New, looking for tips

[Guppylover3x]

Hi CamG369,
I am new to this forum. I had fish years ago but consider myself a beginner.
Great idea to get a 90 litre, larger tanks are easier to control. Also fabulous that you are doing your research. Now the main thing is your water quality (pollutant free) in your tank so here's my top 5 tips
Tip 1- don't forget to dechlorinate water before adding to the tank (I have nearly forgot this on doing water changes)
Tip 2- do use a test kit so that you can spot problems before the fish are showing signs of distress
Tip 3- don't overfeed (I read their stomach is the same size as one of their eyes - tiny!)
Tip 4-don't overstock (as mentioned by others it is hard to resist fish but we have to let the head rule the heart here)
Tip 5- don't overclean (this is so that you preserve the good bacteria in your system. I've cleaned my filter sponge just because it gets dirty but probably washed off a lot of helpful bacteria).
Good luck!
Naughts

Some very useful information

Good job @Naughts

However, I must express that the GH of your water supply will affect the fish you can keep. This can be found through your local water supplier.

Some species of fish naturally live in harder water to others.

Apologies if anyone has already stated this above. There’s lots of use information on this thread.

 

[FishGuest5123]

When your ready to cycle your tank, get your pure ammonia. Also get a bottle of Tetra Safe Start +. It is bottled bacteria that will give you a jump start on cycling your tank. Don’t use Seachem Prime as a dechlorinator for 48 hours. Use a regular dechlorinator during that time. After 48 hours you can switch to Seachem Prime which I highly recommend. It will take roughly 3 - 4 weeks with Safe Start+ to cycle your tank. Watch Dr. Tim’s video on Fishless Cycling. He is excellent. Note: If you know anyone with a fish tank, see if they will give you some filter media or gravel to “seed” your tank with. This will give you a cycled tank much faster. Be sure to keep the media wet and get it into your dechlorinated tank ASAP. Good luck and keep us posted, please.

 

[CamG369]

When your ready to cycle your tank, get your pure ammonia. Also get a bottle of Tetra Safe Start +. It is bottled bacteria that will give you a jump start on cycling your tank. Don’t use Seachem Prime as a dechlorinator for 48 hours. Use a regular dechlorinator during that time. After 48 hours you can switch to Seachem Prime which I highly recommend. It will take roughly 3 - 4 weeks with Safe Start+ to cycle your tank. Watch Dr. Tim’s video on Fishless Cycling. He is excellent. Note: If you know anyone with a fish tank, see if they will give you some filter media or gravel to “seed” your tank with. This will give you a cycled tank much faster. Be sure to keep the media wet and get it into your dechlorinated tank ASAP. Good luck and keep us posted, please.

I'll give him a look. I read somewhere about using distilled water, is this something to do instead?

 

[FishGuest5123]

IMO, distilled water is not good to use as most needed minerals for fish are removed during the distilling process.

 

[CamG369]

IMO, distilled water is not good to use as most needed minerals for fish are removed during the distilling process.

Ok, thanks. I know where to come if I've more questions

 

[Colin_T]

Before we recommend any fish, we need to know what are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

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Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

------------------------------
Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and over feeding (they usually go hand in hand). Keep feeding down to a minimum and do big regular water changes and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

 

[CamG369]

Before we recommend any fish, we need to know what are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

------------------------------
Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.

------------------------------
Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and over feeding (they usually go hand in hand). Keep feeding down to a minimum and do big regular water changes and gravel clean the substrate.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

Thanks, I've been looking at ways to treat some illnesses and will have time to do more.

The tank dimensions I intend on having are 76cm x 30cm x 45.7cm.

 

[CamG369]

Does anyone know where I can purchase a decent 90L tank? Preferable with some form of storage underneath? I've been trying to look but a lot of places don't have that

 

[Guppylover3x]

Does anyone know where I can purchase a decent 90L tank? Preferable with some form of storage underneath? I've been trying to look but a lot of places don't have that

You could buy a Fluval Roma they come in 3 different sizes.

90 litres being the smallest.

The tank comes with a stand or it can be purchased separately.

 

[CamG369]

so I began tank setup today. I have ran into a problem. My filter doesn't seem to be doing the job. It came with the tank I got (tetra).It just seems to be making the water vibrate slightly and nothing more. Is this normal? At the time of writing it has only been running for around 5 minutes