New tank preparation

[AvPamela]

Hi all, this is my mother's account which I've just set up for her while setting up her new tank.

We've had a tropical tank before years ago and are in need of some "refresher" help.

So far we've got the water in the tank, added some plants, rocks and some "TapSafe" to purify the water. There's a chunk of bog wood currently standing in hot water in the bath (its too big to fit in a pan and boil - advice I read elsewhere on this forum) and the fish are still in the shop.

The area we live in has very hard water. Does this change the length of time it has to stand before the fish can be introduced?

We'd also like to know the ideal temperature the water should be.

Many thanks.

 

[Bloo]

Hi there and welcome
There are some great topics here on how to go about cycling your tank and getting it ready for fish (safely). Here is a great recent thread just on that: Fishless cycle thread
Good luck !

 

[The-Wolf]

there is a commercially available water softner
I think it is called "softner pillow" or something like that
any good lfs should hve/be able to get it.

temperature depends on the species of fish kept ranges are from 23 to 28c

 

[Bloo]

To be honest, the water here in London is pretty damn hard too and I'd be surprised if you have harsher water over in Devon. My GH is around 18-20 GdH and my KH around 12 GdH (both at the very high end).
So unless you want to specifically breed or keep a fish that specifically require soft water, I'd really not worry too much.
Depends on what type of fish you're planning to keep for an "ideal" temperature, but around 26 - 27°C (78-80 °F) is pretty average for most tropicals.

 

[Ethos]

You do know you should always use very hardy fish, right? I tried avoiding that part because I wanted to skip that process, and I lot the 3 fish all in 48 hours. Always use hardy fish! Haste makes Waste!

 

[kryton55]

Hi,please suggest a starter "hardy fish" collection.

maybe, Platy, Swordfish, Guppy......?