New To Fish, New To The Hobby.

[Martin Wallace]

Hi all, may i begin with what an excellant forum i have found to help me start up my new hobbie, was searching google images of tanks until i found a link to the forum.

the whole tropical fish i have been intersested in for a while but never got round to starting up because of lack of knowlegde and most placers i have went dont seem to be that handy that telling you the ins and outs really,

i see already there is a lot to leearn so here goes and i hope you can help me.

today i was at the aqautic rooms in tranent-edinburgh. i am going to be purchasing a trigon 190 tank for the corner of the living room.
i got told by the guy to fill with water and have on for upto 7 days etc.

ive picked up bits and bobs over the weeks to what i should get.

ive been told to get some algae eaters and living plants.

my main concern is what fish can go with what. some places ive been have the traffic lights on them, i really like the discuss fish but got told they cant mix with anything? is this true. would i be able to have 1 only and mix in the tank with community fish.

i also like quite colourful fish so what would i be best to get to start with. any pics attached to help is a very big help if no trouble.
thanks very much

 

[lokkochaa]

Hi all, may i begin with what an excellant forum i have found to help me start up my new hobbie, was searching google images of tanks until i found a link to the forum.

the whole tropical fish i have been intersested in for a while but never got round to starting up because of lack of knowlegde and most placers i have went dont seem to be that handy that telling you the ins and outs really,

i see already there is a lot to leearn so here goes and i hope you can help me.

today i was at the aqautic rooms in tranent-edinburgh. i am going to be purchasing a trigon 190 tank for the corner of the living room.
i got told by the guy to fill with water and have on for upto 7 days etc.

ive picked up bits and bobs over the weeks to what i should get.

ive been told to get some algae eaters and living plants.

my main concern is what fish can go with what. some places ive been have the traffic lights on them, i really like the discuss fish but got told they cant mix with anything? is this true. would i be able to have 1 only and mix in the tank with community fish.

i also like quite colourful fish so what would i be best to get to start with. any pics attached to help is a very big help if no trouble.
thanks very much

I would advise against discus strongly if you are just starting out, yes they are beautiful fish but not easy to keep at all, the Ph and water perameters need to be correct and constant and take a lot of looking after, including numerous large water changes a week.

I would advise starting out with hardy fish and seeing how it goes, a shoal of tetras is always good, as are severums,etc. Depends how much time you have to devot to it? I spent AGES yesterday doing water changes on my 5 tanks

 

[tunerhead24]

You should read all the pinned articles in the new to the hobby section there's a ton of usefull info. that will help you understand how to set everything up. Welcome to TFF!

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Martin and wecome to the forums!

Your first post puts you squarely in the company of many other beginners with the same desires for a nice big tank (like you're getting) and plenty of colorful fish. We have dozens of newcomers like this here each week or so.

The difference for you is the incredible luck of stumbling across this forum, which is filled with tropical fish experts of all levels and is a wonderful place for beginners to learn things they would certainly never get from the local store or from most nearby friends. Additionally its usually fun!

The LFS (local fish shop) has already started things off by beginning to misinform you. It actually can take weeks or months to prepare a tank properly for fish, not the 7 days they are going to tell you (the 7 days is all about their business model, not what you need as a hobbyist!) But its still important to maintain a good relationship with your LFS, so I would smile and stay friends, but just really do your learning here, as much as possible. Leave them to be your source of some fish and supplies.

To start, I agree with the above advice. Its not impossible, but I'd say from a smart and practical standpoint, discus are a really advanced fish and very likely to end in frustration for a first-time beginner. In fact, choosing and stocking fish in general is a more tricky topic than you'd think and the best way to handle that is to first get to work learning about... Filters!, which are central to the hobby and need to be right before you start preparing your water. Then next is the actual preparation of your filter and water and the cycling of your tank. This will take time and need some patience and work, but during that time you will find that you can finally do some productive work figuring out what fish you will eventually get!

Get started by reading as many of the pinned articles at the top of "New to the Hobby" and reading the fishless cycling one and ones about the nitrogen cycle several times! Then start coming back with questions! But most important of all, don't get suckered into getting fish before you fully understand what's going on and have fully prepared things for them!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Martin and welcome to TFF!

East Lothian Aquatics is one of my local shops, so we must be in the same area.

I'd agree with the others that discus aren't 'beginner fish', and you should probably try something else first.

As Water drop said, leaving the tank running for 7 days actually achieves nothing, and you would do well to read the pinned threads, in particular the 'Fishless Cycling' thread. There is a link to it in my signature below. This will give you a better understanding on what you can do to prepare your tank for fish.

I have also recently written an article on 'The Nitrogen Cycle' which i hope will help you immensely. It is the most important piece of knowledge a new fishleeper can have. I have linked to it below.

The Nitrogen Cycle

Once you have done your reading there, come back to me and i can provide you with some mature filter media, which will speed up the process of preparing the tank for fish quite considerably.

Cheers

BTT

 

[Martin Wallace]

THANK YOU very much for the info guys , all taken on-board, im a member of another forum due to another hobby so im aware of reading the other threads first.
it thought id kind of introduce myself.

i shall give them all a good read.
the tank will be bought first but i intend to buy the fish later once i know what to do with the filters and water and whats going in the tank.

the fish might be a while behind before i buy any. im not rushing into it. one thing at a time.

BTT im from fife, glenrothes bud.

again thanks for spending the time to post and answer my questions. again its all new to me and will take time.

thanks martin

 

[OldMan47]

A very basic setup is a tank, filter, heater, thermometer, liquid reagent test kit, hood, stand and gravel or sand for the bottom of the tank. The first step after tank setup is to do a "fishless cycle". That process can take a month or more which will give you lots of time to read up on fish and find out what your tap water is like. There are lots of fish that are suitable to each type of tap water and it is better to get fish that match your water than to constantly be fighting to make the water match the fish. An aquarium should be a relaxing enjoyable pursuit, not a struggle to keep things in line because you chose the wrong fish.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you've had some really excellent advice above so not a lot to add in those terms, just to emphasise the need to do a fishless cycle, it's much easier and kinder to the fish to do one. as above i've also got the link in my sig, and also read the one 'whats cycling' which can help you out a bit more.

Re the discus, yes they are sensitive and not necessarily suitable for a beginner but they're also a fish which shouldn't go into the tank until it's at least 6 months old if not more. So if you've got your heart set on them then you can do lots of research now, choose fish that will mix with discus and leave room in your stocking for some and add them maybe a year down the line when your tank is mature and you have a bit more fishkeeping knowledge and experience.

 

[Martin Wallace]