Getting back into the hobby

[RiZa0444]

Hi all 🙂

So I've just signed up to UKAPS as I have been out of the hobby for a while and could do with some advice please. I have kept tropical fish for around 5 years but had to close down a tank last year due to house moving but now I'm all set up I would like to get a new tank on the go 🙂

I have a few ideas floating around my head but I am interested in keeping a relatively small tank, say 60 litres maximum. My initial problem is that I don't know much about equipment, so I am after a nice tank, between 45 and 60 litres, a filter option and possibly some advice on lighting please.

I've had a look online and the ADA tanks look quite interesting but I am unsure about a filter. I have seen some tanks that have the filter, heater etc in a separate compartment at the back, are any of these good?

In terms of what I'd like, it would be a 45-60 litre tank which would be low tech with some bogwood and dragonstone that I've currently got. Along with it. it would be kept heavily planted with various crytps and dwarf hairgrass. Beforehand I just had some bog standard play sand but would you recommend getting some special substrate or just stick with the standard sand?

I am not sure about what fish I'd like to get at present but I understand I would be somewhat limited due to a 60 litre tank but I would rule out shrimp straight away as I have had these in the past and they overtook my tank!

I have kept dwarf honey gouramis before and loved them, they were extremely active which I liked but I am unsure whether to go with them again or just 1 species of shoaling fish.

Any advice would be great thanks and I hope to set up a journal once I start buying various items 🙂

 

[DRG93]

Hello,

Firstly welcome back to the hobby!

In terms of filtration I would always recommend and go for an external canister filter that has a flow rate of approximately 10x the tank volume. So if you're opting for a 60L tank then purchase a filter that can pump 600L/h or as close to it as possible. EHEIM and JBL filters are highly rated as long with Fluval. This way, you'll have peace of mind that the tank is being efficiently filtered to the highest quality. I would also introduce SeaChem Purigen as a last-stage filter media, it'll bring great clarity to your water.

ADA tanks are very nice, good quality too made from Opti-White glass. You don't have to stick with ADA just because a majority of the best aquascapes use ADA tanks. As long as it is an Opti-White glass tank or equivalent then that would be fine. Heck, any glass tank will be fine if you're not picky. My latest project uses a TMC Signature tank just because it came with a beautiful flush cabinet.

Fish - I would opt for ones that school and just get a good bunch of them. Don't worry about the bio-load of the fish because if you have an oversized filter then the number of fish you add would be fine (as long as its not stupidly many!) Ember tetras and Neon tetras seem to be the popular choice for planted tanks as they are schoolers and just look nice against the colours of the plants. But it's all down to preference - go wild!

Lighting and CO2 - you say you are going low tech so you won't be injecting pressurised CO2 but please note that if you are using a lighting system that eventually it will cause an outbreak of algae (mainly because a lack of CO2 and too much light). Maybe dose liquid carbon such as Excel just to keep algae at bay?

I hope this helps

 

[ian_m]

What about a Aquanano 40 ? About £100 + £60 for stand.

Ady34 used one for his "shrimp farm" here...
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/aquanano40-crshrimp-tank-journal-closed.21455/

Has a decent built in filter unlike lots of all in one tanks.

 

[RiZa0444]

Many thanks DRG93 🙂

In terms of filtration I would always recommend and go for an external canister filter that has a flow rate of approximately 10x the tank volume. So if you're opting for a 60L tank then purchase a filter that can pump 600L/h or as close to it as possible. EHEIM and JBL filters are highly rated as long with Fluval. This way, you'll have peace of mind that the tank is being efficiently filtered to the highest quality. I would also introduce SeaChem Purigen as a last-stage filter media, it'll bring great clarity to your water.

I use to have an external filter in my old tank which was an aquamanta EFX300 but I didn't get on too well with it to be honest, had a fair few priming issues when taking it apart to clean and numerous spray bar issues that just frustrated me endlessly. I might have to look up on some other filters as you mention, an external filter is obviously nice but I was also looking at tanks that had built in filters which seem quite a nice way of hiding everything, particularly if space is a potential issue.

Fish - I would opt for ones that school and just get a good bunch of them. Don't worry about the bio-load of the fish because if you have an oversized filter then the number of fish you add would be fine (as long as its not stupidly many!) Ember tetras and Neon tetras seem to be the popular choice for planted tanks as they are schoolers and just look nice against the colours of the plants. But it's all down to preference - go wild!

I've had neon and glowlight tetras before so would ideally have something different this time such as ember tetras which always seem very active and school well! Would I be able to have a centre piece type of fish such as a dwarf gourami and a good amount of tetra? Or could I get some tetra and some bottom feeders? Or I could just stick with tetra and have a tank full of them!

Lighting and CO2 - you say you are going low tech so you won't be injecting pressurised CO2 but please note that if you are using a lighting system that eventually it will cause an outbreak of algae (mainly because a lack of CO2 and too much light). Maybe dose liquid carbon such as Excel just to keep algae at bay?

Yes that's correct, I would be hopefully going low tech so no CO2 injecting but I have dozed liquid carbon before and would probably look to do the same thing again. The lighting might depend on what comes with the new tank but I would assume it would be some sort of T8 bulk which would only be suitable for low tech plants such as crypts anyway which will be fine for what I'm after. Would it be beneficial to have some sort of special substrate to help the plant growth and to possibly show off the colour of the plants and fish more, maybe black?

 

[G H Nelson]

My choice if I was re-entering fish and plant keeping!
http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/my-best-low-tech-scape-so-far.38709/
hoggie

 

[DRG93]

I've had neon and glowlight tetras before so would ideally have something different this time such as ember tetras which always seem very active and school well! Would I be able to have a centre piece type of fish such as a dwarf gourami and a good amount of tetra? Or could I get some tetra and some bottom feeders? Or I could just stick with tetra and have a tank full of them!

Yeah that seems fine to me. It literally is your own personal preference. For bottom-feeders, I am a fan of Pygmy Cory's - they are very cute and stay around 1cm in size!

Yes that's correct, I would be hopefully going low tech so no CO2 injecting but I have dozed liquid carbon before and would probably look to do the same thing again. The lighting might depend on what comes with the new tank but I would assume it would be some sort of T8 bulk which would only be suitable for low tech plants such as crypts anyway which will be fine for what I'm after. Would it be beneficial to have some sort of special substrate to help the plant growth and to possibly show off the colour of the plants and fish more, maybe black?

To be honest, if you're going low tech then I would not bother with a "special" substrate, although it wouldn't harm - just get whatever you can afford. It also depends if you'll be dosing ferts too. IMO if you are dosing ferts into the water then there is no need for a special planted tank substrate if you are remaining low tech. Black is a good colour to make the colours of the plants and fish stand out but again it's down to personal preference.

Thanks,