Fish Tank help?

[Little Butch]

Thinking of getting myself a cheap Fishtank set up! Always been Interested In them as they're facinating things!

Was thinking Cichild's?

Butch

[mybrainhurts]

What are you going to use to make the chips..?

[otolith]

Cichlids are good. What do you want to know?

[Matt Black]

mybrainhurts said:

What are you going to use to make the chips..?

Potatoes surely

This is a great forum for all things fishy http://www.tropicalfish.site5.com/tfc/

[Little Butch]

What would be a good tanksize to start off with? I want something big enough so I don't think 'I wish I got a bigger tank' In a years time or so!

My mate had Cichilds and they were predators, what do you feed them and how big do they grow? He had trouble Introducing new fish as the old ones just killed them..

Butch

[XG332]

i have a 100l tank i am throwing away, well actually loads of stuff. Gravel, tank, filters, ect.
Built up a collection from buying old sets off people and keeping what i need.


If you want it, i would rather it go to a new home then the tip. Im in worcestershire B97.

ETA, just looked, about a 6 hour round trip.

Edited by XG332 on Thursday 17th June 21:39

[Little Butch]

Very kind offer! You have PM.

[otolith]

Little Butch said:

What would be a good tanksize to start off with? I want something big enough so I don't think 'I wish I got a bigger tank' In a years time or so!

My mate had Cichilds and they were predators, what do you feed them and how big do they grow? He had trouble Introducing new fish as the old ones just killed them..

In general, larger tanks are easier to look after than smaller ones, so apart from cost there is no point buying anything smaller than you could have.

These are my African rift valley cichlids. They are actually vegetarians, however they are extremely territorial and introducing new fish without them being beaten to death is difficult. All you can really do is to rearrange the tank so that everyone loses their territory and has to sort it all out again from scratch. This is a 260 litre tank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdArTdOJ9sY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ooELtsyTrI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK8Xf95TBKk

The other problem we have is that one species of cichlid has bred very successfully and taken over the tank - we've got about 20 of the little yellow buggers!

[Little Butch]

http://www.onlineaquariumstore.com/acatalog/copy_o...

I don't really want to be that limited as to what Fish I can keep by the size of my Tank but obviously bigger tanks cost more! What would be a good size tank to go for from the link?

Butch

[Raverbaby]

I picket my 180 litre Jewul Rio up on Gumttree for under £100, with loads of extras.
It might be worth buying 2nd hand, the price of some of these set ups in fish shops are quite high!

[Little Butch]

Buying second hand wouldn't bother me, get more for your money that way!
Butch

[Raverbaby]

Little Butch said:

Buying second hand wouldn't bother me, get more for your money that way!
Butch

Definately.
I put the "3D" background in my tank, if your thinking of doing something similar its best to do it before you put fish in.
I dont like the stick on backing film.
This was similar to what I bought, it does involve sticking it to the inside of the tank using silicon (aquarium safe).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Marina-Styrofoam-3D-Aquarium...

[kazste]

Get a large tank far easier to deal with. We have a trigon corner unit one 350 litres looks amazing only issue is try to get hold of the fish when there at the back under the filter. It's like they know you can't get to them!

Best advice I have is source a good local fish shop and ask them what they recommend andif there are any water issues in the area

[Little Butch]

What would you class as a large tank? 250 litres +?

Not sure whether to go for the normal Tropicals or Chiclids?

Butch

[kazste]

Get the largest you can afford and fit in the house 250 should be okay but bear in mind weight.1 litre of water = 1 kg weight plus tank and stand it soon adds up

[Dupont666]

I have a HQI 28Gallon nano cube that I got for £140 (£500 tank), got it 6 months ago... unfortunately I have not filled it yet as my floor is not flat and as such it leans forward ever so slightly and cant be filled to the top... Once I get the floor sorted it will be used for one of these little buggers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-PShMgas-0

a zebra one gets bigger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV9z5e1r2KM&fea...

they are easy to maintain and very entertaining

[Guffy]

kazste said:

Get a large tank far easier to deal with. We have a trigon corner unit one 350 litres looks amazing only issue is try to get hold of the fish when there at the back under the filter. It's like they know you can't get to them!

Best advice I have is source a good local fish shop and ask them what they recommend andif there are any water issues in the area

Same tank as me

Just bought mine, am setting it up as a marine tank, fish only with live rock and soft corals. It's taking me ages to research, design the layout (Ditched teh internal filter...Now plumbed through wall to a sump sank holding Refugium, Protein Skimmer, heater and return pump).

Hoping to get some water in it soon, maybe fish by christmas at this rate!

I've had tropical before (20 years ago), what makes it easier for anyone to keep fish now are forums, fantastic things these are

[kazste]

i was so tempted to go marine and put a sump in the cabinet, but i'm too lazy to put up with the maintenance involved with marines. they do look spectacularly good though!

but the tank itself is the nicest tank i have seen (at a decent cost) even if it is difficult to decorate due to the height of it!

[otolith]

kazste said:

i was so tempted to go marine and put a sump in the cabinet, but i'm too lazy to put up with the maintenance involved with marines. they do look spectacularly good though!

That's why I went for rift valley cichlids with this tank - it's about as close visually as you will get to marine without the expense and hassle.

[Little Butch]

Those Mantis's look evil as f*ck! Take It you can't keep them alongside Fish?

If I went for some Cichlids, how many could a 200 litre or close tank hold?
People seem to get a Catfish to keep the bottom of the Tank occupied, what Catfish would you use?

Butch