Hello from florida

[Lisab]

My children ages 16, 14, & 13 have recently become interested in fish tanks each of them bought a 15 gallon for their rooms just after Christmas and my 16 year old just up graded to a 35 gallon within the last month. After helping my kids with their tanks i got hooked plus I've always wanted one so last week I bought a used 55 gallon tank from an add on Craigslist. I'd eventually like to do a salt water tank but for now I'd like to start off with a fresh water.

I joined this because I want to know how to correctly set up my tank and some advice as to the kind of fish to keep. I'm not in a huge hurry to set up my tank I read that it needs to cycle for a month before I can even put fish in the tank and as of right now we are cleaning it, hopefully I've read right we filled the tank up and put vinegar in to help clean off the hard substance which seems to have accumulated from the last owner.

 

[darkmatter_3500]

Hello , they have alot of info on here about cycling your tanks, I do not have the link handy but it should be easy to find, have you figured out what kind of stock that you want?

 

[Lisab]

No I haven't figured out what kind of stock I want yet. The tanks going my living room and will be very visible, so I want the tank to be as pleasing to the eyes as I can make it, from the fish to the plants and rocks to the lighting. Im somewhat familiar with fresh water fish. I'm trying to do as much research as possible before I do anything.

 

[darkmatter_3500]

Yeah thats the best way , research what you want first

 

[AquaRick]

Hi and welcome to AA Lisa!

We've got a lot of articles here to help you out. Personally, I'm a fan of fishless cycling. You can read more about it here:
The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling

Feel free to ask questions along the way.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[jetajockey]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Lisab]

Thanks

 

[darkmatter_3500]

Your mailbox is full lol

 

[Ukdans1k]

There is such an endless amount of possibilities when you have a clean tank and are open to what goes in it! Lol

Even now as I'm thinking about what you could do, there is just too many species and set ups to choose from to give advice. I know what I would do, but I know what I like. I keep mainly Malawi cichlids, I have 2 species of tanganyika cichlid, and 3 species of south American cichlid. For me I like the size , and colour variations, they are there own characters and show interesting behaviour especially when breeding.

Although if you what live plants avoid Malawi cichlids, as they will eat or dig them up.

Let's us know how you get on. Once you know what sort of road you want to go down more advice will be available.

 

[jlk]

Welcome!! This link will help as well. Its the fw set-up guide. It also has links for fishless & fish-in cycling. Dont hesitate to ask questions!

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium-186089.html