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New Fish Keeper

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Offline Leyther

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New fish keeper
« on: August 26, 2013, 07:25:06 PM »
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Hi Everyone
I,m getting a new fish tank this week , I,ve never kept fish before and only know what I,ve read on here , I,ve spent hours reading all the info on here and in a book I,ve purchased and it seems there is a difference in opinion by many of the experts although only minor ones.
The tank I have got my eye on is a 90L Juwel , I was going for a 65L one originally but it seems the larger the tank the more stable the water so have gone as big as I can with the space I,ve got and I think I will be going for a fish in cycle.
Do you think I will have any major problems both with the tank size and the fish in cycle, like I said earlier I have read all the info and the pro,s and cons of a fish in cycle, it looks like Sue is one of the experts (hello sue) and I,m sure to come up with a few problems along the way.
I live in the North West by the way and I have had a look on my water companies website and we get our water from the Lake District, the water is classed as very soft and with very few additives, I do have the full read-out but won't bother you with all the data.
Thanks All
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Offline Sue

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2013, 07:42:02 PM »
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Hi,

That sounds a nice sized tank for starting.

You will probably find that forums like this are more extreme on cycling than books. They tend to err on the side of not frightening new fish keepers  ;D

Your water sounds like it will have low carbonate hardness - we have another new member from Manchester who has a KH (cabonate hardness) of just 2. The filter bacteria need carbonate in the water to multiply properly, so if you decide on fishless cycling I would advise you add bicarbonate of soda (sold in small tubs in the home baking section of the supermarket). With your water you will probably benefit from buying a GH and KH testing kit (more expense I'm afraid) so that you can keep an eye on it during cycling.
If you decide to do a fish-in cycle, you would be safer using less fish than usual, simply because it will take longer for the bacteria to grow so you'll be doing huge water changes for longer if you get a lot of fish. You can't use bicarb with fish in the tank as all the sodium in it is as bad for fish as it is for us.



As for what fish to get - there are lots of south American fish that will love your water; tetras, corydoras, apistogrammas and so on. You will just need to avoid hard water fish such as guppies and platies.
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Offline Resa

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2013, 07:51:00 PM »
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Hi Leyther...and welcome!

You'll be well looked after on here. There will be someone who will have any answers you need...probably Sue ;)
That sounds like a good sized tank to me.
I would say, that it is best to get the biggest tank you can afford....don't worry about space...chuck out a sofa, who needs them? ;D Everyone always seems to have the same regret...that they didn't get a bigger tank to start with. Have a look on the community creator and see which fish you like the look of and that are suitable for your water conditions and will live happily together...you'll be amazed how many fish need much bigger tanks than you would think ???

I did a fishless cycle with my tank, but obviously you can do a fish-in one....but it's a lot more work and you absolutely must be on the ball regarding testing and water changes, otherwise your fish will suffer.
Sue has posted really good, thorough threads on both methods though, so they will guide you through it all very well.

Anyway, good luck with it all, send some piccies as soon as you have your tank up and running....we're quite nosey ;)

All the best
Resa
  :)
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A Selection of Fish in my Fish Community Creator Tanks
Panda Cory (11) - Otocinclus (2) - Platy (3) - Dwarf Rainbowfish (7) - Dwarf Gourami (2) - Red Phantom Tetra (5) - Salt and Pepper Catfish (2) - Otocinclus (2) - Guppy (male) (4) - Dwarf Gourami (1) - Platy (6) - Dwarf Rainbowfish (5) - Panda Cory (6) - Otocinclus (2) - Salt and Pepper Catfish (6) - Dwarf Gourami (1) - Platy (5) - Guppy (male) (4) - Otocinclus (2) - Panda Cory (6) - Platy (3) - Dwarf Rainbowfish (5) -
Note: The user may not necessarily own these fish, these are tanks that they may be building or researching for stocking purposes

Offline Resa

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2013, 07:52:55 PM »
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Oops....Sue posted whilst I was typing :-[
See...I told you she would look after you....you're in safe hands ;) SteveS and Colin B know their stuff too!
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A Selection of Fish in my Fish Community Creator Tanks
Panda Cory (11) - Otocinclus (2) - Platy (3) - Dwarf Rainbowfish (7) - Dwarf Gourami (2) - Red Phantom Tetra (5) - Salt and Pepper Catfish (2) - Otocinclus (2) - Guppy (male) (4) - Dwarf Gourami (1) - Platy (6) - Dwarf Rainbowfish (5) - Panda Cory (6) - Otocinclus (2) - Salt and Pepper Catfish (6) - Dwarf Gourami (1) - Platy (5) - Guppy (male) (4) - Otocinclus (2) - Panda Cory (6) - Platy (3) - Dwarf Rainbowfish (5) -
Note: The user may not necessarily own these fish, these are tanks that they may be building or researching for stocking purposes

Offline foolsgold

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2013, 07:56:59 PM »
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Hi Leyther

I did my "fish in cycle" with 4 Black Phantom Tetras, and they are still going strong 18 months later.

Just be prepared for lots of hard work, I did 20% water changes every day for about a month and checked ammonia/nitrate daily too.

As I said, it's hard work and a big commitment but well worth it  :)
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A Selection of Fish in my Fish Community Creator Tanks
Tiger Barb (12) - Platy (2) - Rosy Tetra (4) - Glowlight Tetra (6) - Galaxy Rasbora (6) - Lemon Tetra (6) - Black Neon Tetra (6) -
Note: The user may not necessarily own these fish, these are tanks that they may be building or researching for stocking purposes

Offline Leyther

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2013, 08:20:57 PM »
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Hi
Thanks for your quick replies.
I read Sues fish-in and fishless cycle yesterday, I think I have read nearly all the advice pages as well,  just a few posers , I have sent off for the API master test kit (it's cheaper online) does that kit not have the KH and GH tests in it, and one more , we have a good LFS (only just found out what an LFS is) lol but would a local LFS mainly stock fish that is suitable for the local water eg very soft.
Thanks again.
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Offline SteveS

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #6 on: August 26, 2013, 08:29:42 PM »
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Unless they've changed the contents since I bought mine the API master test kit (I hope you made sure that you got the freshwater version as there is a saltwater version too and the tests are different) contains two test for pH plus ammonia plus nitrite plus nitrate. No hardness test is included.

Your lfs may keep fish that are acclimatised to your local water, but they will stock other fish too, especially if they are are profitable. You cannot assume that just because it's in your lfs that it is suitable for you, you need to do your own research.
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A Selection of Fish in my Fish Community Creator Tanks
Angelfish (1) - Panda Cory (10) - Harlequin Rasbora (10) - Otocinclus (10) - Japonica Shrimp (10) - Honey Gourami (10) - Galaxy Rasbora (10) -
Note: The user may not necessarily own these fish, these are tanks that they may be building or researching for stocking purposes

Offline ColinB

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2013, 07:59:37 AM »
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Welcome to the forum Leyther. I have a combined GH/KH kit (£5.80 from here) that will last ages - especially with soft water as you'll need so few drops.

Any 'decent' LFS should keep their fish in the local water - or specify that they're not. e.g. My LFS is MA and half their fish stock are in local hard water, and they have two other sections with very large 'livebearer' and 'softwater' signs stuck to the sections. :)
However, my local P@H have no signs and keep specific hard water fish in tanks next to soft water fish. >:(

Best to take a notebook and jot down the names of fish that take your fancy, then come back here and research them, put them into the community creator and ask any questions etc.
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A Selection of Fish in my Fish Community Creator Tanks
Panda Cory (7) - Honey Gourami (3) - Ember Tetra (9) - Lemon Tetra (4) - Cherry Barb (1) - Otocinclus (2) -
Note: The user may not necessarily own these fish, these are tanks that they may be building or researching for stocking purposes

Offline Sue

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Re: New fish keeper
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2013, 08:58:32 AM »
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The API master test kit is the one I have. Two things -
Shake nitrate #2 bottle like the instructions say. And because it's new, tap it on the work top gently a few times first. The shaking is important as one of the reagents settles on the bottom and shaking re-dissolves it.
There are 2 bottles of pH tester, one mid range and one high range. Use the mid range (labelled as just pH) first. Only use the high range one if the other one shows the highest colour on the chart.

I bought the API GH/KH pack. I don't know if other makes are the same as the API one, but they work differently from the ammonia etc testers. Don't expect a colour chart with these.



As the others have said, shops will stock fish from all water types regardless of the local water. Fish are only in a shop for a short time. And any fish that die will be removed from the tank so a customer won't know the mortality rate of a shop. You need to think about the long term, not just the couple of weeks they are in a shop tank.
There are ways to make your water harder if you really want hard water fish. It is much easier to do this than to make hard water soft. There are people with very hard water who would love to keep Amazonian fish and would kill for your water  ;D
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