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leonsmith · Post by **leonsmith** » 25 Dec 2009, 15:08

Hello all names leon from dartford have just bought my first aquarium its a juwel vision 450, i have washed all the gravel out put the backing on the back glass, filled with a couple of rocks,filled the tank with water have two nice pieces of bog wood in soak, which i will put in when ready. Am looking to stock with some rare plecs anyone who has some advice or suggetions would be a great help as i am a newbie and want to do things right and theirs so many to choose from im just getting lost and also will need some hardy fish to start with as its a new tank. thanks for reading

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 25 Dec 2009, 17:08

My suggestion would be to start the tank off with some other fish first, before you get fancy plecos.

Once you've run the tank for say six months or so, and it's well established, you can start adding plecos.

--
Mats

Richard B · Post by **Richard B** » 25 Dec 2009, 18:17

are there any particular plecos you are interested in? Some are quite specialised in their requirements & one thing i'd suggest might be to gain experience with some of the easier species first

leonsmith · Post by **leonsmith** » 26 Dec 2009, 13:34

Okey thanks for advice guys, not sure on what types i like all i have been doing at the moment is looking at the pictures of them and writting down their names. So you recommend starting with what types of fish untill the tanks matured ?????

DJ-don · Post by **DJ-don** » 26 Dec 2009, 14:13

just the these are known as the bristlnose catfish or the common bristlenoses and they are easy to take care of and very hardy
i have been keeping fish for 2 years know and found these little suckers are good plecos to start off with.
getting ones around 5 cm i found is the easiest to keep

usually plecos are not very needy but lay alot of crap around the tank

some other non plecos i would add is livebearers such as guppies and swordtails

i say dont fall for the clown loachs
they grow very big and they are a schoolign fish.
another is the silvershark. again big and schoolign which means big tank
paroon shark is another one. gets very big!!

just because one a fish is pretty doesnt mean it is worth getting
just remember ask people on this website first before getting a fish
trust me i had that mistake before......

because you have a pretty big tank for your first (i have 4 tanks and i my biggest is half ur sized tank!)
you could keep a vast range of little corydoras
bronze corydoras is a great starter fish

so all up dont buy fish that are/have:
-grow big
-grow big and school (means big tank
-sunken bellie or skinny
-white spots
-any diseased fish in any case

good starter fish are:
-common bristlnose
-livebearers
-tetras
-danios

these are great starter fish you can keep above
hope this helps!!!

leonsmith · Post by **leonsmith** » 26 Dec 2009, 22:07

okey thanks for that very helpful, i thought i would go for a big tank then i wont have to keep changing or upgrading and have read it is easier to buffer than the small tanks? cant wait to get some fish in their thou, but do understand to do my research and do things right, take me time etc

DJ-don · Post by **DJ-don** » 27 Dec 2009, 04:41

have you cycled the tank? here is an article about the the basics or you can go to Shane's World to find some good articles

leonsmith · Post by **leonsmith** » 29 Dec 2009, 20:48

yes i have cycled the tank or should i say it is being cycled been a week so far have the gravel rocks a few plants and the bog wood in there

andywoolloo · Post by **andywoolloo** » 29 Dec 2009, 22:14

are you doing a fishless cycle with pure ammonia?

If not then you need something in there to cycle it with like some fish and their waste and food.

I wouldn't cycle a tank with any of the catfish either, including the common BN. Not cories, pl*cos, synos or otos.

Get some fish you are going to want to keep after, and a test kit, liquid drop better then dip sticks. You'll be doing alot of water changes during the cycle. You're going to keep the Ammonia and Nitrites at or below 0.25 ppm thru partial water changes. Remember the dechlorinator and remember to try and get the temp of the water going back in as close to the temp of the water in the tank.

You can jump start the cycle if you know someone you trust with a cycled tank and can borrow some of their filter media or substrate or decorations etc. You must transport it from not far away and in some of their tank water, it cannot dry out. And if you find some Tetra Safe Start I'd toss that in for good measure.

good luck!!

p.s. if the tanks big enough to warrant a python, that can be a god send, really.

DJ-don · Post by **DJ-don** » 29 Dec 2009, 23:22

i usually wouldnt add plants during cycling because it absorbs ammonia and nitrates like the bacteria in your gravel and filter
because this is your first tank i reccomend getting pure ammonia solution and DIY warehouses
make sure its pure ammonia

i dont use pure ammonia because for me something is bound to go wrong!!

if you ever think about getting a second (which is great fun!) i would use the crap and gunk stuck inside the first tank and use that to cycle the tank

andywoolloo · Post by **andywoolloo** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:11

I have never found an issue with live plants in a tank, during cycling or not. Live plants help the tank all the time , and the fish. they help absorb excess nutrients , they provide shelter to fry and all fish really. They provide nutrition to the herbivores/omnivores, just general all around good things, live plants.

course it is hard sometimes to have them stay rooted with some of the catfish we keep, isn't it?

And it's hard to do floating plants with the currents some of them prefer.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:14

andywollo, I agree. Plants will slow down the growth of beneficial bacteria under some circumstances, but only because the plants take up ammonia - and if the ammonia is consumed, it doesn't really matter which way they are absorbed.

And of course, there's always floating plants for the tanks that have digging/disruptive inhabitants.

--
Mats

andywoolloo · Post by **andywoolloo** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:16

I edited mine to add re the floating plants. lol

I have never experienced live plants affecting the cycle time frame. But I can see both of your points.

leonsmith · Post by **leonsmith** » 30 Dec 2009, 17:14

Thanks for the advice guys, when i first filled the tank up the guy at the shop gave me api stress coat and api stress zyme to put into the tank, i believe one contains live bacteria to get the filters started and the other is for removing the chlorine, he said give it a few weeks pop back with a water sample and should be ready to start added a couple of hardy fish

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 30 Dec 2009, 17:24

That's the "fishy" cycle method, although I'd say if the tank has been running for a couple of days, you can add fish. But it's much kinder to the fish to use a fishless cycle method, where you use ammonia or something that breaks down into ammonia (fish food or similar).

--
Mats

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