Tips Please

[lee337]

Hi All

I have just set up my first tropical fish tank which is a 71 Litres tank and I'm afraid it looks to be more tricky than I thought. The tank was set up 2 weeks ago this Saturday to which I have used the chemical Nutrafin to build up the bacteria levels in the filter, to which I was advised to do to but I didn't have a clue why I had to do this I just was told if I didn't the fish would die.

So anyway yesterday I brought my first fish, which I knew to only add a few fish at a time so I got myself 5 Green Tiger Barbs which the shop advised was a hardy fish and they seem to be doing well

Tonight I was reading through the forum and found the topic What's cycling which I found very interesting and it explained why it was important to build up the bacteria and how ammonia builds up in the tank.

The shop did say to me about bringing in a sample of my water next week which they will test for me so hopefully all will be alright but would like to do these tests myself

I'm hoping I'm going to get the hang of this because at the moment it's all very puzzling so any tips, fish suggestions and the amount of fish I could keep in my tank I would be very greatfull

THANKS Lee

 

[rdd1952]

Hi Lee and welcome to the forum.

Getting started can be very confusing. Fish stores don't give out the best advice, especially, if it's actually a chain store that also sells fish. There are a lot of good articles in the Beginners Resource Center that can answer a lot of questions.

You would be well advised to buy a good liquid master test kit that can test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. When you notice problems, it's best if you can test immediately rather than having to wait until you can get to the LFS.

I feel certain that you will see ammonia within about 48 hours from introducing the fish. Adding the bacteria in a bottle products is pretty useless. They don't seem to work except in very rare occasions. Since you've read the article, you already know abut doing water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite as low as possible until the tank cycles.

As for the number of fish you can keep, the general rule of thumb is 1" of adult fish per gallon of water. That really only applies to small, thin bodied fish like most of the community fish. That is obviously not set in stone but just helps keep things as simple as possible until you get the hang of things and get the tank all sorted out. With good filtration and maintenance, most people are around 2" per gallon.

 

[Curiosity101]

You also might want to think about taking the tiger barbs back if you can... Not due to the fish in cycling situation (although it's obviously better to do a fishless cycle).
But because if you have a think about what fish you will be wanting in the future then you might find many of the ones you want aren't compatible with the tiger barbs.
Just a thought and welcome to the forums

 

[lee337]

Thanks for getting back to me so soon with all your good advice I'll have to get one of those water testing kits and hopefully be able to get it all under control and I shall look into the fish that are compatible with the Tiger barbs.

THANKS AGAIN