PlanetCatfish.com

Hey hey, I'm a complete beginner at fishkeeping and looking to start off with a 30g tank. I am looking for some ideas to stock it with...I have researched extensively..but there is so much selection..I just can't choose!

I really would like active daytime fish and as such I was thinking maybe 3 pictus cats with err some other fish...heh

A theme would be quite cool too I think

Can you give me some suggestions =)?

In terms of plants, is it worth me trying to grow them as a complete beginner?...I have noticed references to java plants being easy to care for so should I go for them?

Thanks very much =)

Davie

As I stated somewhere else, buying fish is like buying curtains, one person likes light-brown ones, another white with big flowers, another yellow ones, and someone else will just stick black bin-liners across the window to keep the sun out...

With pictus cats, you need to avoid small fish, as they will be seen as a food-source by the Pictus.

Day-active fish could be just about anything except for most catfish, so that's pretty easy to just go to the local shop and look at what you like, and choose something that is suitably large (NOT neons or cardinald). I'm quite fond of rainbow fish, but there are larger tetras, barbs, danios, gouramis, smallish cichlids (Angels, Ram's, Apisto's, etc) that are nice too. It's all a question of what you like. Obviously, larger live-bearers, like Molly's or Platies would work too, just don't expect to ever see any babies... [That could be a good thing, as I'm currently trying to find somewhere to home my 30-40 molly fry...]

You probably want to get a single Ancistrus to keep the algae at bay.

Plants: Vallisneria species are easy to care for, and Java Fern/Moss are both relatively easy, as well as several other type of plants. If you buy a selection of 3-4 that are "easy", then I'm sure at least one or two will take off like there's no tomorrow. [I had a bucket full of Vallisneria from my inherited 40g tank, I put some in my big tank and chucked the rest in the bin. It just grows and grows.]

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Mats

One word of advice for anybody new to fish. Never put two many different fish into you aquarium at the same time. It can cause disease. I always recommend buying a little bottle of ick cure when starting a new aquarium.

As for fish some other mid-sized fish that I think a pretty cool are Red-Tailed Black Sharks and Bala/Tri-Color Sharks. They may grow a little larger than you want though. I think they both grow to be 7-8inchs.

Yes, putting many fish in a new tank is a bad idea. You need to cycle the tank. Search the web (or this site) for articles, there's many describing how to bring a tank from "fresh" to "cycled".

One set of maybe 3-5 fish to start with, and then test the water to make sure that you've got it properly cycled before you add any more fish.

I wouldn't buy any medecines. If you get Ick, then buy the medecine, but if they get Ick, it's probably because your water is bad...

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Mats

A theme would be quite cool too I think Cool

Just an idea!
Fit your tank out with many small branch like peices of bog wood as you can afford and/or buy. possition them vertically in the tank if possible. then add around a dozen , and similar amount of Kriegi tetra's. Use these as your main theme and around this you could purchase other compatable tank mates.
You will find some good articles on all sorts of catfish in Shane's World and in the Cat-E-log.

btw. we are or about to (in the temperate regions) enter the Autumn/Fall, and that once the trees start to shed their leaves, I go and collect Oak leaves and dead oak twigs,as well as other natural resources that abound at this time of year and that also have the benifit of being free Similar to the above Idea, years ago I made up a 35 gallon tank using seasoned Birch twigs and leaves, and stocked it with about 24 Rasbora hengli, 6 honey gourami and a few varying types of Corydoras, the water as expected turned a rich rusty colour, but this seemed to enhance the colours of the fish, as well as looking cool.
Just an Idea! but it worked well.