hopeless begginner seeking advice

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
C

craigshaw859

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 30, 2008
5
0
0
SHEFFIELD
Hey,
This is my first post on MFK so firstly . . . HI :D

I've been keeping boring charachter-less goldfish now for about 2 years with pretty much no problems and now i want to step my interests up a gear by converting to tropical. I have plenty of time to plan for the switch so thought now would be as good a time as any to start picking knowledgable brains for some ideas and advice.

My tank is a small but spacey 50x50x50ish 60ltr and after seeing some great examples i'd like to go with a quite heavily planted scape while still leaving enough space for the open swimmers and perhaps a couple of invertibrates.

My questions are these:
(1) what types of plants should i go for? obviously with a smaller tank and my nil horticultural skills my need for low maintenance plants would be of particular interest.
(2) what type of fish, whilst again catering to my noob status, would best suit this kind of environment? i'm thinking a small shoal of tetra's but what else would fit nicely with these?
(3) should i stay clear of the invertibrates until i have more experience or could a few fire shrimp (or maybe a plec) help to combat algae in an immature tank?
(4) I still have the "interpret"(??) filter and heater that came with the aquarium when i bought it. The heater having never been used is obviously still fine however I will be buying a new filter. Baring in mind I have no knowledge of filters whatsoever, what kind would be best for me whilst steering clear of those scary looking ones that sit under the tank in their own tank with lots of rocks an stuff in em?

Lol, that post was a little longer than i expected but at least I covered everything (i think).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Best regards
Craig
 
Welcome to MFK, Craig

craigshaw859;2138968; said:
(1) what types of plants should i go for? obviously with a smaller tank and my nil horticultural skills my need for low maintenance plants would be of particular interest.
Click to expand...

You should try Cryptocoryne, Vallisneria, Anubias, Microsorum. For further info, please browse and post in our Planted Forum :thumbsup:

craigshaw859;2138968; said:
(2) what type of fish, whilst again catering to my noob status, would best suit this kind of environment? i'm thinking a small shoal of tetra's but what else would fit nicely with these?
Click to expand...

Tetras would look nice. But if you are thinking about these smaller fish, I recommend you visit our sister site
http://www.aquariacentral.com/

craigshaw859;2138968; said:
(3) should i stay clear of the invertibrates until i have more experience or could a few fire shrimp (or maybe a plec) help to combat algae in an immature tank?
Click to expand...

Caridina japonica would be best (besides an Ancistrus), but you could also browse and post in our Invertebrates Forum

craigshaw859;2138968; said:
(4) I still have the "interpret"(??) filter and heater that came with the aquarium when i bought it. The heater having never been used is obviously still fine however I will be buying a new filter. Baring in mind I have no knowledge of filters whatsoever, what kind would be best for me whilst steering clear of those scary looking ones that sit under the tank in their own tank with lots of rocks an stuff in em?
Click to expand...

For a planted tank, you want to go with a canister filter. Think about an Eheim 2211 or 2213 for your 15 gal tank.

Good luck,

HarleyK
 
Thanks for your help HarleyK. Much appreciated and gives me a good starting block... and to sudz and fiaman, the measurements are in cm not inch's so yeah it is a 55-60 litre tank! Nice to see the metric and imperial still baffles us across the border : )
 
Canister are best for planted tanks cause they disturb the top of the water less. If you agitate the water alot then the tanks c02 gas will be expelled and thats the plants food source. But the filters that hang on the back on the tank or HOB filter are fine and less hassle. I have been using emperor 400's on my planted 55 for years and it does great. Just remember not to have a air bubbler on a planted tank. And for stocking anything that schools and a bunch of shrimp is pretty neat and easy to deal with. Or get a mini monster school like a few exodons.
 
craigshaw859;2142437; said:
Thanks for your help HarleyK. Much appreciated and gives me a good starting block... and to sudz and fiaman, the measurements are in cm not inch's so yeah it is a 55-60 litre tank! Nice to see the metric and imperial still baffles us across the border : )
Click to expand...

Actually, if the 50 cm cube measurements are correct, it really is about 33 gallons as posted above. If it was confused for inches, it would be over 500 gallons ;)

Some tetras would be nice. My favorite are cardinal tetras. Since it looks like the tank is a good bit over 15 gallons, you could either do a much larger school of tetras, or get some sort of upper or lower level fish such as hatchet fish for the surface or some corydoras or small loaches for the bottom
 
Thanks for all your help guys... gives me plenty to think about but at the same time, the more i learn the more questions i have....

As I said above, i'm planning for quite a heavily planted tank... something like http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/readers_tank.php?upload=2009 although i'm under no dillusions of being able to achieve such wonder in a first attempt. Considering the 120l (ok I admit i got it wrong) tank size and kind of fish i'd be keeping, would my plants be able to aquire enough co2 to be healthy from fish waste and decaying food alone or would i need to somehow provide extra for them?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom