Newbie With Silly Questions And More To Come.

Scotty001

Fish Crazy
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Hi Every one im hoping that some kind people may be able to help me. :)

After a visit to the local pet shop to purchase an £8 bag of cat food i some how managed to walk out the store with a new aquarium, and many bits and bobs quite how this has happended im not too sure, think it may have had something to do with my impulse buying and a girlfriend who kept on pointing to fish saying their pretty can we get some. (just in case your worried that i origionally went there for cat food do not worry though the fish i get will not be the cats dinner !!!)


I have purchased a tetra aqua art aquarium 60L dimentions of 61.5 x 34 x 44.5cm. which comes with EasyCrystal FilterBox and a HT 50 heater (very similar to the heater i use when brewing wine) now that i have my aquarium & £8 bag of cat food i know how im going to fill the cat but not the aquarium,

i have picked up on details re cycling the aquarium and currently a few days into a fishless cycle, i belive all is going ok, i have purchased a API freshwater masterkit to keep check on things and my bedroom is now looking more like a science lab than a bedroom.

Could anyone help to advise what type of fish and possible quantity could be held comfortably in this aquarium, i do know that my girlfriend is insistant on having Neon Tetras which from what i gather are not an ideal 1st fish to put into a newley cycled aquarium, i do know we will be looking to purchase 6 / 7 neons but would much apriciate advise from you guys who have a lot more knowlege and experiance than myself as to what speices would be comfortable in this kind of aquariom with the neons to be aadded at a later stage, and how many fish would be comfortable within the aquarium before i get close to over stocking it ?? i would like to have a few different species of fish but also want to be practical and not over stock or put incompatable fish intogether.

I know this is a tall order to ask but any advise would be much apriciated, i have limited knowlege of fish keeping and the last time i had tropical fish (when i was a little kiddy) i recall many of them dying (i think the ignorance not to cycle an aquarium, 100 % waterchanges fortnightly and filter media change each fortnight by my parents was more than likley the cuase of this. thankfully my parents wont be taking care of this aquarium.
 
Hiya, congrats on your new tank!!!

If you know what you're doing with the fishless cycling then carry on with that! Stocking wise, I love neons too I have 8 in my tank plus Mickey Mouse platys, Dalmation Mollies, Sunburst Platys, Kissing Gourami's, Moonlight Gourami's, Bronze Thick Lipped Gourami's, Ruby Shark, Silver Shark, Loach and a Snowball Pleco. They are all perfectly happy together!!! Don't forget to get plants for your fish to hide in and some bog wood or ornaments of some kind. I have 11 plants, 3 big Bog wood pieces, rocks and shelss, but then my tank is alot bigger than yours!

There is somewhere on the forum which helps you work out how many fish you should have in your tank, but can't remember where it is!!!

Have fun!

Lisaxx
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. :hi:

From a stocking standpoint, the general guide for starting out is 1" of adult fish per gallon of water. Your tank is about 15/16 gallons and the neons are about 1.5" so that would be 9" leaving room for another 2 to 4 smallish fish. Most any peaceful community fish such as guppies, platys, other tetras, corys, dwarf gouramis, etc. would be fine. If you decide on livebearers like guppies, make sure you get all males or you sill quickly be over run with fry as females can store sperm and will continue to have fry weeks and months (every 28 days) after being in a tank with male. Just keep in mind that most community tropical fish prefer to be in groups of at least 3.

As I said, the 1" per gallon is a guide to help you ease into fishkeeping. With a good filtration, proper maintenance and water change schedule, you can exceed that without problems but it's best to start slow and get your feet wet first.

If you continue with the fishless cycle and complete it, you shouldn't have any issues with the neons. They don't handle ammonia and nitrite well in cycling tanks but should do fine once your tank is cycled so there are no toxins.

Good luck!!!
 
Hiya,

I enjoyed reading your post, it was amusing.

rdd1952 is correct with what he has written. Just be aware that the fish you do buy go well in a community tank. Angelfish for example will eat Neon Tetras. IMO Swordtails are really awesome fish. The males have an extended cauldal fin tip (hence the name) and they are very easy to look after. But be aware because they too are livebearers. Males are fine together. They would fit in lovely with a few Neon Tetras and are the right size for your tank.
 

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