that practical fish keeper mag is fairly good, grab a copy and have a read.
or just stand in w h smiths and read though and not buy it

found this in a goggle search, might be worth a look

http://www.fishforums.net/

 

It's simple really. I'm sure there are forums out there, but my advice is don't go over the top.

Get a 3ft tank, a good external filter, like the one I suggested to Carl, an Electronic heater, a decent light, a mechanical thermometer, Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia test kits and you're pretty much there.

It's a case of setting the tank up and not getting too excited about stocking it up. Fill it and leave it to stand for 1 week, then add half-a-dozen hardy fish and wait for the biological process to take place, just as I am speaking of in this thread. Patience is the key. Don't just rush out and buy £100 worth of stock and expect it all to work.

 

black widow fish are very hardy, and i had some that lasted for 4 years, didnt like them that much really but it done when i set the big tank up, didnt have the heart to flush them so they stayed untill the got old and died.

oh found this too, not looked on it but there ya go anyway

http://www.fishlore.com/

Christian, up till about 6 months ago i still had the link for the CO2 canister or something you wrote ages ago, cant find it even though ive searched for it, dont supose you have a link to it after all this time?

 

that first one i would say is a good price mate.

the second one is a good tank, i used to have 1 but my missis had the empty tank when i meet her so didnt pay for it, but £200 for the smaller one seems a bit dear when you can get the bigger one for not much more

 

is it fuck me i better look again

 

me, i would go for the 1 with the stand, that way you dont have to buy one , plus it looks good.

the 1 without a stand, is a good tank, as i said same as what i started with, built in lights in hood, which come on when ever to programe them to, built in filter etc, how ever as good as it all was, it used to eat batteries on the lighing side (only used to on and off, lights were 240v) and the filters for the built in filter were expensive, very expensive.
then i had a problem with the powerhead in there, i used to have to give it a wack to get it started after cleaning it, for me it got a pain in the ass, but the filter was good i must say.

with the one with stand, i would get external filter, i run a under gravel and a external (eheim 2224) and my water is clear all the time, when i doo a clean and its a litter murky to start with, within 10 mins its cristal mate.
and filters for extrenals are not as expensive as you think.

i buy a sheet of filter media and cut a new one when it needs it in mine, and the sheet is a few quid and ill get 5 out of it, i use the medai in the filter also, the stuff thats like the filling of pillows, in fact thats what i use, i got a big bag of it down material shop the other day for £250 and that will last me ages, and its the same stuff that your pay £4 for for a very small bag in a fish shop, so for me my filter is cheap, that biolife filter with the tank with no stand, there filters are like £7 for 2 (or 3 depending on which 1 it is) and they have 3 different filters.

you have to buy a air pump, filter and heater for the tank with stand, and maybe even a lighing unit, all are not very expensive so its really down to you.

you could always look through the paper for s/h tanks, or even on ebay, they can go cheap on there as no one posts them so they dont get many bids

 

hahahaha

cristian the fish king.....bow down and bring silver,...all your aquarium troubles will be solved....


cheers christian,
great advice, and yeah, i know you explained the nitrite doodah, but i forgot.... ....lol


thanks muchly

carl

 

grimreaper the 100w heater should be fine for the 112 litre tank youre on about, as a general rule you go for 1W of heating for every litre of water, unless the room gets really cold like a garage etc.

as for a forum i like www.cichlid-forum.com

also dont put the angel fish or male siamese fighter in the tank with the barbs in as the barbs are notorious for fin nipping.

Heres my 600 litre aquarium, still in the early stages of decoration and stocking, waiting on the flowers to grow and some more rocks to be nicked from the beach

Water quality is controlled by an Eheim Pro 3 (2080) and temp is taken care of by 2 external Hydor ETH300 heaters.



4 Green Tiger Barbs
2 Tiger Barbs
2 Albino Tiger Barbs
1 Pangasius Catfish
2 Mollies
6 Malawi Cichlids
1 Albine Shark
2 African Albino Clawed Frogs

 

Does anyone have a zebra pleco?

 

if anyone has experience of hatching brime shrimp i'd be grateful if you can tell me how to do it as you can buy all these hatching kits then i read a cheap and easy way is pop bottles as need at least two lots on the go for angel fish fry..will be using Decapsulated eggs

 

Just hope you dont get an ammonia spike, You normally get them when cycling

Its a PITA, I had guppy and kilifish fry, Tried brine shrimp with no success, I just powdered up some flakes, They grew pretty big pretty quick, My mate does the same with his cichlids and is over run with them

 

check this link http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/universal-viewid90.html


grimreaper cheers good idea to not rush into things, i did and lost too many fish first time around, took a lot more time with the 2nd tank and things are much better now. keep us updated on what you get and how you get on.

 

In addition to the advice I have given above, also, I generally don't believe in additives, such as Dechlorinators etc. One of the only additives I support is 'Cycle'.

When you first fill and Aquarium, put an air-block (Preferably the wooden type) into the water connected to an air-pump. This will cause the Chlorine to naturally evaporate off. I would also have a spare small air-pump and air-block to put into the bucket that you use for water changing water, which should stand in a warm place (like an airing cupboard or beside a radiator with a cover over it) for at least 48 hours before putting into the tank.

Also, by running water into a bucket FAST, you can get rid of alot of the Chlorine, you can tell this by the mild bleachy smell that you get when you do this.

A new Aquarium should stand for at least a week before adding ANY fish and you should only add 3 or 4 hardy fish at first, then give the Aquarium a few weeks to go through the maturing process. Feed these fish an amount of food that they can consume within a 2-3 minutes, once a day.

During the maturing phase, the water would have shown Ammonia, which would have processed into Ntrite and finally Nitrate. If you never saw Nitrite/Nitrate (beyond the level of tap water), then the maturing hasn't taken place. Once all the Ammonia and Nitrite has been converted to Nitrate, this can be diluted by partial (20%) water changes, once a fortnight. Once the Aquarium has settled, water changes are only really needed once a month.

When you carry out water changes, remove the water and dispose of, then put the new water in gradually. Use a jug or similar and add a bucket-full over a period of a few hours. This prevents osmotic shock.

That's it for tonights lesson!!

 

By the way, Carl, you got any Nitrite yet??!!

 

just to ask how the hell does your tank keep that clear?? ours has just started to go murky. im a newbie to the tropical fish world and didnt no what may be causing this!! i spoke to my mum who has had t-fish for bout year and half and she said that it may be the food thats causing the murkyness?? plz help

 

You know I just mean a simple air-pump and air-stone? The bubbles that are created will disperse the chlorine etc.

I would definately say that one is needed regardless of what other filtration you have.

 

What are you feeding them and how often?

Also, what filtration do you have?

 

im feeding them catfish pellets and tropical fish food (aquarian flake food)

the fish tank is a bowl 37, using a built in filter system, but have changed to the pellet things (look like hula hoops), carbon filter and nitrate removal sponge. also have air pump with bubble stone.

 

did'nt no that there was so many fish keepers on here, i import fish from south america and singapore, i suply some shops and public and people through north east aquatics.
i'm currently enlarging my fish house to around 1500gallons, should be running for febuary, needs to be as i have people shouting for orders of fish.

 

my tank is 600 litres but the Eheim Pro 3 filter im using is suitable for tanks up to 1200 litres, this over filtration should help keep the water clean and clear. I also dont overfeed the fish or overstock the tank, both of which i used to when i first started out in fish keeping a few months ago.

 

craig todd can you get fish to order? there are a few i want but havent seen them in my local shops.

About the best shop ive been to is Chilton Aquatics, can you recommend any others in the north east?

You got any more pics of your tanks? wouldnt mind a look at them

 

i can order most fish in from tetra to arrowana,sting ray,etc
i'll get the other half to e mail you the availability list over to you, after she's watched her soaps.
i'll get some photo's up aswell

 

cool

know how you feel... i have to book time slots to watch my programs on Discovery

smashin'

 

a few fish off my last order, sorry about quality of pics
angels

terror

clown loach 15cm £15

arrowana

red rainbow's cory sterbi, texas cichlid

tin foil barbs

discus

 

damn, i do a 10 -15 litre water change a month on my tank (48x18x12 tank) and i just run hot and colt water in a bucket till it feels the same sort of temp, once full stick in the dechlorinator, and the cup it in, in front of the spray bar from filter

cant say ive had problems, although at times i have lost a fish within a week of water change before