TROPICAL AQUARIUM NOVICE

Any advice on setting up a tropical aquarium would be much appreciated?, I am a novice and do not want to make any mistakes when choosing tank size or shape and what fish should not be placed in a tank together.
I have some reading material, but first hand experience would be great?

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11 Jul 2009 00:21

Deb

11 Jul 2009 00:21

Sarah get a bottle of Tetra Aquasafe (tropical) to add to the water...ask at an aquarium shop which filter will suite your tank be sure to tell him how many litres/gallons your tank is. you will need a heater too for tropical fish this needs to be set at around 26 ish (depends on the fish you get) as michael says the direct sunlight promotes the growth of green algea it also heats the water in the tank...you may end up boiling the fish...and also agin as micael said do not put many fish in at first and make sure the aquarium shop recommend a hardy fish then do it a week or two before adding more this gives the nitrate cycle a chance...Have a look at this website www.fishlore.com
its very useful you can create a tank, and there is info on fish and what temps etc they need. Good luck

10 Jul 2009 23:37

michael hibberd

10 Jul 2009 23:37

Hello Sarah,
My advice would be get the largest tank you can to fit where you want it, not in direct sunlight or the water will go green, if you start with a small tank you will soon fill it with fish and then you will wish you had a bigger one, get friendly with your local fish shop, they will help with what fish to keep, stick to community fish which live happily together.
When you fill the tank with water, add a water conditioner which you get from the fish shop, which takes out the clorene and other cemicals which will harm your fish.
You will need a filter to clean the water, and a heater for tropical fish.
Just get a few fish to start with, say six small ones, feed very little at a time, your filter will start working and then after a week you can get a few more fish, and so on, do not over stock with fish, that is why i suggest a large tank, because once you start keeping fish you get hooked,
If you take out a bucketful of water every two weeks and replace it with fresh water that will keep the tank fresh with happy fish, the worst thing is over feeding, the fish won,t be happy and the tank will get dirty, it is ok to miss a day, the fish will not starve they will hunt for food and clean the tank, good luck, Mike