Tropical Fish & Forum Newbie

[JonnyKoi]

Hey guys,

I'm JonnyKoi from the UK.

I've always loved fish and wanted to own a tank for years.
I finally had the chance to do it so bought myself a 60 liter tank.

It's now full with water and i've had the heater set at 24 degrees for the past 24 hours. The heater light is off indicating that it has reached it's desired temperature. I've added 'Nutrafin Aqua Plus' and 'Nutrafin Cycle' as per the instructions in my tanks booklet.

My first question is, should I keep the temperature at 24 degrees?

I'd like to buy fish at the weekend if possible. Do you guys think the tank will be ready?
I plan to use a toxin test kit before hand just to make sure.

I'd also be interested to hear what fish you recommend to begin with and also how many fish I can ultimately keep?

Thanks

 

[Skins]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
First step Jonny is to cycle your filter, this is a process where the fishkeeper builds up enough bacteria to take out the toxins(ammonia/nitrite) in the tank waters chemistry. This process(nitrogen cycle)can be achieved two ways fish-in or fishless cycle. As you have not got any stock yet you are in a good position to fishless cycle, please look at the links in my signature at the bottom of this post here you will find some great articles. By all means have a read of the fish-in-cycle article but this method requires more work(e.g water changes).

Keith.

 

[simonas]

welcome to the forum Johnny

Its exciting isn;t it. I;m not the best person to advise on cycling as I have my own method which probably doesn;t conform to any rules etc but what I would say is take it easy!! far too many people rush with stocking and then feed their new pets too much leading to disaster and loss of interest in tank

Add fish slowly ,read lots of info on here and regular water changes and you will have a tank that you are proud of and your knowledge will grow

good luck

Simon

 

[JonnyKoi]

Thanks for the input guys,

I will attempt a fishless cycle.

I have added the 'Nutrafin Cycle' formula and according the the website, it "immediately creates a habitable environment for your fish"

I am not looking to stock immediately but the formula came with the tank and I followed the instructions provided.
If I buy fish on Sunday, the tank would have been running for a full 6 days. Would you consider this long enough? I am more than prepared to wait if not.

I will be sure to read some of the articles in your signature..

I wouldn't worry about the possability of me losing interest in the tank

 

[Skins]

Thanks for the input guys,

I will attempt a fishless cycle.

I have added the 'Nutrafin Cycle' formula and according the the website, it "immediately creates a habitable environment for your fish"

I am not looking to stock immediately but the formula came with the tank and I followed the instructions provided.
If I buy fish on Sunday, the tank would have been running for a full 6 days. Would you consider this long enough? I am more than prepared to wait if not.

I will be sure to read some of the articles in your signature..

I wouldn't worry about the possability of me losing interest in the tank

I had the same bottle of nurafin cycle come with my tank but after the advice i was given here on the forum i decided to fishless cycle. A lot of the members including myself believe these bacteria in a bottle products will not fully or not a tall cycle your filter, and when it comes to stocking with fish can lead to problems for the fishkeeper.
For a filter to be fully cycled and be in a position to cope with the tanks bioload can take between 6-8weeks.
Do you now anyone who keeps fish? Putting some of there mature media in with your filter media can really speed the process up.

Keith.

 

[Carlovel1]

Welcome to the forum

 

[rob158]

to the forum,

 

[Florence88]

Hello!! I'm new to this website and i've kept fish for a couple of years now, but i'm ready to learn more!!!
I've had various fish over the last few years but when i recently moved house my fish all started to die - bad times
I don't think it was from stress - probably from the different water?? Although i've only moved pretty much up the road!!
So any fish i buy now just seem to die apart from 2 hardy catfish and an apple snail called Russel!!
Very disheartening!!
I've bought a water testing kit, so i'm going to test the water (obv) but there seems to be an odd colouring on the plants i have too. It's almost like rust sticking to the plastic plants, as well as little moth-like balls sitting on leaves...bizare!!
Please help, i'm still quite a beginner with a 54 litre tank and need educating

Thanks

 

[Holly12]

Hello and welcome to the forum Iam still new on here myself this is a great site with alot of great info for you so come on in and enjoy yourself.