instructed by my fish store. Have been going through pages and pages of articles around the fish cycle and found after i had started that the natural is probably best but its too late for that im eager to get the fish in and so are the kids so hopefully water levels will settle in the next week or so.

Unforuntately my questions will be coming thick and fast as i have nothing to do but research an therefore will be posting quite a bit in the coming days.

Thanks guys nice to meet you all

Quick pic of my tank attached : )

(you will notice one side is very densley populated with plants whilst the other is not, this is on purpose, to create a jungle quarter and a clear rocky side) as my tank doesnt really have a front and back ive tried to set it up with areas instead.

Im open to any advice or tips guys literally ANYTHING especially any fishkeepers who visit maidenhead aquatics and are using their bio boost and water conditoner products as i can findzero documentation on this online.

Best

 

[Retired Viking]

Your tank looks good, if natural you mean planted/silent you could still do that by adding some fast growing floating plants like anacharis, hornwort, moneywort, water sprite and frog bite. All except frog bite you can also "plant" and they are easy to care for. They draw what they need from the water and absorb ammonia at a faster rate than most plants.

 

[seangee]

Tank looks good. Put some black card on the outside of the back wall. It makes the fish feel more secure and the tank looks more dramatic.

If you trim the straggly tops of the hygrophila it will really bush out. Added bonus that if you plant the cuttings they will root and start growing within a day or so
This is the same species

 

[KAFish]

Your tank looks good, if natural you mean planted/silent you could still do that by adding some fast growing floating plants like anacharis, hornwort, moneywort, water sprite and frog bite. All except frog bite you can also "plant" and they are easy to care for. They draw what they need from the water and absorb ammonia at a faster rate than most plants.

Thanks man!
Great i did see hornwort but am struggling to find it in stock. So do you think i should stop planting or there still more room, i have some small finger root wood that im contemplating adding in the empty coroner under the filter.

 

[KAFish]

Tank looks good. Put some black card on the outside of the back wall. It makes the fish feel more secure and the tank looks more dramatic.

If you trim the straggly tops of the hygrophila it will really bush out. Added bonus that if you plant the cuttings they will root and start growing within a day or so
This is the same species

Thank you ahhh i had seen it done with other plants but didnt realise i can do this with the Hygrophilia, is this the case for all stem plants? ive noticed some have started to sprout water roots mid stem.

 

[seangee]

It works for most stem plants, although not all grow as fast as hygrophila.

 

[dmpfishlover]

to the Forum!!

Nice looking tank!! I agree with the others... Some floating plants and a black background would take your tank to the next level!

 

[KAFish]

Thanks. It sits behind a sofa so is kinda 360 for now ill keep it open. But if i move it will def get some background on

 

[dmpfishlover]

Thanks. It sits behind a sofa so is kinda 360 for now ill keep it open. But if i move it will def get some background on

Gotcha... You could still put a background on it if you want. Although you could only view it from one side then, I think you would find that the fish would be much more "relaxed" with one side of the tank a solid color like black, and be more likely to act "naturally" and less skittish.

 

[Retired Viking]

Thanks man!
Great i did see hornwort but am struggling to find it in stock. So do you think i should stop planting or there still more room, i have some small finger root wood that im contemplating adding in the empty coroner under the filter.

There is still room, here is a picture of my 55 gallon tetra tank, the plants floating are anacharis and also give my fish shade. Many fish like tetras prefer shade to bright lights.

 

[KAFish]

There is still room, here is a picture of my 55 gallon tetra tank, the plants floating are anacharis and also give my fish shade. Many fish like tetras prefer shade to bright lights.

NIce glad to hear it ill get on the hunt for hornwort and some moss for my root!!