NEW TANK!PLEASE HELP!

[I_LOVE_FISH]

I dont know if its working well......what kind of gravel should I put in?

 

[mm_simb]

I dont know if its working well......what kind of gravel should I put in?

Any gravel you want. You can think of the fish you want to stock it with and then choose colors to coordinate with them of you can just make it any color you want. It's all up to the imagination

 

[john5748]

You can buy gravel for your tank from your lfs, that way you will know it is the correct type.

 

[I_LOVE_FISH]

 

[I_LOVE_FISH]

but my brother has kind of rough gravel and his spotted cory.......well we had to buy a bit of slatey stuff for him....

 

[I_LOVE_FISH]

everyone!

 

[wrs]

I am not sure that we know exactly what you want help with.

 

[I_LOVE_FISH]

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!I AM GOING NOW......

 

[john5748]

Strangest post I have ever read

 

[Whiskerz]

Strangest post I have ever read 

Agreed!

She got a new tank....and needed help with it. That's all I know!

 

[wrs]

Strangest post I have ever read

Agreed!

She got a new tank....and needed help with it. That's all I know!

I told her how to set it up, you would think that was what she wanted. I think a better question of what is wanted to do is needed.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I think this is a good time for you to start planning your tank. First of all, what fish do you want to keep? It is true that if you keep certain fish like corys you need to think about the gravel. Ideally, they want sand; second best is really smooth rounded gravel.
Are you going to have live plants? They can be planted before you bring the fish in.
If you don't know how to set the tank up, can you get help? Even go back to the shop and ask them for help.
At the same time look at their fish and see what you want. Make a list of what looks attractive and then go home and do an online search of the species to see if they would fit the tank you have, how big they grow, if they have special requirements, if they are territorial or can be kept with other fish. Then, before you buy, come back to the forum for a last check- there will almost certainly be people here who are experts in keeping the fish you fancy. A 70 ltr tank is not enormous so you will be looking at small to medium-sized fish who are not very fast swimmers.
A fish tank will not be ready just because you have the filter and lights working. It also needs to be cycled, i.e. for friendly bacteria to grow who can cope with your fish's waste. The two main ways of arranging this is to start with a few hardy fish and add more gradually after testing the water, or to do a so-called fishless cycle, where you add household ammonia (from hardware store) to the tank for a few weeks before you add the fish. Again, you need a test kit to see when the tank is ready to take fish.
Most of us would recommend the fishless cycle as it is kinder to the fish. Read through the links carefully and then come back with questions.
If you to decide to go for cycling with fish you need to be very careful in choosing hardy fish and checking the water stats so that they do not get too stressed-out.

 

[mlee0332]

there is one thing that I don't see anyone mentioning... Dechlorinators, which is VITAL if you want the fish to be healthy and you have city water!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree dechlorinator/water conditioner is vital, and so are water quality testing kits that test for ammonia, nitrate and nitrite otherwise you won't know what stages your cycle is at or wether water quality is good.

 

[Chac]

I am often amazed by peeps who keep tropical fish and dont invest in either the right test kits (ie pH, Amm, Nitrate & Nitrite) and also either a RO unit, and unfortunatly I have noticed that some peeps move on to Marine Fish keeping and never bother with these Vital instuments either, what is the point of keeping fish if you arent going to provide the best home for them

Del