New Tank - Fish And Any Other Advice?

[LindseyH]

First of all, hello from a newbie! I've been browsing your site and I've already found it very helpful.

I kept tropical fish many years ago and I'm relearning most of what I knew about them. We bought my daughter this tank (see image) for Christmas. It's a custom build — 125 litres, or just over 33 imperial gallons (I'm in the UK, where gallons are different! It's about 27 UK gallons). We'll be running it in for at least another week now that the plants are in. The lighting hasn't arrived yet (IFs ordered it but it didn't arrive before Christmas). It'll be two white LED strips.

Neither of us are keen on the more 'ordinary' types of fish. We're attracted to cichlids in particular, but I'm aware of how problematic they can be and I've also been told that I'd need limestone to soften the water and increase alkalinity. One of our local IFs recommended platys (we want really bright fish) but even they're not quite as striking as the cichlids.

My main question, I suppose, is: 'Are there other suitable but bright fish that you can recommend?'. I did browse your species index and beginner threads but I'm still unsure.

My other question is basically this: 'Am I overlooking anything?'. The fish seller made it all sound simple and I'm following the advice in a good book. This site has made me wonder whether we're doing things properly though. Maybe it is simple ... if you're happy with guppies?

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

 

[ApistoNut]

oh guppies are just a starter fish but very pretty, im sure the guys on here can sort ou out with some wonderful colourful concoctions

 

[Man of fish]

You'll need to cycle your filter first.

 

[moochy13]

i'll be straight up with the bad news - its going to be at least a month before you're putting fish in your tank, providing you cycle properly. to keep it short, cycling is preparing your filter bacteria for the job of dealing with ammonia/fish waste. this takes time to build up in your filter. adding fish before your filter is 'cycled' means the ammonia doesnt get broken down, which poisons your fish, killing or drastically reducing their lifespan. there are some links somewhere about how to do it, somebody else will chirp up i suspect.

the only way round it is if you know somebody with a tank, and you can take some bits out of their filter to swap with yours, which gives you a massive headstart.

as for fish, without looking to deeply into requirements, Dwarf cichlids are a group of cichlids that stay ont eh smalelr side (obviously), but they are also mostly community fish, and with a littel bit of research and common sense, they can go in a tank with no hassle to other fish. google for german blue rams, bolivian rams, apistogrammas, dwarf flag cichlid, keyhole cochlid. there are LOTS of apisto species to choose from.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Before you get into the exciting and fun topic of fish choice have you decided how you're going to cycle the tank? Will you be doing it with fish or without? That really is the most important decision at this stage.

 

[LindseyH]

Thanks, Lindsay and Craig! I'll look forward to that I have nothing against guppies, by the way. We're just rather excited by the likes of discus (too large, I know), knife fish, powder blues and electric yellows, etc. Also, I was warned that guppies have become very interbred in recent years by breeders wanting to enhance their colours — not sure how true that is. My childhood fish tank was full of guppies and neons so I'm probably reacting against that as well — wanting something different.

 

[ApistoNut]

oh yes sorry forgot to mention the cycle, its cheating a bit but ask your LFS for some water to add to your tank this will also speed things up, i would add maybe 2 fish for an extra boost after 1-2 weeks then should be fine.

 

[LindseyH]

My IFs told me that I don't need to cycle the tank — that's what's confusing me. In fact, I've asked 7 different fish sellers and the advice has varied between 'You can put fish straight in!' and 'You should wait for a week'. It's odd — that seems to be standard advice over here.

 

[ApistoNut]

check out this that i would love

2 firemouths
10 cardinals
10 black widow tetra
2 clown plecs
8 metae corys

 

[ApistoNut]

check out this that i would love

2 firemouths
10 cardinals
10 black widow tetra
2 clown plecs
8 metae corys

 

[Man of fish]

It's because they want you to think your fish are just firing then keep buying more from them, but you need to cycle first. Whether it's with or without fish you must cycle.

 

[ApistoNut]

but that woulnt be that colourful so stuff that idea

 

[dh058977]

oh yes sorry forgot to mention the cycle, its cheating a bit but ask your LFS for some water to add to your tank this will also speed things up, i would add maybe 2 fish for an extra boost after 1-2 weeks then should be fine.

You could ask your local fish shop for some mature media to help speed up the cycle but I fail to see how the water would help at all?

OP, if by electric yellow you mean the Malawi cichlid Labidochromis caeruleus then your information in your first post is incorrect, you do want a higher Ph but you do not want soft water, they much prefer hard water.

Remember, fish shops want to make money from you so of course they will say you can add fish straight away. Have a read of the beginners section here, you should cycle your filter.

 

[moochy13]

you could leave your tank for 6 months like that - without a source of ammonia your filter wont produce bacteria. this is science, not the voice of somebody trying to sell you some fish ASAP. advice from people trying to make money from you should always be taken with caution. bacteria in a bottle - doesnt work, dont bother.

your options are

use bottled ammonia in place of fish poo, will develop your filter bacteria without harming fish - fishless cycle

use a couple of small, hardy fish that you intend on keeping in your final set-up. this is a fish in cycle, but its hard work. you need to find a balance between having enough fish to produce a meaningful ammount of ammonia, but not so many the water is instantly poisonous. it is also labour intensive, you will be changing water at least every other day, 50% +. then theres the chance the fish could die or be harmed.

get some 'mature media' - this is filter media form a tank already in use, as i mentioned before. depending on your filter, this can be sponge pads, biomedia, clay rings, plastic balls. this will give you a big headstart on the cycle, and make a fish in cycle a LOT easier, but you would still need to give it a bit of time to develop more bacteria.

 

[LindseyH]

I'm reading the cycle guide again now. I do think that at least 3 of the IFs were offering what they believe is good advice — maybe they're just not as thorough as they should be. What you're saying certainly makes sense to me!

We'd intended to buy just a few, hardy fish at first. I might have to opt for a fish-in cycle — my daughter is only ten and she's already counting down the days til our fish arrive. I'll certainly ask whether I can have some mature filter media.

Moochy13 — the fish you suggested look amazing; exactly what we have in mind. I'd like a little red as well though