New tank and a new beginning

Hi all,

Liam here. I'm what you'd call a novice fish keeper. I have kept goldfish etc in the past with some success as in I had them for about 8 years. Now, I'd like to try again but with tropical fish and have just bought a Aquael quintet 112L tank.

So my question is what exactly do I need to do next. What are the best filters to get, how long should I leave the water stand for. How do I introduce my fish. How many can I keep in a tank this size etc?

Apologies for the lack of knowledge. I have researched a fair bit online but you can't beat knowledge from people who've actually kept fish.

I will provide photos as I get up and running just want to get on with the basics for the time being.

All help appreciated,

Thanks,

Liam

Hi welcome to the forum loads of people on here that have great experience in keeping tropicals.Can i suggest you read the beginners section in the articles forum it will answer alot of your questions and then any more you have i,m sure people are more than happy to help and if i can i will be happy to help.were are you based-look forward to your photos

Is your tank set up?
Do you know how to cycle your tank?
Have you got a heater?
Have you got a filter?


Tell us what you have and we will try to tell you what you need
I have only had fish a couple of years but its enough to learn the basics
There people here with a lot more experience than me but we all start somewhere

Hi Lob77.

Apart from the tank you will need a mechanical/biological filter
and a heater.
The substrate on the bottom will depend on the type of fish you intend to keep.
Certain substrates can alter the pH of your water by either increasing it or decreasing
it. Others are neutral.
Certain fish like Alkaline water and others like Acidic water. There are also those who are
extremely hardy and will live in any fish tolerant pH range once they are acclimatised properly.

Mechanical filtration is usually the white gorse type material that removes physical crap from the
water. Biological filtration is the most important. This is the bacteria that changes Ammonia to Nitrite
and then to Nitrate.
This is called the Nitrogen cycle.

Quick quide
Fish produce ammonia through fecal waste and through their gills.
Uneaten food, dead fish will rot and cause Ammonina(nh4/nh3) in your tank.
Ammonia is highly toxic to fish.
Bacteria in your filter will turn this Ammonia into Nitrite (no2)
Whick altough less toxic will still kill your fish.
Bacteria will turn this into Nitrate(no3)
This is harmless in small/medium doses for most fish.
This is then removed/diluted with a water change.

That is a basic example of the nitrogen cycle, which is the basis for all fish keeping.

Set up the tank.
Fill with water and turn the heater and filter on.
You can then add a small dose of Ammonia to start the cycling process but I don`t recommend this
for a beginner.The easiest way is to go to your local LFS or a friend with a mature tank and take
squeezing from his filter media. This will kick start your tank and you can add fish straight away.
If you are going to try this then make sure you have added de-chlorinator to the tank water first.
Chlorine in your tap water will kill the bacteria.
Chlorine also kills fish. Addin tap water straight with letting it settle for a few days or adding
a quality de-chlorinator will have a detrimental effect on the health of your fish.

In a worse case senario the chlorine will kill your filter bacteria and this will then lead to an Ammonia
spike that will poison your fish.

Where are you based.
You should get down to your local fish club, it is far easier to talk to people than to write everything
down so a lot more info will be divulged to than from reading this rushed up post.

Hi and welcome Lob7.If you want you can sate where you are from.Chances are someone will be close and willing to help you through the process.The benefit of this forum is we are all no more than a few hours away from each other.

Very well put Anto..I see the medication is having a calming effect..did you get rid of the hair from the palms of your hands yet?

I don`t wear Boxers so the hair keeps certain parts of me warm in the winter.
My ears......

Talk to you later dude. Work to be done, hope you have some free time.