Information on tropical fish?? (beginner)?
September 2nd, 2010 | 
Author: I recently bought a tank, its all set up as we set it up last night.
How long should I leave it before purchasing tropical fish for it?
Can you give me any information on what to and not to do?
And also what are the best types of tropical fish for me to get since I am a beginner?
Oh and which types of tropical fish breed because I don’t really want the fish to breed??
Any other information that a beginner should know is welcome to. Thanks =] x
I have around a 60 cm tank. How many fish would it be wise to get??
Posted in
OK.. 60cm tank is sensible size, may hold 60-80l of water (15-20gal for our American friends) Thats good, you have some space to work with.
Most important is to understand the nitrogen cycle in a tank.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
Once you understand that everything becomes much easier. Whether you set up the cycle without fish, or add a couple of crash test dummies to get things started doesn’t matter. Either way the tank must be cycled.
If you choose to go with the fishless cycle methods, thats good, run the cycle process and then add your fish. If you want to keep things old school and just add fish then take it slow. You can cycle a tank with fish, and not kill any, but you must take it slow. Just a couple of small fish, leave them in the tank for 2 week , then add a few more.
OK. what fish?
A 2ft tank rules out a lot, but plently that will still be OK, just look for the smaller species.
Look for a mix of smaller community type fish. Pick fish that live at different levels in the tank. Guppies and gourami tend to hang out at the top, barbs and tetras in the middle, cory cats and loaches on the bottom. Personal favourite is a bristlenose pleco, DONT buy a common pleco, they grow into 18" poop machines.
Some fish are loners, a pleco catfish or red tail sharks are happier by themselves. Others prefer company, most tetras, loaches and cory cats prefer the company of others, so get groups of 4-6+ of any single species.
Lots of fun picking out different fish combos. But feel free to ask about any particular fish or combos. And ALLWAYS research a fish before you buy one. Many of the small fish that are sold in pet shops are just babies of fish that grow to 1 or 2ft long.
I have fish that I bought as 1" minnows that are outgrowing my 4ft tank. Working on getting a 6 ft tank
Ian
At least two days it what ive always done and make sure the water is at the right tempature for tropicals you need to start out with hardy fish like gouarmis and guppies though be warned gourmis like to nip at guppies or if you want to risk it bettas
a tank that size is probably between 15-20 gallons, approx the same size as my current tank (upgrading soon to 5/6foot, yay! lol). i currently have 4 guppies in there, but i breed them. guppies are excellent begginer fish. they are soo colourful and pretty! if you don’t want them to breed i suggest you get all males. you could get all females, but males are more colourful and usually have more finnage. i would get them from a local breeder advatising in the local paper rather than from the pet shop as they are usually a lot healthier and prettier. when you get a little more experienced you could try your hand at angelfish but you mightneed to move them as they get older. they can get pretty big! they might have some young, but they will probably eat most of the eggs. as they get more experienced they usually raise their oung for the first week but then get tired of parenting and eat them. problem solved, lol! if they do manage to survive you could always sell them in the local paper orto your local fish/pet store. you could use them as presents to freinds and relatives too, jsut make sure they know what they are doing. you could also try:
mollies (brackish water, but can live happily and healthily in freshwater aquariums)
platies
swordtails
livebearers of all sorts are usually easy to care for!
tetras, including the infamous neon tetras
harlequin rasboras
hatchetfish
bristle nose plecos, not the common pleco!!!
goldfish and pirahnas make excellent tankmates….. JOKING!
i dont reccomend pirahnas at all, lol. same for goldfish, not i nthat size tank. if you want you could have a pretty, colourfull male betta, but you can’t have more than one. i wish you the best of luck! =]
EDIT: lol ianab, im australian but so many people who i talk to about fish on the net are american, so i now measure with gallons and inches better than i do with litres! eg. i would have no idea how big a 70 litre tank would be, but when someone says a 20 gallon tank, i know exactly the right size. funny how the mind works.
Minimum time you should leave it cycling is 2 weeks, (I assume the heater, filter etc is running and that you have trated the water). After this time I would advise getting some hardy fish e.g. guppys, danios etc. Be carful when buying Guppys as they are rediculusly inbred and many pet shop guppys die whithin days of reaching their new home which puts people off fish keeping which is a shame.
Email me back if you need anymore advice.
id let it run for a while and then its probally around a 20 gallon tank. 1 inch of slim fish per gallon unless like theyre bottom maintence fish, or u have excellent filteration
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