new tank setup

[iamanidiot]

i was thinking of getting a 15-20 gal tank w/ a few rock formations and of course some plants. i was thinking about using some seashells and or small rocks and things like that. i basically want it to look really natural. comments? i also know that for the fish i want to get ill need a heater, filter, light, anything else?

would y'all recommend live plants or fake ones? im guessing fake r easier to keep?

for the fish i was thinking about a small school of tiger barbs say 5 or 6. some snails and filter fish would be cool. other than those im not really sure. id like to buy fish in pairs if thats a good idea. i want to get some fish that look cool and are active but not all too agressive or too large. id also want a range of bottom, middle, and top water dwellers. suggestions?

also what does it mean to cycle an aqarium? why and how do u do this?

i know a lot of questions but all suggestions and comments are welcome, thanks

 

[steve-0]

First off......Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your tank.

Live plats /fake p[lants
-Live plants and oxygen to the water and in my opinion they look a little better
fake plants are a little less maintenance
also it depends on your choice of fish (some fish will gobble up plants in no time)

Cycling
cycling article
it pretty much sums it up

Now on to fish...
Tiger barbs are hard to keep in a 20 gallon beacause they tend to be more aggresive fin nippers...to calm down aggresion you nead a t least 5 which takes down the amount of other fish you want to have.

...but remember the choice is yours...

feel free to pm me if you have any questions about anything...or just to say hello

 

[Alex]

Cylcling the tank is one of the most important things you will have to do. It means basicaly doing the tank very slowly, to gently build up the bacteria in the filter and water that break down waste from your tank, so that the water quality is not damaged. When you have water quality problems your fish can become sick and die, (very prone to any infection etc.)

Cycling can be done with or with out fish, depending on what people prefer. Cycling with fish means you tend to use hardy ones e.g. zebra danios and you put a couple in there and leave them for a while to start off the cycling process. Without fish you leave the tank, empty of fish and just add a small amount of fish food to rot and that starts of the filter aswell.

One way round this, is find a friendly fish keeper, that will give you some filter media from a tank that is already fully cycled, and a handful of gravel. (when moving them treat them like you'd treat a fish, bagged up with water). You'd still need to take it slowly adding fish, as you filter still needs time to be able to cope with each new inhabitant.

Hope that helps,

p.s I'd go with live plants every time

 

[iamanidiot]

whats a good filter to get?

 

[steve-0]

I have an aquaclear 150 on my 20 and 15 gallon tanks and they work awesome....and the replacement filter media is cheap and everyone has it.

It only costs 8 bucks canadian to replace carbon and foam, and ammonia filter.