Brand New to this Wonderful Underwater world

[Ontariofishkeeper]

Hi Everyone. I am very new to this under water world. Now i have bought a 29 gallon aquarium and built myself a stand, now i am very confused about cycling and stocking.

My daughter loves alot of little fish moving around, What would be good to keep her interested?

Also which of these small fish would be good to cycle with?

[KingFisher]

Hello and welcome to the forum! There is an excellent free e-book which will help you set up and cycle your tank. Here is a link:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/ebook.html


I recommend cycling the tank without fish.

[Northernguy]

Welcome to the Fabulous AC!:22:

[Goodbye]

Welcome to the Forum and the Hobby!! :22:

[Kaz]

Welcome!

If you don't mind me asking, where in ontario do you live?

I reccomend tetras or livebearers, kids love them!

(Just a tidbit - Don't be afraid to start new threads, in general most people respond to intro threads by just saying welcome.)

[MrDrums]

Hello and welcome to the hobby! You'll love it! Zebra danios are a favorite of mine - fast and active. You'd be able to get a nice group of them in your tank. There are so many others. Best of luck and enjoy!

[rich311k]

Welcome to AC!

[Jaster]

Welcome to AC! thumbs2:

I would suggest Rummynose tetras or cardinal neons. Have both and love them. thumbs2:

[Red]

Welcome to the forum!

[Oscar_freak12321]

Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you here!

[bushwhacker]

i know im goin to catch h**l, but i dont recommend a fishless cycle for a kids tank.. they lose interest to fast... zebra danios are your best bet very hardy and great looking fish... get your testing kit keep a good check on your water parameters and do your water changes as needed , yeah thats gonna be a lot.. but a few weeks down the road you'll have a good tank...

[Crispy]

Welcome to the forum! I'm an Ontarionian also! :22: :hmm3grin2orange:

[Chazbot]

Welcome Ontario!

You won't be confused for long. Folks here are super helpful!

I vote for Tetras - cool little guys and fun to watch.

[Wetpets]

i know im goin to catch h**l, but i dont recommend a fishless cycle for a kids tank.. they lose interest to fast... zebra danios are your best bet very hardy and great looking fish... get your testing kit keep a good check on your water parameters and do your water changes as needed , yeah thats gonna be a lot.. but a few weeks down the road you'll have a good tank...

Welcome to the Mad AC.

BW. I agree (army of 2!) lol. Get some White Cloud Mountain Minnows for your cycle. They're as tough as Chuck Norris!

[mommy1]

:wavingyellow: hellol :welcomeconfetti: glad you are here!

make that an army of 3. danios are hardy fish and many use them to cycle tanks. just be sure you get a good tester (liquid not strips) for your water. and be prepared to do a lot of water changes. the free ebook in the left hand menu is a great place to start.

[Wetpets]

+1 mommy.

Water changes, daily, are imperative for the first few weeks. You can do 25% every three to four days in a 125 g - that's a big tank

[plantedlab]

Welcome! And I also agree with bushwhacker and wetpets, there are plenty of hardy, entertaining fish to get started with and keep the kids interested. But don't rush into it, the worst thing you can do is go to your local fish store and buy the ones that look cool. Read up on the fish you are considering, and put together a compatible mix, that won't grow too big for you tank.

[Little Embers]

You have already been given some great advice thumbs2: so I will just say :welcomewave: aboard.

[Kaz]

I support you on either choice you make when it comes to cycling.

They both work, you just need to be careful with a fishy cycle.

[TRDNiteLife]

Welcome to the forum.

[Ontariofishkeeper]

well Kaz i am in central ontario. about 2.5 hours northeast from you!!!

Thanks Everyone for making a newbie feel welcome. i am going to the local fish store and going to buy some fish today after work. gonna start with 4 small fish of some kind. Not sure yet what kind.(thanks for the opions). The one fish store i was looking forward to dealing with went Under ( no pun intended) Which is really bad they would come to your house and help you with issues for a reasonable price...(i believe it was something like 5/hr)

I will let you all know wht happened.

[Ontariofishkeeper]

I have not done the daily water changes. However i have had the system running for three days now. Should i take some of the water to the pet shop, and get them to test it for me because it is a new setup. Or just keep going with the zebra diano's?

[angc84]

I will suggest that you buy a water test kit (API liquid freshwater test kit is the most popular among forum members) and test the water yourself. You should do a partial water change whenever ammonia/nitrite level are elevated.

Good luck with your tank!

[Wetpets]

I will suggest that you buy a water test kit (API liquid freshwater test kit is the most popular among forum members) and test the water yourself. You should do a partial water change whenever ammonia/nitrite level are elevated.

Good luck with your tank!

Yep - a good test kit may be expensive - but is an investment!

[Ontariofishkeeper]

Now a local pet store has 5 zebra diano's on for 5 bucks. is that too many for a new tank? and how big will they get later on? we want to keep as many fish as we can in this tank, and the wife and daughter want angelfish, and well from what i have been reading they get quite big and semi aggressive. Is this true? I guess my question is would zebra diano's and angelfish be ok tank mates....I have a 29 gallon tank 30"X12"X18"!!!!!

[Kaz]

Now a local pet store has 5 zebra diano's on for 5 bucks. is that too many for a new tank? and how big will they get later on? we want to keep as many fish as we can in this tank, and the wife and daughter want angelfish, and well from what i have been reading they get quite big and semi aggressive. Is this true? I guess my question is would zebra diano's and angelfish be ok tank mates....I have a 29 gallon tank 30"X12"X18"!!!!!

Zebra danios should be okay in a 29 gallon. I have had negative experiences with them but nobody else here has. (said experience involved an uncycled, overstocked 10g when I was a lot younger so that's probably why)

I'm not sure about angels, check with somebody else but I think that an angel would be okay if you only put one of them in there.