New To Hobby And Need Some Advice...

[arobinson1984]

The bacteria in a bottle products very rarely work.

Bacteria needs a food source and oxygen to be able to survive, neither of which it is getting stuck in a bottle on a fish stores shelf for weeks/months/years. Many of these products are 'snake oil' they wont do any harm but wont do much good either so its much better to save your money.

The best way to perform a fishless cycle is to get hold of some household ammonia. It must not contain any dyes, perfumes or surfactants and should not foam when you shake the bottle, just bubble slighty and settle back down. The bottle should only contain ammonium hydroxide (normally at 9.5%) and water. The best places to get household ammonia in the UK are homebase, boots or robert dyas, it will normally be with the household cleaning products.

Secondly you will need a good liquid based test kit, the paper test strips have a reputation for being very innaccurate, you may as well jsut stick your finger in the tank and make up a number lol'. The most popular liquid test kit is the API freshwater master kit which includes everything you would need as a beginner, it tests for PH, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate. Saliferts make very good accurate tests as well but I believe these must be bought seperately and cant be bought all together in a 'master kit' as such.

Andy

 

[lee.barros]

The bacteria in a bottle products very rarely work.

Bacteria needs a food source and oxygen to be able to survive, neither of which it is getting stuck in a bottle on a fish stores shelf for weeks/months/years. Many of these products are 'snake oil' they wont do any harm but wont do much good either so its much better to save your money.

The best way to perform a fishless cycle is to get hold of some household ammonia. It must not contain any dyes, perfumes or surfactants and should not foam when you shake the bottle, just bubble slighty and settle back down. The bottle should only contain ammonium hydroxide (normally at 9.5%) and water. The best places to get household ammonia in the UK are homebase, boots or robert dyas, it will normally be with the household cleaning products.

Secondly you will need a good liquid based test kit, the paper test strips have a reputation for being very innaccurate, you may as well jsut stick your finger in the tank and make up a number lol'. The most popular liquid test kit is the API freshwater master kit which includes everything you would need as a beginner, it tests for PH, ammonia, nitrite & nitrate. Saliferts make very good accurate tests as well but I believe these must be bought seperately and cant be bought all together in a 'master kit' as such.

Andy

Best bet is ammonia then...I seen it on the boots website, £1.75 for 500ml or something like that. Gona take a look in town today and pick it up for when I start cycling my tank. I was using that ammonia calculator and it gives a very precise amount of ammonia to use based on your tank. Does it have to be spot on such as 3.32ml of ammonia or will 3ml do? How would you measure 3.32ml? lol

I will look into getting that API test kit you mentioned, think I seen it online for about £15 or something.

Cheers!

 

[arobinson1984]

When dosing the ammonia, put slightly less in than the calculator suggests, if it says 3.32ml, I would put in about 2.5ml, wait an hour and test the levels, if its not quite at 5ppm then you can dose a little bit more.

Its always better to be safe and add a little bit under rather than too much because if levels of ammonia in the tank reach in excess of 8ppm then a different type of bacteria grows which you dont want.

The best places for the API master kit is either ebay or charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk

Andy

 

[discus_lover]

about filtration you may read this article...
http/discusfishcaresecrets.blogspot.com/...rs-in-your.html

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, excellent posts, I agree with everything Andy is saying. Boots ammonia and API Freshwater Master Test Kit will be excellent to have at the ready. You're doing great!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

Yes, excellent posts, I agree with everything Andy is saying. Boots ammonia and API Freshwater Master Test Kit will be excellent to have at the ready. You're doing great!

~~waterdrop~~

I understand about adding less than you need then add more later, I suppose you can apply that logic to anything really I didnt get a chance to look in boots today, will be going in tomorrow so will have a look for it. Where abouts is it usually kept?

I bought my first piece of aquarium equipment today...an Algae magnet! (Well 3 of them). Was in Tesco tonight (also my workplace as a Technical Support Advisor) and I was looking at the car section. My gf turned around to look at the other shelves and grabbed one of the magnets off the "Clip Strips" (A plastic strip with products attached to them, randomly placed in the store). It said it was £1 so I said yea alright.

Went to the checkout and it was only 12p so I went and bought the last 2 that were there. Saved myself a few quid! Will look into getting the API test kit this month along with water treatment.

Visited my lfs today, and they have a nice range of fish. I was reading their names but I cant remember now. Prices ranged from £1.25 up to the likes of £12. There was this one fish that was around £1.35 each, it was transparent, and it looked pretty cool. Glassfish I think they were called?

 

[waterdrop]

The ammonia is almost always in the mop and broom sections of these stores. Its sold as a "generic" and therefor usually less expensive cleaner.

Yes, glass catfish do catch your eye. They are not very active though, as I remember, sort of sit around, mid-level and ripple. Still its kind of cool to see their bone structure I guess.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

I found it in boots today, 500ml for £1.75. Will be sure to pick it up nearer the time when I buy the tank. Hopefully that book I ordered will be here tomorrow.

Have you got anymore homework for me waterdrop? Also, from the stuff that I learn, how can I use it to help me choose the right filter?

I will be going back to my lsf on Saturday after work and will take some notes on the fish they sell, maybe some pics too as some of the tanks didnt have names of the fish in them. Also, I seen a really nice angelfish, looked pretty big and it was black with silver streaks in it. Cost £11 odd though.

 

[waterdrop]

Within the forum search tool there is an advanced search function and you can use that to focus various searches with member names. You can search on mine, waterdrop, and another member, rabbut, along with the word filter or various other words related to filters and probably find tons of stuff. What you're looking for though would be some of the times when we went into the many details of filters and choosing the right filter. There also are sure to be some filter discussions in the resource center and looking through the hardware section ("hardware and diy") will of course have lots of stuff. All of this should get you started with some questions.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[lee.barros]

Went to my lsf today for a better look at their equipment. The shop itself isnt massive, quite small and cramped and the selection of equipment isnt great but there are some products on sale. They have a decent selection of fish and I took a note of the ones that caught my eyes today:

• Jumbo Neons
• Copper Harlequins
• Barbs
• Angels
• XL Angels
• Penguin Tetra
• Scissor Tails
• Cherry Barbs,
• Neons
• Plattys

The guy who works in the Fish section asked if I was starting up an aquarium and I explained I was reading about the hobby and learning more about it before buying anything. He mentioned something about having a peacefull or exciting tank...what does that mean? And how can it be achieved?

He also gave ma a handfull of free leaflets and guides on Algae and setting up aquariums as well as filters etc, made my "Sera". Some interesting stuff in them about the nitrogen cycle etc...

 

[arobinson1984]

The barbs and angels would be too large for a tank at or around 72L

Angels require at least 18" height of water as angels grow more vertically than horizontally. You'd have to be looking more around to region of 40+ gal tall tank for angels.

The barbs grow to around 4-5" and tiger barbs especially can get quite aggressive so keeping 6+ is advised to minimise aggression.

By peaceful or exciting he will mean that some fish are quiet community fish and others are more aggressive fish so you need to be careful what you mix. A typical aggressive setup would be a cichlid tank as cichlids tend to be more aggressive than normal freshwater fish. As a beginner I'd certainly recommend that you go for a peaceful tank.

Most of the list you noted down would be ok in a 72L tank, obviously not all together and also limited numbers of certain fish. Stocking levels are much easier to assertain once we know the tank size.

Have you purchased a tank yet?

Andy

 

[lee.barros]

The barbs and angels would be too large for a tank at or around 72L

Angels require at least 18" height of water as angels grow more vertically than horizontally. You'd have to be looking more around to region of 40+ gal tall tank for angels.

The barbs grow to around 4-5" and tiger barbs especially can get quite aggressive so keeping 6+ is advised to minimise aggression.

By peaceful or exciting he will mean that some fish are quiet community fish and others are more aggressive fish so you need to be careful what you mix. A typical aggressive setup would be a cichlid tank as cichlids tend to be more aggressive than normal freshwater fish. As a beginner I'd certainly recommend that you go for a peaceful tank.

Most of the list you noted down would be ok in a 72L tank, obviously not all together and also limited numbers of certain fish. Stocking levels are much easier to assertain once we know the tank size.

Have you purchased a tank yet?

Andy

Hi,

I am thinking of going for this one Rekord 600 as this is the perfect size for the space that I have available in my living room. Although it comes with all the equipment, I intend to upgrade at some point in the future once I understand a bit more about the hobby. I think im getting this as a present for christmas so I can't complain.

That tank sits at around 17" which is just under the required height for angels. To be honest, I would be happy with a tank with vibrant coloured fish that are lively, but not aggressive if you know what I mean. Not fish that sit around the bottom of the tank and move every once in a while.

What would you recommend I get for my tank?

 

[arobinson1984]

That tank would be just too small for angels because once you take 1" off for the gravel and 1" at the top of the tank so the water doesnt overflow you are down to around 15" deep.

Personally, after the tank is fishless cycled id go for the following

* A Pair of rams, either bolivian or german blue. The german blue rams are prettier but harder to look after. Or a pair of cockatoo apistogrammas.
* 2 Different shoals of about 8 in each shoal, I'd probably go for 8 x harlequins and 8 x endlers
* 6 Cories of your choice, personally I like sterbai cories.

Some people put a big mish mash of fish in a tank with about 20 different species and personally I dont like that look, it begins to look like a jumble sale. I prefer 3 or 4 species of fish with a centrepiece fish (rams or apisotogrammas) some shoaling fish (harlequins and endlers) and some bottom feeders (cories)

Andy

 

[lee.barros]

That tank would be just too small for angels because once you take 1" off for the gravel and 1" at the top of the tank so the water doesnt overflow you are down to around 15" deep.

Personally, after the tank is fishless cycled id go for the following

* A Pair of rams, either bolivian or german blue. The german blue rams are prettier but harder to look after. Or a pair of cockatoo apistogrammas.
* 2 Different shoals of about 8 in each shoal, I'd probably go for 8 x harlequins and 8 x endlers
* 6 Cories of your choice, personally I like sterbai cories.

Some people put a big mish mash of fish in a tank with about 20 different species and personally I dont like that look, it begins to look like a jumble sale. I prefer 3 or 4 species of fish with a centrepiece fish (rams or apisotogrammas) some shoaling fish (harlequins and endlers) and some bottom feeders (cories)

Andy

So that takes angels and barbs off the list lol .

You have given me a list of 24 fish to stock in a Rekord 600 tank (says its a 63 litre tank but I used the calculator on this forum and it says its a 75 litre tank?) Is this not too much for a tank of this size?

How does this sound:

Centrepiece fish: What can you use as a "Centrepiece fish" as I looked at the rams but not too keen on thier look.

Shoals: 6-8 Neon Tetras & 6-8 Copper Harlequins

Bottom Feeeders: 6 Panda Cory

Obviously all will not be added at the same time. What do you think of the above list?

 

[arobinson1984]

Yes you're right, it would be too much. I was under the impression that the reckford was bigger like the rio model range. I think the 63L refers to the water capacity as most tank measurements are taken externally and you have to allow for glass thickness etc although it does seem quite a difference. I've just got 73L according the the aquarium calculator which is 20US gallons

Another centre piece fish could be gouramis, a pair of honey gouramis would be ok

Just choose 1 lot of shoaling fish rather than 2 and then 6 cories and that would be fine

Andy