Newbie with a new 25g tank.

[Bluegillfreak]

Tomorrow I am getting Aqueon 25 Gallon Deluxe Live Plant Aquarium Kit - Fish - Sale - PetSmart

Besides the few things it comes with, heater, filter, hood/light what all else do I need for a successful tank? I am a newbie what kind of test kit would you recommend?

[calfishguy]

In my opinion that kit is not great. If I were you I would buy a tank and hood then buy the filter and heater gravel etc after. Most of the time the filters and heaters in the kits are garbage IMO. I recommend the API master test kit.

[Bluegillfreak]

Originally Posted by calfishguy

In my opinion that kit is not great. If I were you I would buy a tank and hood then buy the filter and heater gravel etc after. Most of the time the filters and heaters in the kits are garbage IMO. I recommend the API master test kit.

Alright I know about cycling the tank from some research I have done but how many fish will a 25 gallon tank support?

[calfishguy]

It depends what Kind what are you interested in visit aquarium fish . Net if you are not sure what you want then let us know and we can tell you if that would work.

[Bluegillfreak]

Im interested in Cichlids and Mollies

[calfishguy]

I'm no expert on cichlids but some of the dwarf ones would be ok. However I don't think you can mix both. Have you looked at balloon mollies I find them quite interesting you could add some mollies and some tetras of some sort.

[Bluegillfreak]

I'm not even that picky lol I just want a nice looking diverse tank with fish top mid and bottom if I can I actually have one of the small catfishes I am going to put in it so that would really take care of the bottom so just a few mid/top fish.

[calfishguy]

I'd go with mollies have you seen the balloon ones

[Bluegillfreak]

yeah they look cool I'm only going to get like one or two fish tomorrow to cycle the tank with then put my catfish and whatever else in.

[gman42]

you could get 7 neon tetras, they will school together.
then get 4-5 cory catfish. they also school and will clean your tank. thats what i would reccomend. thats good for a month or so, and after your water parameters look good you could get a couple more maybe.
i would reccomend doing a daily 1-3 gallon water change each day when you first get your fish. if you have any questions ask me

[Bluegillfreak]

Thanks guys thats what I joined here for I knew a little of the basics but not some of the more important stuff I am heading out in now to go get my new tank I will post pics after I get it set up.

[calfishguy]

Okay let us know what you decide on for stocking

[Bluegillfreak]

I decided on going with a Tropical Semi Aggressive tank for now I have three Tiger Barbs in the tank.

Right now I only have one rock/plant in the tank but am going to get more once I get paid again.

[smallfry53]

+1 On not getting the everything in one kit (unless you already did)

I bought the 29g set up with everything included and have found that a lot of the things that come with the tank you might be better off buying separately. It seems like it is cheaper going that route, until you end up replacing and or adding to the accessories it comes with.

[Bluegillfreak]

Originally Posted by smallfry53

+1 On not getting the everything in one kit (unless you already did)

I bought the 29g set up with everything included and have found that a lot of the things that come with the tank you might be better off buying separately. It seems like it is cheaper going that route, until you end up replacing and or adding to the accessories it comes with.

I did buy the kit BUT it was cheaper for now but I plan on slowly upgrading its weak points as i get the extra money. This way I can atleast get the main setup going and it seemed like the filter I have got fair reviews compaired to some of the cheaper kits. I was going to get that 29g Top fin kit but the filter and other parts had horrible reviews so I got the 25g Aqueon kit.

[smallfry53]

"I decided on going with a Tropical Semi Aggressive tank for now I have three Tiger Barbs in the tank."

So I guess you already bought it... Well in my situation I found that it is recommended to have twice the filtration for your aquarium. So I had a filter that was rated at 150g/hr so I added another filter that was 150g/hr. Then I discovered that the standard hood/light that came with the setup wasn't really enough to grow plants. So I ended up buying a new light fixture and bought a glass top.

[smallfry53]

I just looked at that kit... You will probably want to buy a bigger/or another filter at some point, and the light is probably ok for low light plants, but if you wanted moderate-high you would probably need another fixture. So I guess you are doing a fish-in cycle?

[Bluegillfreak]

This is what I have so far glass top a dual T5 light I am getting ready to run to another pet store that is closer and pick up some more rocks or maybe some driftwood to give the fish somewhere to hide.

[Bluegillfreak]

Yes I am doing fish in cycle and later on I plan on getting a five stage filter for a 50g tank so I have double the flow/filteration in a couple weeks I know that swapping filters may cause me to cycle again tho but I will just have to do more water changes when I swap filters.

[calfishguy]

It shouldn't cause another cycle if you put the old filter media in the new filter along with all the new filter's media.