So i bought this
Needs a good old clean but quite pleased with it.
Any advice to get started? The chap i bought it off has told me that once i've got it all set up and filled with water, i shouldn't put any fish in for 2-3 weeks to let everything settle and the bacteria build. Right - wrong?

 

Right and wrong,it takes 6 weeks for the filter bacteria to mature,if you put a small amount of fish food in the filter this helps a little.When you put fish in build the numbers up gradually weekly so the filter adjusts with them,and what ever you do never clean any more than one filter element at a time especially the bottom 2 or you will go back to square one,and use tank water when you do clean them.

 

Right - Tank cleaned, new filters and heater and rubber bit for the pump. Gravel washed, plants bought. I only need some rocks / ornaments and an air pump for some bubbles (any pointers on this?) and here is the result

 

Have a read up on Think fish .com about fish-less cycling and testing your water etc

 

Boody Hell - its a different language all this game....

What does anyone think of 'in-wall' tanks between rooms? I imagine they would be a beatch to clean/administer... I like the one in Will's Batchelor Pad in the film 'About a Boy' - looks like it has mini sharks swimming in it!

 

iv just got my tank up and running i used pets at home aqatics centre and they was really good didnt use tap water with chem i just brought RO filtered water from pets at home 15p a litre bargin plus brought there water testing kit great bit of kit

 

I like them,when you clean out the tanks all you do is change a third of the water with a suction tube that cleans the gravel and a hose that runs outside with the water.With the mechanical filters i only do this every 6/8 weeks.

 

I have been keeping trops for around 5 years now. There is some good advice on this thread - and some bad stuff.

Try practicalfishkeeping.co.uk and thinkfish.co.uk both have good info, the forums on pfk are great. Make sure you do your research

Only thing I will say is no matter what you hear to the contrary, unless you're growing them on in preparation for pond life or have a huuuge tank, do not get goldfish. They are not suitable.

Some will contest this but consider it a rough guide:

Goldfish can live for 10+ years so when you hear people say "mine lasted a good 5 years, he was old" think again.

Goldfish need the equivalent of 80 litres of water each (Fancys 40 litres)

So you got a 5ft tank? How deep is it - front to back? If your fish were to grow naturally and live long, it might get to be 14" long - how will it turn around?

There is plenty more that could be said.

My suggestion would be for tropicals, easy to keep with little maintenance if done correctly. Check the adult sizes before you buy as well. Don't buy silver sharks as the blokes video on here shows (in what looks like a Roma 240) as these grow big. Too big for a 4ft tank.

Anyway, lots of fun to be had with fish, just do it right.

 

You're going to re-mineralise the RO right? Don't want Osmotic shock..

 

You can buy a diffuser pipe to fit on your filter outlet so it blows air bubbles so you dont really need a pump.I would ask the fish shop what rocks dependant on what type of fish your getting,as some will change your water ph and hardness,or use imitation caves etc.

 

Talking about air bubbles, are you using them because they look good or to add oxygen? If it is the latter, don't bother as the air stone will add very little o2 to your water. Go for surface agitation or as per bugeyejohn, a diffuser pipe as I found these to be far more effective. Bit noisy though thinking about it.

 

Bubbles will look nice but i want them to agitate the surface primarily

 

I'd just use the filter outlet to do that. They do look good with light on them though I got sucked into the biotope scene and rid my tank of bubbles etc.

 

juwel 180 two filters + extra air pump buy as large a tank as you can afford when things go wrong and they do you will have more time to sort it out again use ebay clean one filter a few weeks before the other good luck and enjoy as you can see we all do