I want fish!

[missllama]

ok cheers everyone im setting up a tank tonight to cylce the water least then i have 2 wks to decide exactally what to get

thankyou so much everyone feel free to post more tips, and what i can and cant house together too

lana

 

[domdom22]

You can keep fighting fish with most fish, but just have 1 male...u can have as many females as u want i think

 

[VickiR]

Setting you a fish tank is quite easy. and if placed in the right place. you dont need to do as many water changes.

If you want start with a smaller tank ( you can pick up some nice tanks that that the tank/ hood with inclosed filter and lighting from pet shops/ or even big w)

for instance i have one at work, its jist ove 60cm. and i have only done 2 water changes in bout 6mths.

fish to think about if u wnat something cheap and colourful

Guppies, platties, sword tails.
tiger bards, ruby barbs. siver dollars
neons etc.

have a look around and see how you go.

dont forgot when setting up u will need water conditioner/ager

 

[KatanaRamirez]

Hi, I've kept a fair few different types of fish and most freshwater fish really aren't too complicated.

If you only want cold water fish then that really limits your options especially if you live somewhere where it gets very cold at night. The only fish that you can really keep happy and healthy in cold water in my opinion are goldfish & neon tetras although I've heard you can also paradise fish in cold water too but when I had one I kept him in a tropical tank. Also having a cold water tank limits the amount of plants you can have too.

I'd recommend freshwater tropicals though, you get a bigger variety of fish and plants and they're relatively easy to care for.
As for heating if you have a heater already and you put the heater in the tank (once it has water in it) and set it to 24degrees then you should be fine with most freshwater fish. It's that simple really. Depending on the size of your tank and how many watts your heater is determines how hard the heater has to work to maintain the temp.

How many watts is your heater?

You will need a filter. It's just better for the fishes health and easier than constant water changes for you. You don't need anything too complicated one of the hang on filters they sell in pet shops are fine so are sponge filters and lots of others I personally preffer these two to most other types of filters.

You can keep female fighting fish together they get along just as well as most easy going fish. You can keep a male fighting fish with your group of female fighters. You can't keep 2 males together they will fight to death in a tank where the loser can't swim away. Also a lot of the time even the victor will die from the battle. In case you didn't know all those pretty fighting fish you see in pet shops are boys. Female fighting fish don't have long fins and often don't have very nice colours either.

What sort of fish do you like? If you let me know even one particular type of fish you really like I can plan your tank around that type for you. ie if you like electric blue cichlids I can let you know what fish you ccan keep with them how many you can keep in the tank you have ect........ If you want the help.

 

[toddy1964]

I kept some tropical fish for years, the thing I found after a few floaters is that patience during set up is crucial, I often let my tanks run for 2 weeks to a month with some bio start to get the good bacteria going, while this is going on I would get the ph right and stabilised before adding the fish. The place you buy the fish from should know the ph level needed. If you do it this way you shouldn't have to many problems. I know you said no tropicals but they are not really that hard, I would recommend cichlids they are pretty tough and have good colour and a bit of personality, my frontozas would gently eat out of my hand, so would my boof headed oscars.

 

[Tsubakai]

Do some research on 'fishless cycling' Everyone who recommends setting up a tank and leaving it for a period of time to settle/cycle is not giving you the whole story. In a nutshell -

For the beneficial bacteria to grow they need a food source (a dead prawn works). A standard cycle takes 4 to 6 weeks to occur naturally (not just a couple of days). You need to wait for the ammonia spike to settle first then you'll get a nitrite spike which should then go down. Once you get measurable nitrates your tank will be cycled. Ammonia and nitrite are the bad toxins your filter is meant to get rid of whereas nitrate is the end breakdown product which you remove every time you do a partial water change. The process can be sped up with certain products but i've really only given you a very brief summary. Do some more research on some fish forums to help you set things up to give your fish the best possible start.

Or you could do what I've done which is to have so many tanks you never need to cycle again. I just take a handful of media from each filter and i've got a new tank ready to go. Just be warned, if you do your research properly and get a good result from your first tank you may just find that fish keeping is every bit as addictive as herps.

 

[kakariki]

Lana, if you want an Oscar I am thinking of selling Ollie. He is our Albino Oscar & he is as tough as nails! But you will need the 4ft tank for him, a heater & a good filter! I can help you set up if you like. Or you could talk me into selling Fluffy instead.....he's the black & red Oscar. We just don't have the room for 2 big fish!
Fighting fish females can be kept together but need heating. Just don't put a male in there cos they will kill him!

 

[missllama]

ok everyone today i went into a place and this is what she suggested to me

1 male fighting fish
4-6 females
and then some neons
catfish
and something starting with a p lol

would this be ok? and what size tank do u think is best

i cant pm anyone at the moment or recieve pms because im renewing my subscription and have a full inbox but if anyone can post up here what they think that would be great because i will be buying them soon as i already have one tank cycling right now ready for fish but i dont no if the size is ok!

cheers

 

[bk201]

tanks ideally should be cycled for atleast a month and oscars should never be the first fish in a tank to much for the filter at once

with freshwater fish low maintance fish and easy to keep would be some native rainbows plus a few other types of natives like pacific blue eyes etc

IMO axolotyls shouldnt be sold in australia what they forget to mention is there ideal temperature is 18c and temperatures over 30c are lethal so as can be seen axolotyls are not a good pet in australia and never keep them with fish.

nope figter fish the males will haras the females and figter fish are tropical fish who need a temp of about 26 to be happy

neons need heating of about 26 aswell

catfish means nothing as it doesnt narrow it down theres tons of different types coldwater tropical etc ranging from 2cm to over 1m

IMO go either with coldwater small natives /rainbows/small gudgeons/blue eyes
or if you go tropical nothing looks better than a tank of malawi cichlids
elec yellows are cheap about $5 ea only difference between coldwater and tropical really is a thermometer and $30 heater.

 

[KatanaRamirez]

ok everyone today i went into a place and this is what she suggested to me

1 male fighting fish
4-6 females
and then some neons
catfish
and something starting with a p lol

would this be ok? and what size tank do u think is best

i cant pm anyone at the moment or recieve pms because im renewing my subscription and have a full inbox but if anyone can post up here what they think that would be great because i will be buying them soon as i already have one tank cycling right now ready for fish but i dont no if the size is ok!

cheers

I wouldn't bother getting that many female fighters, they're not the nicest looking fish and you'd only need to or 3 to share around the males bullying.

I don't cycle for fresh water fish, I just put in some Tri Start to take the chlorine/chloramine out of the water, heat the water and ad the fish (float the fish in their bags in the tank for 10-15mins then release). You can cycle if you want though. Try getting your tap water tested at the petshop to see if it has anything harmful in it.

I might have missed it but you are putting in your heater now not leaving it as a cold tank?
Fighting fish need to be in a tropical tank despite what the pet shop or people who own them in jars might say. In a cold tank they'll survive miserably for a while.....

I'd suggest for a 4ft tank:

1 male fighter
2-3 female fighters
10-20 neon tetras
3-5 clown loaches
1-2 bristlenoses
5+ black or zebra khuli loaches

or

for a cichlid tank:

1 male electric blue
1-2 female electric blues
1 male electric yellow
2-3 female electric yellows
1 pair of bristlenoses

or

a combo thats working well for me at the moment:

1 pair pearl/lace gourami
1 pair dwarf gourami
10-20 neons
1 pair blue rams
3-5 clown loaches
1 or 1 pair of bristlenoses.

 

[bk201]

yellows and breeding blues defantly not blues defend a territory yellows dont so bad combination aswell as with malawis its best to have strong filters and atleast 10-15fish mimimum to reduce agression.

and most importantly never put clown loaches in a uncycled tank that hasnt been cycled for atleast 2 months and make sure other fish have been there to start the biological cycle for atleast a few weeks...and clown loaches arent for people new to fish...to many poor clownies die due to stupid petshop advice.
also clownies grow to 30cm.....

 

[kakariki]

You can't put male & female fighters together! The females will kill him.
I would add guppies to the tank also. IMO, forget gourami unless that is the only fish you have. They can be aggressive, as can Angels, barbs etc.. I have a 4 foot colony tank consisting of 2 Pakistani loaches, 2 albino cats, 2 pepper cats, 2 kuhlu loaches, 2 algae eaters, a dozen or so neons, a couple of rummynose, 3 glowlight tetras & a dozen guppies ( that are dropping babies atm). It is a tank with colour & harmony. Oh, & my 2 female fighters are also in there. (My male has his own 18 inch tank which I introduce the chosen female into when the time comes.) I did have Glass catfish too but they died.

 

[scorps]

Just set the four foot up, put in some gold fish, koi (if you like them) and some eel tail catfish all will live fine together (dont worry with an eel youll end up losing it best exscape artists.

 

[bk201]

four foot is to small for koi
IMO koi are giant pond fish minimum and even at that dont keep em outside if you live near any natural watercourse

with eeltails try and track down some yellow eeltails a bit more expensive but stay about half the size as the normal ones which tend to get to about 60cm and weigh a few kgs to big also for a four foot tank

also when buying goldfish remember each tiny baby has the potential to reach 30cm

 

[missllama]

Ohh k kak, i keep forgetting what can and cant go together the girl at this place said i needed 1 male and 4-6 females and they wont kill ecah other, BUT i dont wana take any chances

she also said that a tank i pointed out that i liked in the store would be too big for fighting fish and neons n catfish etc? whats the deal is there honestly such thing as to big for fish?

and yes i have a heater i realised that i have to use one with the fighting fish and thats all good i was just worried at first about getting fish that need a heater because of the oscars i had dying so easy but clearly that wasnt the problem and i no that now

thanks everyone for ur advice im writting down all the fish ur suggesting to get so i can go see what they are like tommorw ( i have no clue what any of them look like that u have named lol)

cheers

 

[bk201]

fighter fish breathe air from the surface so tanks ideally should be shallow not over 25cm tall to make it easier on them and also slow waterflow and only keep male fighters in with females when breeding not permanantly the male wont kill the female outright if kept with 6 females but stress will slowly pick of the females.

also dont go to the shop and just pick nice looking fish and get them there and then wait a while do some online research and find out there requirements and compatability

some fish sites
http://thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/fishindx.htm

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profile.html

 

[kakariki]

I was told that there is a bacterial disease that kills off Oscars. Does anyone have any info on this? As for too big? Honestly no idea! I haven't heard that before but I am no fish expert either, lol. I can only give you my experiences & female fighters do kill males! They gang up & hammer him. As far as depth goes, my guppies stay near the top, the female fighters go mid to top & the neons, cats & loaches are on the bottom. I would suggest not going to a pet store. Try a specialist aquarium shop instead as they have way more knowledge!

 

[imalizard]

Think the disease is hole in the head? I dont have any info on it. Get some black skirt tetras or white clouds mountain minnows. Good luck on trying to kill them lol!

Daniel

 

[imalizard]

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2160&aid=2586

More info on Hole in the head

 

[bk201]

oscars are known to suffer from a disease often refered to as hole in the head syndrome which can eat at the front of its head and most deaths caused in oscars are from poor quality water and filters small tank size and them breaking the heaters and electricuting themself they are big inteligent fish but dont understand that breaking a heater will kill them

hole in the head is uncurable but they can live with it aslong as the water and filters are kept clean and have plenty of beneficial bacteria

also oscars grow big eat lots and make alota mess so tanks should be cleaned a few times a week

i kept oscars for 5 years a pair in a 4x2x2 tank with 2 filters each big enough for a tank bigger than it was kept it clean and not just clean get a test kit and check the water perameters. a few simple things need to be met and also i cannot emphasise this enough the main thing you need to know about keeping fish is picking the right place to get them from...if you see a dead fish in a tank dont buy any from the tank or the shop,...if you see sick looking fish in the tank dont buy them...dont even buy fish from dirty tanks good quality fish is the most important thing .