what fish to put in and when?

[Cjazinski]

i just stared my tank. 4/23/05 when should i put my first fish in, and what kind should i start my tank off with. thanks for the help

 

[lyquidphyre]

Is your tank cycled already??

What kind of tank would you like??
Cold water? tropical? peaceful? semi aggressive? lots of little fish? A handful or large fish?

What size tank is it?

 

[Cjazinski]

I have much to think about. I'm not sure if my tank has cycled i've just had it running for about 3-5 hrs. so i'm assuming no. It is a used tank from my parents who just had it running. right now the water is cold, but i have the heater running, i'm waiting till it gets to around 78 or so. (don't know if this is good idea) the tank is a 30 gal tank. I have it in my computer room so it will be looked at when i'm stressed from my school work. give me an opinon. Thanks

 

[lyquidphyre]

When you say your parents had it running... was it an established fish tank then? If it was establish, and you kept the used gravel moist... that will help jump start your cycle.

If not, you will need to cycle your tank- http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21
If you don't know about the cycle, I can break it down for you (or you can go to that link)

Until your tank is cycled I wouldn't suggest getting any fish.

But this gives you a good amount of time do research as to what kind of fish you would like to have in your 30gal once its cycled

 

[Cjazinski]

which fish would you recommend for a newbie. I do have a salt water tank with no problems so i'm not totaly out of the hobby. Thanks

 

[Cjazinski]

The gravel wasn't wet. In fact it was disinfected (with bleach) and stored for about a month. I cleaned it very well. The HOB filter was in use. I read that link i understand the concept but it doesn't really say what levels we are testing for, or what i should expect and in how long. Thanks.

 

[lyquidphyre]

I think a newbie can handle almost any fish with proper research

I personally like-For a beginner 30gal tank how about-
3 cory cats
A school of 8-10 tetras
A gwarf gourami
and maybe a few cherry/golden barbs

But not all at once... and only after your tank is cycled (which you havn't said if it was or not)

 

[Cjazinski]

I'm not understanding the link. as far as the cycleing process can you please explaing without.

 

[Cjazinski]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=50202 This will help you understand what i've done so far. without having to repeat myself Thanks

 

[lyquidphyre]

Here is cycling in a nut shell (sorry if you know some/all of it):
Fish create ammonia, too much ammonia can and will kill them... so when you cycle you get a little ammonia going.. and "In a new aquarium, this will rise rather quickly because the nifty little bacteria called nitrosomas aren't established yet. They break the ammonia down into nitrite, which is not quite so toxic as ammonia." Then nitrates form and "get rid of" the nitrites... then all is well.

Lets say for example you have a 10gal tank and you add 20 fish to it with out it being cycled. All of those fish are creating ammonia that isn't being destroyed by nitrites and nitrates... so they fish will then die from too much ammonia. In a cycled tank.. the bacteria is already there and doing its thing, so when you add a fish (and its ammonia) the bacterie takes care of it.

Make sense?

 

[Cjazinski]

yeah it makes sense. I have a test kit that tests SW and FW. should i test for nitrites? and if so at what level would they be safe to throw a fish in and see if it will survive.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Well, if your tank has nothing in it... there will be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates

There are different ways to cycle a tank (the fastest being bio spira) but you can cycle the fishless way with either pure ammonia or dead shrimp (as the shrimp decays the bacteria starts to form)...

You can do a cycle by using fish but I wouldn't suggest it. If you wanted to, you could purchase some bio spira and by the time it came it you would know what fish you wanted to get.

Just try not to jump into all of this as quickly as possible. I did that when I first started keeping FW and I lost a lot of fish and money. The best advice I can give you is take your time... it will pay off in the end

 

[Cjazinski]

will frozen shrimp work i have some that i feed to my SW fish.

 

[lyquidphyre]

It depends on what kind of fish you get and if the package says to use for FW

You should also use flake food as well. If you have bottom feeders you should buy some algae wafers

 

[extremenewb]

Frozen shrimp will work. I actually used old goldfish food for my first cycle, which was extremely hit and miss.

What I'm trying to say is, you can use a whole variety of stuff, and at times, it is often debated what should be used. Some ppl go pure ammonia, others go raw shrimp. eg some say pure ammonia you can control it more, though I've heard some go it would be too concentrated to cycle a tank.

No matter what you choose, you will get there. Just start it early coz you will have to wait

 

[Cjazinski]

i added some flakes hopefully that will get it going.

 

[lyquidphyre]

My goodness... i totally read your post wrong.. for whatever reason I thought you wanted to *feed* the fish you planned to get shrimp

Where was my mind

Yes, that kind of shrimp and fish flakes will work just fine

You need to get a testing kit (if your SW doesn't have it) for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates