Hello From Cardiff, Wales

Hi everyone - I'm new to this Forum, and new(wish) for fish-keeping.
Quick background - Had an aquarium 20-odd years ago when my kids were little, but had to get rid of it when my then-3-y-o daughter decided it would be a hoot to try to climb into the tank!!

Fast-forward to January and I'm on honeymoon in Australia, staying with my brother who has an aquarium and we got quite enthralled with it, especially the new Mrs BTB.

So, when we got back home, we started to research getting one. After some furniture re-arrangement and lots of finger-tapping we bought a Juwel Rio 180, put some sand, a few plants and some rocks in filled it up and left it for a week. I also bought a lump of bogwood which I left soaking in the garage in a bucket of water for a week with a water-change every 2 days.

Then began adding fish: starting off with 5 Harlequin Rasboras.
A week-on, we added 5 more and a pair of Bristlenose Plecs. Around this time, we spotted a snail, despite washing, it must've sneaked in on one of the plants. Looks like there's still just the one, and he seems pretty happy - he's growing and zips about all over the tank.
About 10 days after (would've been a week, but got snowed-in )we added 10 Neon Tetras and a pair of Black Corydoras.

So, this is where we are now.

Going forward, I'm thinking we should a couple more Black Corys - everywhere I've read (after the event) says they should be at least 4 of them. Then we'd like some "specimen" fish - I really like the look of Red-Tailed Black Sharks, but not sure how compatible they might be - even just a single one. we're also very taken with Electric Blue Rams - a pair would look great - and the Bolivian Rams - again a pair would be great.
If we went own the Ram-route, not sure if we could have a pair of each - I'm not certain how territorial they would be.

Anyway - that's me for now. Glad to be part of this community.

And I went to university in Cardiff, many decades ago - that's where I met my husband 

Red tailed black sharks are difficult to build a community around http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-bicolor/ Personally, I would rather avoid fish that dictate what else I can have 

Only one species of cichlid in this sized tank. Which type of ram will depend on your water. Unless it is soft and acidic, go for Bolivian rams. This species is hard to sex in juveniles - fish in shops are juveniles - and rams must choose their own mates. Unless their breeding tubes are visible, you will need to select a pair carefully. The recommended way is to stand in front of the shop tank, motionless. Eventually the fish will forget you are there and behave normally. The males will be pushing at each other. The females will just get on with life. Any female is allowed to stay near a male without him showing any signs of chasing her away is more likely to be a bonded pair. More likely, not guaranteed.
If you do have soft acidic water (I lived in Cardiff in the 1970's and didn't take much notice of hardness back then) rams would be OK. These are easier to sex in the standard blue form as females have a pinkish belly. Gold and electric blue are trickier.



Don't worry about snails - they are an important part of a tank eco system, unless they take over. Too much fish food is the usual cause of too many snails. I have nerites and Malaysian trumpet snails (which I paid for) and tiny ramshorns and 'pond' snails (which came on plants).

Hi there and welcome to the forum. 
I am originally from Cardiff and head back their to visit family & friends on a fairly regular basis.
I'm also looking forward to seeing pics of your tank. 

And I went to university in Cardiff, many decades ago - that's where I met my husband 

Red tailed black sharks are difficult to build a community around http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/epalzeorhynchos-bicolor/ Personally, I would rather avoid fish that dictate what else I can have 

Only one species of cichlid in this sized tank. Which type of ram will depend on your water. Unless it is soft and acidic, go for Bolivian rams. This species is hard to sex in juveniles - fish in shops are juveniles - and rams must choose their own mates. Unless their breeding tubes are visible, you will need to select a pair carefully. The recommended way is to stand in front of the shop tank, motionless. Eventually the fish will forget you are there and behave normally. The males will be pushing at each other. The females will just get on with life. Any female is allowed to stay near a male without him showing any signs of chasing her away is more likely to be a bonded pair. More likely, not guaranteed.
If you do have soft acidic water (I lived in Cardiff in the 1970's and didn't take much notice of hardness back then) rams would be OK. These are easier to sex in the standard blue form as females have a pinkish belly. Gold and electric blue are trickier.



Don't worry about snails - they are an important part of a tank eco system, unless they take over. Too much fish food is the usual cause of too many snails. I have nerites and Malaysian trumpet snails (which I paid for) and tiny ramshorns and 'pond' snails (which came on plants).

Hi Sue - thanks for the advice - excellent..

Hi there and welcome to the forum. 
I am originally from Cardiff and head back their to visit family & friends on a fairly regular basis.
I'm also looking forward to seeing pics of your tank. 

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes - I'll get some pics up over the weekend.

And I went to university in Cardiff, many decades ago - that's where I met my husband 

What were you subject(s) Sue...?  My father was a lecturer at Cardiff Uni while you were there... 

Any chance we could see a photo of your setup??  (Its not like anyone has mentioned this already lol)

Ditto that...!!!   

Welcome 

I'm also a massive fan of rams 

Can't recommend getting a test kit highly enough...  it sounds from your description like you may be mid way through a fish-in cycle.  The plants will be helping keep your water quality ok but I would also strongly suggest having a read of this:
https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/fishtank-filtration-and-cycling/fish-in-cycling-with-fish-how-to-do-it/

Any chance we could see a photo of your setup??  (Its not like anyone has mentioned this already lol)

Thanks for the welcome Matt.

No - I made sure the tank was cycled before I put any fish in.
I've also used Quick Start when I've added fish, and Tap Safe when I've done water changes. I've been recommended Seachem Prime going forward, as apparently it's good stuff, and great value as you only need a small amount.

I'll post some photos - got some on my phone so need to post from there.

The problem with Prime is that it contains a whole ton of chemicals and Seachem won't say what's in it. While it is fine for use during a fish-in cycle to protect the fish from ammonia and nitrite poisoning, it is not something I would use afterwards. All the chemicals we add to a tank end up inside the fish, so the less we add the better.

If you want a concentrated dechlorinator, and your water company uses chlorine rather than chloramine, the best one is API Tap Water Conditioner. All this contains is a chemical to remove chlorine and another to bind metals. Nothing else. But when the water company adds chloramine, you do need a dechlorinator which also detoxifies ammonia until the filter bacteria have had chance to 'eat' the ammonia from the chloramine.
Smaller bottles of API Tap Water Conditioner(1 ml per 60 litres dose rate) need 1 drop per 3.75 litres. Larger bottles (1 ml per 76 litres dose rate) need 1 drop per 4.75 litres. I use 2 drops per bucket (I can't lift a very large bucket of water)
The only problem is that not many shops stock it so I get mine on-line.

Nice tank! 

Nice tank! 

Thanks