Setting Up A Tropical Tank

[shang hi]

so you want to set up a tropical tank. Is this your first time?, or maybe you just need a recap on the basics. Well in this guide ill tell you how and what to do and what you'll need for healthy happy fish.

Stage 1: Are fish right for me

okay well so you've got nothing or no knowledge, well i recommend u think reasonably deeply about getting fish, here's a few questions you should ask your self: Where will i put the tank
Do i have time to clean it out and perform water changes
Do i have the money (a good set up with decor and fish can cost up to £250)
Who will feed it when i am not around, can i use food tablets.
Am i going to enjoy it, fish keeping should not be a chore but something you find pleasure in.

Stage 2: what fish do i want

This stage should always be done before you get a tank, as fish need different space requirements and to see if they are compatible.

Stage 3 : What tank size

This stage fits in with Stage 2 as it can restrict your fish types. Generally speaking a bigger tank is easier to tank care of than a small 30l one (why this is, because a small tank only has a small space for biological filtration, a large tank can have a external filter (remember you cant over filter), external filters are good as you can have large fish or messy fish and over feeding isn't to much to worry about (a hole pot of food though will not go down well). Also a external filter can be cut off from the main tank for maintenance. large tank's to me have more character as you can have small and large fish with fish swimming in all directions.

Stage 3.1 : What accessorys do i need
I'm not putting tank on the list as its obvious

1 - Heater
2 - Filter, and all the pads/filter media. External filters are good as they can hold more filter bacteria.
3 - Decor (Rocks, bogwood ornaments)
4 - Gravel one that will not alter the chemistry of the water (it comes in all sizes, colours and shapes from natural to bright pink)

Ignore steps 5-6 if you don't plan on having a planted tank

5 - Plants (A planted tank has more hiding places for fish that feel insecure, also adds a bit of mystery)
5.1 - Again we come back to gravel, for plants you need gravel that will anchor the plants down giving them a sturdy
holding spot.
5.2 - You will need fertiliser, covered with the gravel of your choice, for optimum plant growth.
5.3 - For tanks with lots of plants in a CO2 system is a must have for good looking healthy plants.
5.4 - Liquid plant food to keep your plants in there best shape.

6 - Air pump
7 - Background of tank, rock effect backgrounds look nice and can help a fish feel more safe.
8 - Water treatment (chlorine remover), Stress Coat and Stress Zyme are good for keeping a tank healthy
9 - Water testing kit (PH, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite)
10 - Fish food
11 - Lights (water friendly definatly)
12 - A gravel cleaner
13 - Nets (different sizes for different fish)
14 - Net disenfectant, (this is a good idea, removing a dead fish with the net can make the net infested with bacteria (if they were rotting or if they had a deasease).
15 - A bucket that has never been used for anything except this tank. (no used ones as they may have trace of harmfull
chemicles).

Stage 4 : I've got every thing above (not fish yet) so what do i do now?

1 - Get the tank out, Put it on its stand if you have one (where its supposed to go if you don't).
2 - Add the background to where ever its suppose to be (inside or outside the tank).
3 - Install the filter, heater and Air system.
4 - Add the fertiliser over the base of the tank (how much it recommends for the plants you chose).
5 - Cover the fertiliser with the gravel of your choice about 5cm deep/2".
6- Add the ornaments like bogwood and rocks (no plants yet), making sure the wood has been soaked for about 3-7days and
then rinsed to remove any dust.
7 - half fill the tank with water (cold water from cold tap), using a clean bowl to deflect the water from
disturbing the gravel and fertiliser. Treat the water with dechlorinateing chemicals.
8 - Now you can start to plant your lovely plants (cheaked that they are suitable for the fish you have chosen), plant the
taller plants at the back of the tank and maybe a few at the front, differ in plant choice to bring a more natural look to
your new tank.
9 - If you are planing on havong lots of plants a CO2 system is useful.
10 - Now fill the tank to full capacity (Water may be cloudy but after a month of fishless cycling this should be all gone).
11 - Add liquid ammonia or food to the tank with no fish in the start of the biological filtration. Test the water every other day
to see if biological filtration has started. I recommend using Stress Zyme to add extra filter bacteria, however this is up
to you.
12 - Fishless cycling link has been added to the bottom of the article as it explaines in detail.


Stage 5 : Time to go fishing (not literally)
Now your tank is set up and all completed, right?.... okay i forgot the fish.
Firstly test the water, if the nitrites are high then do a water change to lower it before adding adding fish.

Im not good at describing fishless cycling so i've added a link at the bottom of the article.


Thank you for reading this article about setting up your new tropical tank
shang hi

Weekly maitanance made easy link http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=171045
Fishless cycling in detail http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861
Regards to: littlest and dwarfgourami for there help given to improve this guide

 

[Lizzie71]

What a great article! Thanks for that.

 

[shang hi]

Thank you lizzie im glad to help

If there are any miss spells or there is a part i have got wrong feel free to PM me or post it here and i shall corect it asap shang hi

 

[littlest]

"If your water quality has stayed good for about a week with adding food or liquid ammonia. then its time to get some fish in there. for every 30l add about 2-2.5cm of fish. hardy fish are recommended as at this time your ammonia and nitrate/nitrite will peak and then return to normal"

You shouldn't leave your tank without food or liquid ammonia for a week. If you do this your bacteria will not have a food source and will die off, just before you add your fish. If you have done a full fishless cycle you don't need to add so slowly either and your ammonia and nitrite will not spike if the tank is fully cycled before adding fish. You should however do a large water change after a fishless cycle to remove nitrates which would have built up while doing a fishless cycle.

there's a few vital details missing too I think. You don't mention gravel cleaners, nets, lights or buckets in your equipment list or lights. You also don't talk about different types of filter media at all. You also don't say you have to keep adding ammonia in a fishless cycle or mention how much you should add. I realise it is meant to be a brief article, but some of these things are quite vital.

There's a few spelling mistakes too, but don't have time to point them out sorry.

 

[shang hi]

mainly in this article i was more talking about the actual tank, theres already the pinned post on weekly maitenence and i didnt say u should leave the tank with no food for a week, well if i did ill corect it now and ill also add that stuff about gravel cleaners.
thanks

edit fixed

 

[littlest]

whoops, sorry totally my mistake. You're right, you didn't say you should leave the tank without food for a week. I read it wrong. Even in the bit I quoted you said "with adding food or liquid ammonia". I should remember to engage my brain and read things properly before commenting. sorry.

 

[shang hi]

dont worry it helped me alot i found a few errors myself like it keept comming up with squairs when ever i said I've but thats all gone now

 

[dwarfgourami]

Sorry mate, but I see a fair few problems here:

"Add as much ammonia as the bottle suggests"- where do you find bottles of ammonia with instructions for fishless cycling?!?

You seem to suggest that the cycle is complete once the ammonia has returned to 0- what about the nitrites, they are at least as dangerous?

Then you suggest doing the large end-of-cycling water change and then continuing adding ammonia for a week- this isn't how fishless cycling is normally done, usually the large water change is done on the day you go to get the fish.

I assume that where you suggest doing a water change to dilute nitrites before adding fish, it's nitrates you mean? Otherwise, just a water change seems a bit reckless- if there are nitrites in the water, that shows your cycling isn't finished.

After you have given a (vague) outline of fishless cycling you say that you need to put hardy fish in after the cycling as your ammonia and nitrate/nitrite will then peak and fall. Not if you've done your cycling right, they won't!

DO you believe nitrite and nitrate are the same thing?!? If so, I think you should read up again before you try to advise anyone on tank cycling. Your nitrates will not peak and then fall again at any time of the cycle- they need to be removed by water changes.

I hope you won't take offence if I ask you- but have you actually tried fishless cycling in practice? If not, might be a good idea just to give links to people who have.

Also, I have to say 1000 quid sounds a lot of money for setting up a first tank- I haven't spent that on my 6! Obviously, there is no limit to how much money you can spend if you put your mind to it, but people be may put off if they think you have to spend this much to get into the hobby, which is certainly not the case.

When you say "I have found an external filter is best", it would be helpful to give readers some idea of how many different types of filter you have actually tried out. Just a thought.

Also, when you say CO2 is necessary for healthy plant growth- I think you need to be more specific. It's obviously not necesary for all healthy plant growth, as lots of us run planted tanks without it. Also without fertilized soil. And you give the impression it is impossible to have a planted tank with a sand substrate, which again is not true.

 

[mark.w.jones]

A agree with what has been said above. You need to go back and make a few changes to your original article but it does contain a lot of useful info. The problem with trying to write a catch all article on setting up a tropical tank is that there are just too many variables. Every single tank and fishkeeper is unique so there is guranteed to be something you write which is completely the wrong thing to do for certain situations. No one can be expected to write in perfect detail and with a high level of knowledge about all areas of fish keeping though. I would advise you try to write in detail about what you know well or maybe ask others to contribute to what you have already info. I'm sure the last thing you'd want to do is to give someone poor info. which leads to them losing fish or money.

 

[shang hi]

i have updated it and yes thank you for pointing some things i badly phraised or missed out/ gave slightly wrong information. i think i did all the points but fell free to point out what i messed.
any thing else ive missed out?, oh and you dont need to wory about me taking offence, ide rather u gave me the truth than sugar coat it and risk someone taking advise that is not 100% finished.
ill have a few readovers.
any further points also welcome
shang hi

 

[dwarfgourami]

Just a quick look at your amended article- once again you've mixed up nitrAte and nitrIte- it's zero nitrIte you need in a newly cycled tank. It is quite rare to get zero nitrAte, and there is absolutely no need for this- many of us have 40 ppm or more coming out of our taps. Also, what part of the world are you where people can buy liquid ammonia in a fish shop? This doesn't seem to be the case for most members- have you actually tried this? And do the bottles really carry instructions?

You still haven't changed the bit about needing to add hardy fish after the cycle- still implying that you should be seeing ammonia peak at this stage (something seriously wrong if you do!)- and still confusing nitrAte and nitrIte here. If I were you, I would not try to describe fishless cycling at all, but simply move the link for it to the part of the topic where you speak about setting up the tank.

You badly need to run the spellcheck on the post: mis-spellings do make it more difficult to understand. One misprint stands out: fishkeeping shouldn't be a "chore". Certain gouramis may be quite vocal, but calling them a "choir" would be an overstatement.

 

[Straydum]

14 - Net steriliser, you want to keep every thing as-clean-as-posable

 

[shang hi]

erm... weell it turns out i wasn't reading the lable to the ammonia thing right.... it was romover (im an idiot!) ill chang that as say use the fishless cycling link.
spell check will be done just a little low on time and i need to install it.... computers full it will be done when i've cleaned it up though.

shang hi (the idiot who missread a ammonia remover lable.....)