new tropical tank any ideas

[craigsin1993]

heyy i just got a new tropical tank and its been up and running for ages :)
i am now ready after long last to add my fish :D
what kind do you recommend?:lol:
many thanks

[Leanne]

Add them one by one for success. You will have a low bacterial load with it being empty for ages so suddenly adding fish will cause a crash. See if you can get some muck from in someone else's filter - adding some of that to your tank the day before will give you a bump and stop a rapid cycle.

What I would have done was added a prawn in on day one, letting this rot for a couple of weeks will allow the bacteria to build up so the tank can support fish easily.

Keep a close eye on your ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia will rise first - any rise needs to be combatted with daily massive water changes. Next, delayed will be a rise in nitrite - less toxic than ammonia but still deadly to fish. Again - water changes daily until levels are zero.

All the tests at P@H are nonsense - if the tank is empty your levels are going to be 0...

Oh and don't by the commercial bacteria - they have a very low load. It's 100x better to get bacteria out of someone elses filter.

As for fish - what size tank do you have and what is the substrate? Do you have live plants?

I personally love malawis for a tropical but the water parameters are a bit of a pain.

IMO reef is the way to go :) Doing our bit for the reefs by propogating our own corals and fish meaning less is taken from the oceans. Also there is a wide range of fish in captivity meaning that if they go extinct in the wild there is always a chance to repopulate.

[craigsin1993]

heyy thanks for the info will take it on board :)
the size of tank is 100Ltr
x

[craigsin1993]

yes i have live plants :D

[neepnipper]

Would just like to say that the tests at Pets at Home are not nonsense, certain areas up here have ammonia in the water so even a tank without any fish could still have ammonia in it, they also test the water for you free of charge and like you say advise that fish are added in ones and twos gradually to allow the tank to cycle.

[craigsin1993]

Thanks for the advice