Fish Tank Rookie With A Couple of Qs

[lmgiles88]

Hi All,

Quick background:-

I got a huge urge about 6 months ago to get a fish tank and that urge has been getting bigger and bigger ever since.
It's my 21st birthday on the 11th September and so I asked my GF if she'd get me a fish tank for my present. We've spent a long time looking at all the tanks available and at the weekend we bought a Fluval Roma 125 tank & stand (including heater, filter and various other little items). I put it all in place last night and it looks great (even without any fish,water,etc!).
I've done a great deal of researching, reading every single thing I could find on the internet and a couple of books too (including the ebook on here), so I think I'm now ready to get started. However I have a couple of quick questions!

1. Is an air pump a must have? Various items I've read have mentioned they are useful, but none seem to say they are vital.

2. As very much a beginner, I would very much appreciate some suggestions on fish. For example, what species are best for a beginner, what fish work well together and how many of each type would be OK, baring in mind my tank size?

Thanks In Advance!

Luke

[ljarpin]

Im pretty new as well but i can anwser one of our questions cause i have already asked it.
Its about the air pump/air stone....Its not nessescary if your filter breaks the water surface sufficently to airate it and supply appropriate oxygen levels.
for instance a waterfall breaks the surface and naturally introduces oxgen and realease the other stuff.

I'm not an expert but thought i could help a little, Good luck!

[rangur1]

the list of fish is expansive,however, for your endeavor, you need to see what kind of fish excite you. fish are as diverse as people. some are big, small,fast,slow,friendly,loners etc. easiest fish are ones from amazon and asain regions. most like neutral ph range, they are tolerant of ph range,etc.

question is: do you like schools? --angels,tetras,rasboras,danios,barbs
then there is quite water fish,fast water fish[heavy filtration] for example, angels and discus can not deal with a strong filter current,so many people use weak flow smaller filters [with a bio wheel] and supplament it with an air stone to agitate surface.
barbs and danios,especially the larger ones love current.
then you have
predators
alkaline species-african cichlids
acid species-discus
sorry,i can't begin too answer this. you should pick out 15 fish you like then check out their requirements and COMPATABILITY to other fish.
ex. are they piscavores?,do they school? do they need a separate species tank?
then narrow your list accordingly. then we can help. good luck

[lmgiles88]

Thanks ljarpin!

The filter is a Fluval U3 Internal Aquarium Filter.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

As you can see (hopefully) the filter has a kind of spout thing that is supposed to sit out of the water. This is the only part that will be unsubmerged (maybe a small portion of the lid). Will this provide enough oxygen to prevent the need of an air pump/stone? Or is it just best to have one anyway?

[Paw Broon]

I've got the exact same tank and if it comes with that fluval 3 filter just attach the little "air" thing to the outlet on the filter and make sure it's above the water level and this provides plenty airation in the water. I since gave that filter to my sis to run her 15g and upgraded but it's ok for starting off with.

Mines has only been running for 6 months and the fish in my signature are the ones i've ended up with and i love them all especially the bristlenose, rams and kribensis though i'm not sure if these fish should only be added once the tank is fully established but a good way to think of it is in sections like say corries for the bottom then a school of neons for the middle, then your centrepiece fish say a dwarf gourami. Of course you may not want this though so just have a look and see what you like and there are lots of people here that can advise you

[MonkeyPox]

Airstones are certainly not necessary.
There are quite a few beginner fish. I recommend looking through places like LiveAquaria that do a fairly decent job of breaking down beginner fish, choose what interests you, and then we can provide some more specific recommendations.

[lmgiles88]

Thanks Guys! Appreciate the help. I'm gonna pop to my local pet store and have another good look on the web, then come back with the type of fish I like.

[bluebluecow]

hi and welcome

Air stones pumps are not necessary, but if you like bubbles then have one. Im a simple tank girl, my tanks have a bubble curtain instead of any backgrounds.

As for fish, look round but id recomend, if you want a community to start with some hardy fish, i started with danios and neons, and white cloud minows

Have a look at some off the peoples sigs as it will give you a good idea of what ppeople have doone and what seems to work.

Are you doing a fishless oor fish cycle, i did a fish cycle and atated with 5 danios, then added 3 more a week later, that was 4 yrs ago and although i dont have danios now they where a fun fast moving fish, that interacted with you they followed my fingers

Liz

[Northernguy]

Welcome to the Fabulous AC!:22:
That sounds like a really nice first tank!A 125 is a lot easier to maintain than a smaller tank.A lot less cycling issues too,but you still need a cycled tank!
I would look into another filter to add to the tank.That filter is not bad if you have a few small fish but if you get into cichlids you will want about to at least double up on filtration to 250 gal.
Most of us here find that running filtration for a tank twice the size make life easy and you always have a back up filter.

[lmgiles88]

Thanks to both the last two posts for some very useful advice. Much appreciated!

I'll certainly look into a secondary filter. Any suggestions as to what would would partner well with my current one? One thing i've found is that the Fluval V3 is quite bulky IMO (maybe I'm wrong?). Are there any slimline models I should look at to minimize tank space take up?

As for cycling, I will be doing a fishless cycle. Looking to start this at the weekend preferably. I then go on holiday on 5th September, back on 15th. Should be ready for fish by then? (ph,ammonia,nitrate etc levels permitting of course).

Finally, what are peoples thoughts on the following fish for my tank? Numbers given are just a rough guess at this stage. Would be keen to know, 1. Are these fish all compatible living together? 2. Which should be added first and in what order should the further additions be made? 3. Regarding stocking levels for a 125L, is this too few, too many, just right?

Thanks!

Sorry guys, forgot to include the list of fish!!! Kind of important really. Anyway here they are,

6 Zebra Danios, 6 Neon Tetras, 2 Black Mollies, 2 White Balloon Mollies, 1 Angelfish, 1 Bristlenose Pleco.

[Paw Broon]

Thanks to both the last two posts for some very useful advice. Much appreciated!

I'll certainly look into a secondary filter. Any suggestions as to what would would partner well with my current one? One thing i've found is that the Fluval V3 is quite bulky IMO (maybe I'm wrong?). Are there any slimline models I should look at to minimize tank space take up?

As for cycling, I will be doing a fishless cycle. Looking to start this at the weekend preferably. I then go on holiday on 5th September, back on 15th. Should be ready for fish by then? (ph,ammonia,nitrate etc levels permitting of course).

Finally, what are peoples thoughts on the following fish for my tank? Numbers given are just a rough guess at this stage. Would be keen to know, 1. Are these fish all compatible living together? 2. Which should be added first and in what order should the further additions be made? 3. Regarding stocking levels for a 125L, is this too few, too many, just right?

Thanks!

Sorry guys, forgot to include the list of fish!!! Kind of important really. Anyway here they are,

6 Zebra Danios, 6 Neon Tetras, 2 Black Mollies, 2 White Balloon Mollies, 1 Angelfish, 1 Bristlenose Pleco.

I do find them bulky too but don't consider it much of a problem, you can get canister filters which i still want to get but for a tank this size a lot of people would just say add another of what you've got.

You'll have your tank cycled i would think by then using a fishless cycle but you must have fish in the tank before you leave to keep your cycle and that would mean getting someone to feed your fish while you're away.

The fish sound ok to me apart from the angel which end up eating neons if i'm not mistaken.

[jaysee]

I think he's talking about liters, not gallons. I believe it's around 30 gallons?

[rich311k]

If that is your current stocking you are pretty full already. Interesting mix of fish you have.

[lmgiles88]

I think he's talking about liters, not gallons. I believe it's around 30 gallons?

I think it works out at just over 30 US gallons.

[lmgiles88]

If that is your current stocking you are pretty full already. Interesting mix of fish you have.
I currently don't have any fish. These are just what I like and would like to have ideally.

[jaysee]

I currently don't have any fish. These are just what I like and would like to have ideally.

I think it's good. You may end up not being able to keep the neons, but you can deal with that when it comes up. I've given up keeping neons in my 20 with the blue crayfish. She just picks them off one by one, which is what may end up happening to you once the angel gets bigger. If you do get neons, you can get more than 6 IMO. I think you could double it.

[Northernguy]

You have tons of filtration if its only 30gals. lol
I thought is was a 125gal.!lol
6ft tanks area breeze to cycle!
Do you know anyone with a tank that is healthy?
If not a fishless cycle us the way to go but you will stall the cycle if your not there to add ammonia.

[bluebluecow]

in my opinon i would forgo either the neons or angel, as the angel will prob eat the neins, me id up the neons to 12-15 as they will school nice, ive found they dont tend to school until you have mmore then 10
I also would add another bristle nose although they can be kept alone mine love being with each other.

Liz

[lmgiles88]

You have tons of filtration if its only 30gals. lol
I thought is was a 125gal.!lol
6ft tanks area breeze to cycle!
Do you know anyone with a tank that is healthy?
If not a fishless cycle us the way to go but you will stall the cycle if your not there to add ammonia.

OK so just to confirm. The filter I have is fine for the tank size I have? No need to double up.

Air stone not needed considering filter type.

As for the fish, obviously I'm not gonna "chuck" them all in there at the same time. Just from reading up I've come to the conclusion that this is the best option (correct me if not! lol) -

Start by adding the Danios, followed by the tetras. Let them settle in for a couple of weeks. Then add the mollies and the pleco. Give it another couple of weeks and then finally add the angelfish? See how he gets on in there. If he begins to become a problem then my mate has three tanks and says he would be happy to take him off my hands.