Newbie Here :) Hello!

[shaunna_90]

Hey everyone
Hoping to use this forum for information and help along the journey.
Just set my tropical fish tank up quite new to the whole thing. I have the filter, Elite Stingray 10, Elite Submersible Heater, also have an air supply all in the Elite Style 35 fish tank. Very impressed with it, set it all up and waiting a week before i get any fish.
What are good tropical fish? I like Platys & mollies but not sure what to start with.
Any information would help x

 

[-FighterFishh]

Hi there, welcome to the forum!

First off, you probably shouldn't get any fish in a week! You really need to read up on cycling your filter first
Read the info on cycling here to find out that it is and more!

If you get an API master freshwater test kit and find out your pH, we can advise you on fish! This will also help keep you up to date with your cycle

And, just as a note, when I started out I got livebearers like mollies, platies, etc. but I'm now wanting to get out of them. I find the constant fry too much, and they're too hard to sell on once they're bigger. But of course, this is up to you, and you could get all males!

 

[Jinty McGinty]

Welcome aboard. Follow fighter fish advice above re cycling your filter.

I'd advise you get a different filter than the stingray, they are (from what I've read on here) a pretty useless filter. You can buy a new one cheap enough.

 

[shaunna_90]

Hi there, welcome to the forum!

First off, you probably shouldn't get any fish in a week! You really need to read up on cycling your filter first
Read the info on cycling here to find out that it is and more!

If you get an API master freshwater test kit and find out your pH, we can advise you on fish! This will also help keep you up to date with your cycle

And, just as a note, when I started out I got livebearers like mollies, platies, etc. but I'm now wanting to get out of them. I find the constant fry too much, and they're too hard to sell on once they're bigger. But of course, this is up to you, and you could get all males!

Thank you and thank you for replying
The aquarium store told me to wait 3 days but my mom had tropical fish when i was growing up and she waited a week before putting fish in. Its actually going to be 11 days before i get fish as thats payday ha

Whys it matter on PH and the fish type? I though any tropical fish could go in any tropical set up? Am i being thick haha.

I really like the mollies and platys though, i wouldnt want to sell them on. I dont really know any other decent size tropical fish

 

[shaunna_90]

Welcome aboard. Follow fighter fish advice above re cycling your filter.

I'd advise you get a different filter than the stingray, they are (from what I've read on here) a pretty useless filter. You can buy a new one cheap enough.

Thank you
Really? Its only a 35 litre tank, and will only be having a few fish. I thought it was a good filter, do stores just like to lie to you? Haha

 

[communitytank75]

Hey welcome to the forum..

when you buying filter..always see how many liter/gallon per hour it filters..or short for GPH..and always its good to have a filer that will filter 2 to 3 times of your tank per hour..idealistically..lets say If i have 200L tank, i will try to have filter that will have 400 to 600 L GPH..

and any business's mojo is to hustle anybody out..now theres some honest people and most arent..always best to trust yourself..and research a lot before anything as starter...as lot of us here went through malfunctions by not doing it so...

other than that, Good Luck with your new hobbie!!!

 

[-FighterFishh]

No, really, please look into cycling, for the sake of your future fish.
Pet shops want your money, and they will sell you fish and give you false info so you buy more.
Even though your mum has experience, mine does too, and sometimes she's not right! I'm not trying to say your mum doesn't know anything about fish keeping, as I'm sure she does, and she'll help a lot in future, but cycling needs to be done.
It's basically where your filter needs time to grow the correct bacteria to combat the bad, and this usually takes around 5 weeks dosing with household ammonia and checking how long it takes to break down, etc.

If you read up with the link I gave you, it'll tell you everything you need to know

If you're gonna go for livebearers, remember that your tank can only hold so many fish! Having lots of fry won't be good for the filter, even when it's cycled.

Ooh, and some fish prefer softer water to others, where as some prefer hard water. Checking your tap water pH just means we can give you fish that'll thrive in your pH level

 

[shaunna_90]

Hey welcome to the forum..

when you buying filter..always see how many liter/gallon per hour it filters..or short for GPH..and always its good to have a filer that will filter 2 to 3 times of your tank per hour..idealistically..lets say If i have 200L tank, i will try to have filter that will have 400 to 600 L GPH..

and any business's mojo is to hustle anybody out..now theres some honest people and most arent..always best to trust yourself..and research a lot before anything as starter...as lot of us here went through malfunctions by not doing it so...

other than that, Good Luck with your new hobbie!!!

Ahh ok then, i will be sure to check the box of the filter and get a new one if required.
Thank you for the information

 

[shaunna_90]

No, really, please look into cycling, for the sake of your future fish.
Pet shops want your money, and they will sell you fish and give you false info so you buy more.
Even though your mum has experience, mine does too, and sometimes she's not right! I'm not trying to say your mum doesn't know anything about fish keeping, as I'm sure she does, and she'll help a lot in future, but cycling needs to be done.
It's basically where your filter needs time to grow the correct bacteria to combat the bad, and this usually takes around 5 weeks dosing with household ammonia and checking how long it takes to break down, etc.

If you read up with the link I gave you, it'll tell you everything you need to know

If you're gonna go for livebearers, remember that your tank can only hold so many fish! Having lots of fry won't be good for the filter, even when it's cycled.

Ooh, and some fish prefer softer water to others, where as some prefer hard water. Checking your tap water pH just means we can give you fish that'll thrive in your pH level

I will look into it but i dont see how it works, surely ammonia is more dangerous to fish. This cycle is done because of the filter having to settle, what about when the filter sponges have to be cleaned, half water changes, new filter changes? What happens to the fish then? I used to help with my moms a had to clean the filter out and wash the sponge things and do half/quarter water changes and all the fish would be fine.

I dont want loads of fish, just want a few mollies and platys I will test the water today and see what i get.

Thanks for the help

 

[-FighterFishh]

I will look into it but i dont see how it works, surely ammonia is more dangerous to fish. This cycle is done because of the filter having to settle, what about when the filter sponges have to be cleaned, half water changes, new filter changes? What happens to the fish then? I used to help with my moms a had to clean the filter out and wash the sponge things and do half/quarter water changes and all the fish would be fine.

I dont want loads of fish, just want a few mollies and platys I will test the water today and see what i get.

Thanks for the help

I don't know the specifics, but basically ammonia is very toxic to fish. When you dose household ammonia, it'll break down to nitrite. Nitrite is less toxic, but is still harmful. This nitrite then breaks down to nitrate, which is only harmful in extremely high levels. This can be done without fish, and is called a fishless cycle. The links I gave you can explain what you need to do in more detail
The sponges don't have to be cleaned when you cycle the filter, and you won't need to do any water changes unless you already have fish. The bacteria isn't in the water anyway, it lives in the filter sponges
Also, when you do come to having it all up and running, you only need to wash the filter sponges in a little tank water every month or so. They can be replaced when they're literally falling apart

I know you don't intend to get many, but livebearers have hundreds of babies!

Your water will be fine today with regards to ammonia, nitrite and nitrate because you have no fish yet, but pH will be useful for us to give you options with fish

 

[shaunna_90]

I will look into it but i dont see how it works, surely ammonia is more dangerous to fish. This cycle is done because of the filter having to settle, what about when the filter sponges have to be cleaned, half water changes, new filter changes? What happens to the fish then? I used to help with my moms a had to clean the filter out and wash the sponge things and do half/quarter water changes and all the fish would be fine.

I dont want loads of fish, just want a few mollies and platys I will test the water today and see what i get.

Thanks for the help

I don't know the specifics, but basically ammonia is very toxic to fish. When you dose household ammonia, it'll break down to nitrite. Nitrite is less toxic, but is still harmful. This nitrite then breaks down to nitrate, which is only harmful in extremely high levels. This can be done without fish, and is called a fishless cycle. The links I gave you can explain what you need to do in more detail
The sponges don't have to be cleaned when you cycle the filter, and you won't need to do any water changes unless you already have fish. The bacteria isn't in the water anyway, it lives in the filter sponges
Also, when you do come to having it all up and running, you only need to wash the filter sponges in a little tank water every month or so. They can be replaced when they're literally falling apart

I know you don't intend to get many, but livebearers have hundreds of babies!

Your water will be fine today with regards to ammonia, nitrite and nitrate because you have no fish yet, but pH will be useful for us to give you options with fish

Ahh right thank you for putting it into simple terms, i will leave it to cycle and settle and see how it goes.
I thought the filter sponges had to be changed every couple months but that sounds better
lol Ahh no really? I dont want lots of babies, is there not any way to have just one sex?

 

[-FighterFishh]

You're welcome!

Yeah, that's another way companies are after your money! Just wash them in a little bit of tank water (tap water will kill the bacteria) and pop them back in. When they start to look really manky, you can swap it for another, but I'd suggest only changing one sponge at any given time.

If you don't want any fry, you'd be best doing all males. This way, there's no chance any babies will come along! If it's all females, they can store sperm and then drop fry even with no males in the tank!

If you're anywhere near me and are interested in male blue platies, I'd be happy to give you some once your filter is cycled

 

[Blubble37]

 

[shaunna_90]

You're welcome!

Yeah, that's another way companies are after your money! Just wash them in a little bit of tank water (tap water will kill the bacteria) and pop them back in. When they start to look really manky, you can swap it for another, but I'd suggest only changing one sponge at any given time.

If you don't want any fry, you'd be best doing all males. This way, there's no chance any babies will come along! If it's all females, they can store sperm and then drop fry even with no males in the tank!

If you're anywhere near me and are interested in male blue platies, I'd be happy to give you some once your filter is cycled

Ahh right, thanks for that information, will follow your experience with the filter. Ive found out lies already that the shop has told me, starting with waiting 3 days before getting fish. Glad i found this forum

Definately going with all males then, much easier and havent the room for babies.
Really? I would pay for them of course. Im in west midlands, where abouts are you?

Thank you

 

[colleen0309]

Good afternoon and welcome to the forum! Please read the link provided above by FighterFishh. cycling a filter is not as simple as letting it run for a few weeks. You need to add ammonia and do daily water tests. Please read up on cycling BEFORE you get fish