New Tank Being Delivered

[David J]

Hi

Well, after many weeks of research & sleepless nights of excitement and after 45 minutes of arguments at my lunch break today with a certain delivery company, my new Fluval Roma 90L and Oak cabinet with all the equipment and more is coming on Monday.

It is officially for my Christmas but as I need to open it before signing for it, my better half might just let me set it up if I'm lucky. Either way, I'll just be happy once it's in the house given the absolute nightmare I had today trying to deal with rude and incompetent people. What happened to customer service? I don't know how these people manage to keep their jobs.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. I'll post back on Monday, hopefully with good news.

All the best

David

 

[JHR]

Sweet, good luck with persuading your other half to set up early.

Just say that it will take a few weeks to cycle anyway so you'll be able to add fish by Christmas and not have to wait til new year!

Be sure to post pics

 

[greenmumma141]

Congrats! I have a Christmas tank too, but alas, I have to wait as I'm buying it with giftcards that I won't get until Christmas ...

do you know what you're going to stock it with

 

[David J]

Hi

Thinking about it, I'm not sure if I want to set up before Christmas. I'm a big kid really and the thought of getting it all opened up and set up on Christmas Day is quite exciting. Silly eh? We'll see.

I've been looking into what to stock it with. Someone on here advised me to make a list of everything I like the look of and then whittle it down by checking compatibility etc. Here is my list so far but I haven't yet looked at compatability, sizes etc at all. Any comments are of course welcome. I know I can only stock with so many fish.

Neon tetra
Swordtail
Corydoras catfish
Gold Barb
Clown loach
Guppy
Borneo sucker loach
Some kind of Cichlids. (Love the colours of some of these but fear they are too aggressive for a community tank which is what I want)
Siamese fighting fish
Yellow honey gourami
Cherry fish shrimp

I am still looking, but that's the list so far. I know I can't get all of these due to the size of tank and I know that a lot of them won't go with each other. This is just my starting point for now. I also intend on putting live plants in the tank, bogwood and some rocks but have no idea yet on what types of plants.

David

 

[greenmumma141]

any of the tetras, barbs, guppies, mollies, any fish of that sort can't go in with gouramis or cichlids i don't think. (Different temps and social behavior) It's kind of like, you have to choose which tank of tank you want, so thats tough, it's almost like a life decision hehe. I love cories, so i would always recommend those but if you're going to, I would suggest having 6 of one kind, then you will really see the shoaling behavior and they will be happier. Cories and loaches should get along fine i think (most loaches, not sure about all of them) I will def. be getting cherry shrimp too, they're so cool. I would say, that with the cories, loaches, and even shrimp, you will have to make sure that your tank is planted well and that you have multiple hiding places as well. Those fish also raise the question of substrate. Do you know what you will use?? I agree with you about the Christmas thing.... nothing like the excitement of an actual present on Christmas

 

[David J]

IT HAS ARRIVED!

My aquarium is finally here and in one piece. It is now all suddenly REAL. I'm so excited and so looking forward to getting started but won't rush into anything. I've been asking lots of questions on other threads and people have been so helpful. I have a good idea what fish I want to start with and I've just put a post in the plants section asking for some advice their before I get started cycling.

All the best,

David

PS: despite what I said before about waiting till Christmas, I think we all knew that was never going to happen. I start building tomorrow and cycling as soon as I'm sure what I'm doing with plants etc.

 

[NickBFC]

Nice, look forward to seeing some pics when it's all up and running

 

[greenmumma141]

Congrats on the arrival!! How exciting

 

[fluttermoth]

Is your water hard or soft, OP?

Some of the fish on your list (swordtails, guppies) do better in harder water, others (neons, most corydoras) do better in soft. Once you tell us (just roughly; do you get a lot of limescale in your kettle, for instance) the hardness, we'll be able advise you on stocking.

A couple of points on your potential stocking though;

clown loach get huge (around a foot long!) so those aren't going to be able to live happily in your tank

you can't keep gouramis and Siamese fighters together (they're too closely related and attack each other)

some cichlids (apistogrammas, Bolivian rams, some of the smaller acaras) are suitable for community tanks, but thoroughly research (or ask the good people here ) the exact species first, as some cichlids require very specific water conditions, get very big and/or aggressive

Borneo suckers won't be happy in a tropical community. They like cooler temperatures than most tropical fish, and need very highly oxygenated, fast flowing water. Better off in a specialised set up, in most people's opinion.

If you want corydoras, or any kind of loach, you'd be well advised to go with a sand substrate; gravel can erode their barbels and lead to infections.

 

[the_lock_man]

Neon tetra
Swordtail
Corydoras catfish
Gold Barb
Clown loach
Guppy
Borneo sucker loach
Some kind of Cichlids. (Love the colours of some of these but fear they are too aggressive for a community tank which is what I want)
Siamese fighting fish
Yellow honey gourami
Cherry fish shrimp

These are just some observations for you to consider
Definite no to the Clown Loach, they get far too big for a 90l.
Probably no to the Borneo sucker loach, they prefer fast flowing cooler water - you could set the tank up around their needs, but then you'd struggle finding something to go with them.
Don't have the fighter and gourami together
Fighters can sometimes be a bit iffy around guppies
Definite no to African cichlids, for the reason you mentioned, but there will be some South American ones that will be ok. Bolivian Rams are a for instance, as would some of the Apistogramma species.
Remember in your calculations that the tetras, barbs and cories are all shoaling fish, so need to be in a group of at least 6.
Swordtails, whilst lovely fish, are quite big, and that would restrict the numbers of other fish you could have.

Edit: Or to put that another way, what Fluttermoth just said!

 

[David J]

Still awaiting the arrival of my test kit. Will post back about my water soon.

 

[scotty]

is there anyone near you who could donate mature media to you to help speed up the cycling process?

 

[scotty]

i would choose from a pair of apistos,bolivian or blue rams but only choose one pair as there is not enough floor space for anymore.check the ph from your tap,but usualy the water in scotland is quite soft and that will be fine for the fish i have mentioned.

 

[David J]

Hi Scotty,

The test kit was on my door step tonight when I got home from work. What posty leaves a parcel in full view on a doorstep? Unbelievable. Lucky it wasn't knocked. Anyway, the main thing is its here so I can get started with the cycle. I thought about looking into getting some donated media but thought it'd be good to try the cycle for myself first. If I'm having problems with it or its taking months ill think again. I'll have a look at the fish you've suggested thanks. Haven't tested my water yet but think it is soft.

Cheers,

David

 

[scotty]

your water should be quite soft ,as you don't stay a million miles away from me