so i am getting a tank but i dont know what one yet, the thing i am most concerned about is power cut, we have 10 minute - 1hour power cuts quite often, i want tropical fish and nice planted tank and maybe a really nice paludarium but what fish can stand 15'C minimum? my room temp is always 15'C + but the water mat remain warm? So i want help
Want to have a Freshwater (Tropical) tank
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mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
15C room temp is really too low for a HUGE portion of the fish available in the hobby. You'll want to buy a heater. 10 minutes to 1 hour is not enough to significantly drop the temperature of the tank provided its large enough. Small tanks won't retain heat as well.
Is there no way to increase the room temp to say, 20C? That'd be much better. The heater wouldn't have to work as hard either.
So that's it. Buy a heater. If you want a heavily planted tank you'll want appropriate substrate, a pressurized co2 system, and heavy lighting.
If you want an EASY planted tank, get some lower grade substrate, like fluorite, run a quality dual bulb striplight, and stick to things like anubias, java fern, and crypt wendii.
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
yeah 15 on a bad cold night but jut checked and its 22yes i know about the plants thing, any fish ideas?
That depends on a few things. What size tank is #1. Also, you ARE getting a heater right? What kind of fish do you like? Have you ever had fish before?
I would honestly suggest starting with something like a 30 gallon tank to give you options in terms of what fish you can have. I like Danios for first timers. Do a fishless cycle first, then add a group of zebra danios to feel out the hobby and see if you like it. They're very active and entertaining fish, and they're tough as nails.
Zebrafish / Zebra Danio (Danio rerio) - Tropical Fish - YouTube
Other fish you could try instead, once your tank is cycled, are Guppies, Platys, various tetra species. None of them are as tough as Zebra Danios though.
I'd start the 30 gal off with maybe 7 zebra danios. Wait a while, see how you like the hobby, then add maybe some dwarf rainbowfish, and a bushynose pleco. There are 1000 different options though, really.
You could also go with African Cichlids. Malawi cichlids are generally pretty tough and forgiving, and come in a variety of interesting colours. You could get, in that same 30 gallon, a group of saulosi.
The male and female are a different color. Cool fish. Not hard to breed them.
There are 1000 different choices for your first fish. Just treat them ethically, do water changes once a week, and don't be lazy. Get a full test kit. The API brand master test kit is good. Doesn't come with a couple of things. Mainly Nitrate test I think. So pick that up too. Get a big bucket to help with water changes.
Right, and yes i want a heater and i have been a coldwater fish keeper for 2/3years, so basically I'm saving up for a huge tank maybe 30 or 50 gallon, i want big colourful and vibrant and easy pleased fish that can with-stand power cuts
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
If you go with a 55 gallon, your tank won't drop temperature as much when the power goes out. And you'll have more fish options.
I didn't know you'd kept goldfish already. If that's the case you can go straight for more fragile warm water fish.
Seriously look into the Malawi cichlids. There are a lot of really cool species, they come in pretty much every color. Red, blue, orange, yellow, brown.
Also interesting are the larger gouramis, like the three spots and the pearls. And then there's Angelfish. They're interesting too.
If you tell me what you're interested in I can zero in on a good combination of fish for you but I need to know your general area of interest, and how large this tank is gonna be.
Also, keep in mind that your fish selection will affect your tank design. You want to keep angels with nice broad leaved plants to encourage spawning. Gouramis benefit from bunches of floating plants for their bubble nests. Malawi cichlids benefit from a big rock scape, etc.
If you went the lightly planted route, a 55G tank could house
bushynose pleco
You'd want smooth rocks here and there for the rams to spawn on, in one corner a floating plant for the gouramis, on the other end of the tank, a sword plant for the angels, (or a very large anubias or java fern) and fill out the rest of the tank as desired. A piece of driftwood for the pleco would be a must too.
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I don't understand what the text I've underlined means. Can you clarify?
If you want a nice planted aquarium, you should strongly consider pressurized Co2, strong lighting, and appropriate substrate ($$$)
If you want a lightly planted aquarium, which can still look nice, you can get away with just decent lighting, fluorite substrate, which is cheap, and that's it.
There are certain plants you want to stick to if you are not using Co2. These are plants like Crypt Wendii, Anubias, Java fern, Java moss. Outside those, it's not going to grow nicely for you. Or not at all. Or it will die.
I'll be honest with you- I started out with plant tanks as my goal too, but I eventually moved on to African cichlids. A very nicely arranged rock scape is a joy to look at and you can add some branchy manzanita wood (it doesn't affect pH) into a malawi tank too. Plus the rocks and wood require zero maintenance. And the African Cichlids are the easiest to spawn because you don't have to worry about the eggs. Watch some videos of some nice malawi cichlid tanks before you make your decision.
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Nope, something's underlined. I underlined part of your quote. "are they good if i kept like a big community one "
Don't understand what that means.
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Are you talking about African cichlids? Please type in complete sentences and tell me what you're talking about or I can't help you. If you kept African cichlids, you'd have to keep JUST African Cichlids. If you kept some American cichlids, like Angels and Bolivian Rams, you could keep community fish with them like tetras, rainbows, corys, etc.
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Dude you're not helping me. Can you not type in complete sentences? There are tonnes of LFS that sell 55 Gallon tanks. 50 Gallon is rarer.
Also, what do you mean by "any smaller dont want many fish"?
It could mean a lot of things, that's why if you don't use complete sentences, I can't help you. This is the last time I'm going to ask you, because I'm getting frustrated.
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
okay i am sorry, right, not many LFS by me in my area sell big tanks like that e.g. 50/55gallon
Ok now I understand what you mean. Well, get the biggest tank you can find/afford. That's generally the advice given to people. Bigger is more stable, gives more fish choices, and won't drop temp as much when your power goes out.
Can you find a 30 gallon aquarium? Or a 40 gallon? Still lots of stocking options.
I need to know exactly what size tank you're going to get before I can recommend a specific group of fish. And you have to tell me what you WANT. Community? South American cichlids + community? African cichlids? Shrimp tank? Etc.
You could squeeze an angelfish, a pair of bolivian rams, some nice tetras and a few corys into a 29 gallon, for example. Or make it a Saulosi tank (the blue/orange ones I linked to a while ago)
Do NOT keep Discus. They are very difficult to keep and only for insanely experienced fish keepers. Please scratch them off your list. However the rest of your list is fine. You can easily mix a pair of rams, angels, and livebearers like guppy/platy/molly if that's what you like. However, since Angels eat small fish in the wild, they will likely consume any baby livebearers.
mistersprinkles
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Also ok in a 30 gallon. The pair of angels would still work but they'd be a little tight. You could still keep a pair of angels, a pair of rams, and platys/guppy/molly in a 30 gal. Just don't keep as many livebearers. And if the Angel pair didn't work out you'd want to remove one. Again it's a crappshoot to keep the pair of angels in the 30. It would still 99% likely work though. I've just seen some bad fights when Angelfish break up and get back together. That's why I'd prefer to keep an angel pair in a 4 foot tank like a 55 gal.
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