Aquarium Fish geeks.

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salfordtrueblue

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18 Dec 2008
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I confess to knowing zip about this stuff but in the process of doing up the living room we quite fancy the idea of a nice fish tank as a focal point...point me in the right direction guys,something that doesn't need to much looking after. cold water/tropical ?? cheers blues.
 
Think of it as cold water = easy. Tropical = medium. marine = a bit more tricky + expensive.

I'd go tropical mate. Some great colours of fish to choose from. Breed really easily. And apart from initial set up costs are quite cheep to maintain.
 
A mate of mine does the whole marine malarkey and has spent thousands on it, it does look great though, but seems to take a lot of up keep.

I had a goldfish once, it died.
 
I'd suggest abyss aquatics warehouse in stockport. They're really friendly and have a good stock of tropical and marine fish to choose from as well as having lots of tanks and accessories. Go and have a look at the store and web site.
 
I'm a huge tropical fish buff mate. This topic is all about how much you are willing to spend ;)

Tropical is the way to go mate. They're easy to keep in terms of both survivability and maintainance. Cold water fish are very limited and Marine aquariums take a LOT of time to set up and maintain.

If you want a really stand out Beauty tank. I'd recomened you go for the Cichlids in a 120 Litre tank (good living room size). Ciclids are quite aggressive with each other if you mix species, so i would suggest looking at picking up a few German Blue Rams. They are stunning, not overly huge, and relatively placid compared to other cichlids.

A 120L tank with a 150 watt heater and a 750LPH filter will be great. In there i'd put a male and female Blue Ram Ciclid. 12 Cardinal Tetra, and a few little corydoras catfish. A few nice plants in there for the fish to feel secure and you will have a stunning setup for less than £180
 
You need to understand fish tank cycling before you start anything. You need to understand the fish you are interested in, tanks and equipment, fish compatibility

You can't just buy a tank, fill it and chuck in fish ! If you do that your fish will all die within a week or two because your tank won't be cycled. When fish wee and poo toxins start to build up called ammonia which is very harmful to fish, ammonia then converts to nitrite which is even more deadly... After this nitrite converts to nitrate which is the final process and this is much less harmful (this is where your filters come into play)

over time the pads and media in your filters build up bacteria that convert ammonia and nitrite into the less harmful NITRATE. If your filter is an adequate size for your tank then the conversion rate should be about 12 hours or less and this should keep your tank safe and non toxic. However when a filter is new it will take over a month for the bacteria to build up enough to keep your tank cycled, if you were to add fish and try and cycle your tank like that, fish will die and you will have wasted lots of money.

There is a process called fishless cycling that uses basic household ammonia (instead of fish) to cycle a tank. Basically you set up your tank, filters and heaters and run the tank without fish. You add a specific amount of ammonia to your tank every day and test your tank for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates (you can buy fish tank testing kits online)

If you do the fish less cycle correctly it should take about a month and you should be getting 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites 12 hours after dosing the tank with ammonia. Then you are ready for fish. You will always have nitrates in your tank and we prevent build ups by doing a 50% water change of your tank every week

Don't be fooled by products that say they will speed up a cycle as it won't. The cycle process will only begin when ammonia is introduced to a tank (so adding water and leaving it for five days with the filters going won't do anything) ammonia in bottle form or from fish waste.

Best declorinator to use is called Seachem Prime - it is the best product on the market by far and best value for money because you only need 5mls per 200l of water. It also detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours so if you have a problem in the tank it will reduce the harm to fish if you are having to do lots of water changes

Other advice - never wash your filter pads in clean water unless you have used dechlorinator on the water first. Chlorine will kill the good bacteria on your pads and ruin your cycle. I usually swish mine around in old tank water to remove gunk and poo. If you must get new media because your old pads have disintegrated or beyond help (filter pads, ceramic rings, filter floss) put them in the filter with your old pads for a few weeks befor you chuck them so you bacteria can transfer and multiply on the new pads


Sorry if this is loads of into but it's not even the half of it if you want to successfully keep fish ;)

If you want more info just ask

I have three tanks

400l with big American cichlids
600l with African mbuna
And a little tank with apistogramma I bred
 
BlakeTheBlue said:
I'm a huge tropical fish buff mate. This topic is all about how much you are willing to spend ;)

Tropical is the way to go mate. They're easy to keep in terms of both survivability and maintainance. Cold water fish are very limited and Marine aquariums take a LOT of time to set up and maintain.

If you want a really stand out Beauty tank. I'd recomened you go for the Cichlids in a 120 Litre tank (good living room size). Ciclids are quite aggressive with each other if you mix species, so i would suggest looking at picking up a few German Blue Rams. They are stunning, not overly huge, and relatively placid compared to other cichlids.

A 120L tank with a 150 watt heater and a 750LPH filter will be great. In there i'd put a male and female Blue Ram Ciclid. 12 Cardinal Tetra, and a few little corydoras catfish. A few nice plants in there for the fish to feel secure and you will have a stunning setup for less than £180
Click to expand...


I keep malawi cichlids beautiful colours and pretty easy to keep , you do need to do a 3rd of the size of your tank water change once a week to keep them happy. Also they need to be in a higher ph water, check what they need when you buy, The sales assistants in these shops are usually clued up, you can buy a ph testing kit and some ph buffer that boost the tanks ph. very enjoyable and rewarding hobby if your willing to put a little time into it.
 
Not the greatest video quality (recorded on my crappy phone) but this is what my setup looks like... Note the sky blue lighting :D

<a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFJ0f4Wz9p4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFJ0f4Wz9p4</a>
 
bluesoup said:
I'd suggest abyss aquatics warehouse in stockport. They're really friendly and have a good stock of tropical and marine fish to choose from as well as having lots of tanks and accessories. Go and have a look at the store and web site.
Click to expand...

I would avoid them c**ts. I bought a t5 bulb from them. After 2 days it stopped working. I took it back and the owner if abyss accused me of bringing back an old bulb that wasn't bought from that shop. Even though I had receipt and box it came in. I had to refuse to leave the shop until he replaced it for him to do so. I was in there for at least an hour arguing with him. Everyone was looking at my like I was some cheeky scrote. The I don't know how I kept my cool.
 
SouthStandStander said:
bluesoup said:
I'd suggest abyss aquatics warehouse in stockport. They're really friendly and have a good stock of tropical and marine fish to choose from as well as having lots of tanks and accessories. Go and have a look at the store and web site.
Click to expand...

I would avoid them c**ts. I bought a t5 bulb from them. After 2 days it stopped working. I took it back and the owner if abyss accused me of bringing back an old bulb that wasn't bought from that shop. Even though I had receipt and box it came in. I had to refuse to leave the shop until he replaced it for him to do so. I was in there for at least an hour arguing with him. Everyone was looking at my like I was some cheeky scrote. The I don't know how I kept my cool.
Click to expand...
Been a customer there for years and never had a problem like you mention.
 
bluesoup said:
SouthStandStander said:
bluesoup said:
I'd suggest abyss aquatics warehouse in stockport. They're really friendly and have a good stock of tropical and marine fish to choose from as well as having lots of tanks and accessories. Go and have a look at the store and web site.
Click to expand...

I would avoid them c**ts. I bought a t5 bulb from them. After 2 days it stopped working. I took it back and the owner if abyss accused me of bringing back an old bulb that wasn't bought from that shop. Even though I had receipt and box it came in. I had to refuse to leave the shop until he replaced it for him to do so. I was in there for at least an hour arguing with him. Everyone was looking at my like I was some cheeky scrote. The I don't know how I kept my cool.
Click to expand...
Been a customer there for years and never had a problem like you mention.
Click to expand...

I find them expensive but their tanks are immaculate so fair play to them. I tend to buy all my fish from private breeders and importers who ship them to me through the post. and I get my equipment and food online too so unless I have an emergency I rarely go in fish shops
 
bobmcfc said:
bluesoup said:
SouthStandStander said:
I would avoid them c**ts. I bought a t5 bulb from them. After 2 days it stopped working. I took it back and the owner if abyss accused me of bringing back an old bulb that wasn't bought from that shop. Even though I had receipt and box it came in. I had to refuse to leave the shop until he replaced it for him to do so. I was in there for at least an hour arguing with him. Everyone was looking at my like I was some cheeky scrote. The I don't know how I kept my cool.
Click to expand...
Been a customer there for years and never had a problem like you mention.
Click to expand...

I find them expensive but their tanks are immaculate so fair play to them. I tend to buy all my fish from private breeders and importers who ship them to me through the post. and I get my equipment and food online too so unless I have an emergency I rarely go in fish shops
Click to expand...
do you just get plaice?
 
squirtyflower said:
bobmcfc said:
bluesoup said:
Been a customer there for years and never had a problem like you mention.
Click to expand...

I find them expensive but their tanks are immaculate so fair play to them. I tend to buy all my fish from private breeders and importers who ship them to me through the post. and I get my equipment and food online too so unless I have an emergency I rarely go in fish shops
Click to expand...
do you just get plaice?
Click to expand...

Haha very funny ;)
 
i have a marine fish tank and a tropical fish tank in my daughters bedroom.
the marine fish are a nightmare! ive spent fortunes on them.
tropical fish are a lot easier and there are some beautiful fish. - ive got mollies,x-ray tetras,guppies,swordtails,mickey mouse platies.
just make sure you cycle your tank first and use the tapsafe and i cant remember the other one atm sorry :(
xxx
Btw does anyone know where i can get a blue mickey mouse platie??!! xx
 
X_Linzi_X said:
i have a marine fish tank and a tropical fish tank in my daughters bedroom.
the marine fish are a nightmare! ive spent fortunes on them.
tropical fish are a lot easier and there are some beautiful fish. - ive got mollies,x-ray tetras,guppies,swordtails,mickey mouse platies.
just make sure you cycle your tank first and use the tapsafe and i cant remember the other one atm sorry :(
xxx
Btw does anyone know where i can get a blue mickey mouse platie??!! xx
Click to expand...

Goodison ? sorry :)
 
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