Advice on my first freshwater tropical fishtank.

Hate · 10 Jan 2007 at 14:54

Okay, i've decided I would like a small tropical tank. I'm a beginner at keeping indoor fish (got a pond) however my old housemate kept em.

I only want a small talk (talking about 2ftx1ftx1ft) to fit on my desk.

I've seen a starter kit in the local pet shop for £60 thats tank, heater, pump, filter and a couple of other nick nacks. I also know you have to cycle the tank before you can put fishies in.

Now, I need advise on what fish to get, I was thinking of getting some shoaling fish (tetra), a few algae feeding / scavenging fish (catfish? plecko?) and so on.

As you can see, its not going to be a large tank. I'm looking at fish that will get on nicely, look nice and cover a few 'bases' (like the ones that help clean the tank).

Anybody got any advice?

Kol · 10 Jan 2007 at 14:59

My brother law has a huge fresh water tropical tank... god knows about many fish now, but it's a LOT. Anyhow, I know nothing about them, but I do know his tetra and pleckos get on perfectly well.

NeedleGunner · 10 Jan 2007 at 15:12

I have a nive 4 ft tank with plenty of Black Neon, Bleeding Heart Tetra's in it, they look nice and will all shoal together.

The best (and strangest) thing for cleaning the tank is an Apple Snail I managed to get one for £2 and it did a better job of cleaning then a dozen loaches

They can be pretty speedy too :cool:

We have a Red Tailed Shark, really cool fish with a vived red tail :rolleyes:

Which is sometimes useful as an idicator to the quality of the water, if it's dull the waters crap.

A couple of Corries (Panda) a Sturnam Catfish (Huge and dosent eat smaller fish) might be a bit big for you tank though.

Some other nice fish vor the top are Hatchett Fish (Flying Fish) they look cool too.

My first advise would be; before you put anything in your tank leave it running for a full month so that the water can establish itself (nitraes/nitrites) otherwise your new friends will just die

Amp34 · 10 Jan 2007 at 15:14

A few neon or cardinal (pretty much the same thing just slightly more red on one) tetras. Guppies are also good beginner fish too, horny beasts, they breed like rabbits! A couple of smallish algae eaters and maybe a male siamese fighter or a pair of gourami's. Just make sure you dont get any fin nipping fish if you do get them. A nice litle collection of fish that will live happily together.

Other suggestions are platies (although I never had much luck with them) and maybe something like a Kuli Loache although they can be a little hard to see sometimes.

You can also get aquatic frogs and big snails which adds a nice change to just fish.

My suggestion as well is to get a big book of tropical fish and have a look through it, they normally have sections such as "community fish" etc. so its quite easy to choose fish that will live in harmony.

Edit: Needles snail is exactly the one I was talking about.

Hate · 10 Jan 2007 at 15:16

excellent

I find fish tanks calming and relaxing, and hopefully the hummmmmm of the tank won't be too loud for me

Amp34 · 10 Jan 2007 at 15:33

Hate said:
excellent

I find fish tanks calming and relaxing, and hopefully the hummmmmm of the tank won't be too loud for me

You get used to it after a while so dont worry.

NeedleGunner · 10 Jan 2007 at 15:43

Amp34 said:
My suggestion as well is to get a big book of tropical fish and have a look through it, they normally have sections such as "community fish" etc. so its quite easy to choose fish that will live in harmony.

Edit: Needles snail is exactly the one I was talking about.

We did the same, just bought some cheap book, highlighted all the ones we liked and then had a look to see if they are compatible with each other.

Or look here http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/a-z_comm.htm

G-MAN2004 · 10 Jan 2007 at 16:11

Start off with some Neon Tetras. They are quite hardy fish as well as Guppies (I think they're called) and they look cool.

NeedleGunner said:
The best (and strangest) thing for cleaning the tank is an Apple Snail I managed to get one for £2 and it did a better job of cleaning then a dozen loaches They can be pretty speedy too

Omg seriously not these. I bought three of these and we now have more than 30. They lay stacks of eggs. Removed the eggs and then the next night they're back again.