very very new to this

[Mitcheo]

Hey guys as the sub indecates im very new to this.

I have put a post in the introduction section.

Basicly i have a tank around the 120ltr mark and im now looking to buy my first fish. i want to get something around 2-3 inchs long witch will provide me with good watching :-) can you guys recommend a couple of fish to me as my first fish's ??

thanks for any help

[stevenc85]

Fresh water fish, There are quite a few fun begining fish! First let me say, the fact that you are out doing research before jumping in tells me you are going to do very well! 120 liter is around 30 gallon. So I will gladly recommend Guppies, Swordtails/platties, mollies, tetras, danios. a pair of Discus would probably be very pleasing to the eyes and do well in a 30 gallon tank alone. There are so many choices!

Your first time, you should probably stick with easy fish. Easy meaning not very aggressive, and easy to keep alive.


To just name a few..
-Guppies
-Cardinal / Neon ----Tetras
-Platies / Swordtails
-various types of Gouramis, danios, mollys (research the type you want)


---------Fish to be carefull with!-------------
-Bala sharks. I can't tell you how many people start out with these. These things grow to be quite large. (up to 18 inches/46 cm!) And can be semi aggressive. They are popular because they look cool and have the name 'shark'

-Any cichlid. Cichlids are usually aggressive (other than angelfish and discus which are only semi aggressive) and usually need 50+ gallons.

-Clown Loach. These things are amazing. They look cool and eat up snail problems like no other! However they need to be in groups and can grow to be quite large.

-Goldfish. Goldfish do not do well in tropical tank set ups which i'm pretty sure is what you will have. Goldfish are coldwater fish.

[Mitcheo]

you dont realise just how many different types of fish there are untill you look into it.

from what i can gather i can do this 2 ways. get a few larger fish or get plenty of small fish. I think id get more enjoyment out of the larger fish, can someone please tell me roughly the amount of fish i can have in total ?

also thanks for the suggestions, pretty cool looking fish ! ill look into them cheers

[bunker_1]

Most people say 1" of fish per 1 gallon of water. But that is, at best, a maximum. If you are looking for fish that are 2-3", Steven is on the right track. I enjoy my swords and mollies. But they are livebearers and if you have a male and female, you will have babies.

[Punkrulz]

Mitcheo,

Welcome to the forums! As the previous poster mentioned, it's wonderful to see you coming here to get information before diving into it. This is really going to make things easier for you, so you won't have to come back here reporting all of your fish have died due to lack of care.

The utmost paramount thing to know about keeping fish is that you need to have a cycled tank. Depending on the method, a cycled tank can take approximately 4-6 weeks, however this sometimes can occur quicker. The best method I feel on this is called the Fishless Cycle. This typically involves setting everything up, water, substrate, filter, heater, and adding ammonia on a daily basis and doing water changes. This will balance everything out in your tank, and then you can proceed to add fish slowly (too many at one time may cause a mini-cycle).

You're going to need a test kit as well; I recommend this. It's also the cheapest I've seen it too. This will be able to tell you when your tank is cycled when you perform the tests based on the readings.

After your tank is cycled, it's time to get some fish! Ammonia and Nitrites are highly toxic to fish, so cycling your tank will remove that threat and you will just need to keep up with maintenance.

Good luck!

[Mitcheo]

By the sound of it the guy at my Fish store was steering towards a big Fail.
I got the tank and he basicly sayd was everything put it the tank. set up the filter, heater, blue stuff you put in water and some other liquid and come back the next day and get some fish !

Ok.. i now have all my ornaments in. all have been soaked and boiled etc. tank is up to temp. The guy said when im ready just bring in a cup of water so he test my ph levels. I set my tank up on sunday just gone and a want to buy 1 or 2 fish on sat. if my ph is ok am i safe to do that ?

Tanks in advance

[Fishmonger70]

You should invest in a Freshwater master test kit. This measures pH, nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia. In order for your fish to survive you are going to have to let your tank go through a cycle. Please do not buy any fish on Saturday. The guy at the pet store just wants your business and probably doesn't know much about raising fish.

[iapetus]

Originally Posted by Mitcheo

Ok.. i now have all my ornaments in. all have been soaked and boiled etc. tank is up to temp. The guy said when im ready just bring in a cup of water so he test my ph levels. I set my tank up on sunday just gone and a want to buy 1 or 2 fish on sat. if my ph is ok am i safe to do that ?

You would do best to read through the link that Punkrulz posted. Basically, yes, you can purchase one or two fish, but you are likely to stress them out very much as the tank cycles (i.e. produces all the nitrifying bacteria it needs to process the fish waste) and you may experience a lot of fish deaths before it settles down. It's a demanding thing to ask of new hobbyists, as it takes a great deal of patience. But, I think most people would agree that it's worth it.

[brian1973]

PH is really the least of the water params you need to worry right now about.

This is going to come across harsh but try not to take it that way. We are here to help and answer your questions based on our experience, etc. The LFS guys are about the money in most cases. We as a group spend alot of our free time answering and searching for info to provide newbies links and answer questions, the "my fish guy said to do this" tells me you didnt read the info (links) you were provided, please read the info it is very important to the health of any fish you add. This can be a great hobby but if you fail to properly set up it can very easy cause you to give up when the fish start to die, we want you to succeed

[d3sc3n7]

Crap..I cant even postwhore...everything is covered! I'm to late!