New Member , New Aquarium

Hello, thank you for adding me. I have just bought myself a Fluval roma 200, haven't set it up yet as thought i may as well decorate the room first as it`s going to be a bit of a job to move it when it`s up and running. It`s not my first aquarium, but I haven`t had one for a few years now , so will be asking plenty of questions in the near future and will need loads of advice. This is the biggest aquarium i have had, and I just want a nice community aquarium with plenty of colour and activity. Looking forward to learning loads off the members on here and looking forward to getting my tank up and running.
Cheers Andy.

That's a nice sized tank 

Once you've found the hardness of your tap water, then all you have to is decide what to get. Personally I think this is the hardest part - there are just so many fish out there to choose from 


There is an alternative to fishless cycling, and that is to plant the tank quite heavily before getting fish. Once you are sure the plants are growing well, add fish a few at a time.

Greetings Andy and welcome to the forum... 

The others will be able to give a better steer, but you're starting well with a fishless cycle. In a weird way, it actually allows you to fully stock your tank faster than fish-in cycling, so it's definitely a good choice.

To help us suggest fish, we'd need to know your hardness as Sue said. If you can let us know your hardness and water parameters, we can help with fish choices!

That said, I'd steer clear of the Bristlenose Plec for now. I think they're great fish and they do a good job, but until your tank's been running for a while, you'll lack the necessary biofilm and algae growth to sustain a BN properly. They're great community fish and, so long as they're happy with your water, I think you'd be right to have one, but not as your first fish, it's something to come to later down the line.

I`m thinking of maybe adding a bristlenose pleco , after a couple of weeks or so as my first fish

I'm afraid it will take longer than a couple of weeks for a fishless cycle. When I changed the filter in my betta's tank from an internal to a sponge filter I cycled the new filter in my quarantine tank first and it took 7 weeks.

Have you found the ' how to' method ? https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/fishtank-filtration-and-cycling/fishless-cycling-how-to-do-it/


And yes, with fishless cycling you will have grown more bacteria than a sensibly stocked tank will need so in theory you can get all your planned fish within a few days. There are some fish species that do better in a mature tank so those are best left for a few months. A mature tank is one that has grown a whole host of other micro-organisms in addition to the filter bacteria, and a tank is reckoned to be mature 6 months after it finishes cycling.

Thank you for the advice, like I initially said I won't be adding any fish until
the conditions are right for them. It's really good to know that certain fish
prefer a more mature tank :-). My water hardness is 50 CaC03 mg/l or degrees
German 2.83. Am I right in thinking that these water conditions will give me plenty of choice for a community tank ?

Hi Andy can confirm bristlenose plecs crap is longer than the fish itself lol 

If you can find someone with used media will help the cycle process !