Not sure if that would work but i did read the other day that if you're going to plant your tank them it's best to use uncoated gravel. Something to do with coated stuff not absorbing nutrients etc

I do agree with you. But i follow the 1" per 1 gal formula. I had a 2 gal tank and had two fish in it. They both lived long lives but did die. And eventualy stored the tank away, so i don't know if it always workes, but thats what i follow!

And can I ask what do you call long lives lionhead as two gallons is far too small for any fish long term let alone two

Just registered with this website and have been reading through some of the information on fish tanks. I had been just about to go and buy a bio orb 30 ltr fish tank to keep pearlscale goldfish in but after reading some of the comments I have discovered that they are not very highly rated by people who already have them.

Could anyone offer me advice on a good make of fish tank for someone who has never kept fish before???

Tetra, Rena, Fluval, Juwel, Clearseal, and many others do good tank setups including all the basics.
They're all good but it depends what you want. Just make sure that it has a good surface to volume ratio. (ie rectangular) and big enough for the fish you want.

I'd recommend you look at 4' tanks as a minimum really.

I was close to buying a 30 or 60L Biorb too - thankfully I didnt, but only because I heard the media was unsuitable for my pleco. However I still bought a tank far too small.

If you are looking for something compact and bijou, go for the largest tank you are comfortable with, and opt for less fish or smaller fish. As a rule here I think they recommend 35L per fancy goldfish.

Hi im 17 and have just bought my first tropical fish tank! its only a small 28l one as i dont want many fish, just a few for me to look after and get used to it until i upgrade to a much bigger marine tank in a year or so.

I assumed fish keeping would be easy peasy and then i came onto the internet and discovered i was completley wrong! but this has not put me off! infact quite the opposite! im obsessed! ive found myself studying up on thousands of fish!!


Just wondering if anyone had any advice on nice beginer friendly fish?? i was thinking maybe a couple of cherry barbs and guppys?

Also i would like a nice and helpful tank cleaner! maybe a dwarf catfish?


any help is greatly appreciated!

=D

hi lormy, welcome to the forum.
glad you havent been put off by finding out theres a bit more to it!
have you read about maturing the tank without fish?

the 28l tank you have is a bit on the small side for any fish that need to be in a shoal (cherry barbs nad other small fish generally live in shoals - 10 is really a minimum) for enough of them to feel safe in their group you would be overstocked.
for your size tank, the best fish choice would be a Betta splendens (siamese fighting fish) as they are best kept alone, and only one male can be kept per tank anyway.

adding another fish to 'clean' the tank is also a bit of a red herring, algae eating fish will not eat all types of algae so will not keep the tank clean, and also will have a specific diet that it will need to survive, and especially in a 28l tank, any algae that is edible will be eaten quickly.

i dont want to put you off any of the fish you like the look of, but they arent really good choices for the tank you have, and as you have already found there is way more to it than you thoguht there would be, and this is just the tip of the iceberg! but if it hasnt put you off so far, it probably wont, as the more you find out, the more interesting it is :o) hope that helps

Thanks alot that really helped =D

So would 1 Betta and a catfish be ok? i just really like catfish Lol! and i think fighting fish are gorgeous so happy to hear i can have one of those! I could feed the catfish algea wafers cant i?

there really is so much to learn! its facinating!!!


=D

Unfortunately corydoras catfish also need to be in a shoal so that would rule them out in that size of tank.
You can however get very pretty algae eating nerite snails - either at www.snailshop.co.uk or gogosnails on eBay, but both are out of stock at the moment.