Starting a tropical fish aquarium

[Huggybearman]

I recently purchased a small 30 litre aquarium from a local petstore and am in the process of setting it up for tropical fish.

I have a couple of good books on the subject and have conditioned the water and the various parameters for nitrites, nitrates, PH etc are all good. I am about to put some plants in and in a few days shall introduce some fish. Initially I plan on some Neon or Cardinal Tetras which I believe are easy 'community' fish to care for.

 My tank's water temperature is consistenly around 31 to 32 degrees C. All references to ideal water temperature for tropical fish are around 27 degrees C. Nowhere can I find an acceptable upper temperature for the water.

I really don't want to introduce fish to the tank and have them stressed, or worse, die due to unsuitable water temperature.

Are there any members on the forum who keep tropical fish? If so, what sort of water temperature due you consider 'normal' here and perhaps more importantly, what fish do you find success in keeping here?

Thanks in advance.

Ken

[OnMyWay]

4 hours ago, Huggybearman said:

I recently purchased a small 30 litre aquarium from a local petstore and am in the process of setting it up for tropical fish.

I have a couple of good books on the subject and have conditioned the water and the various parameters for nitrites, nitrates, PH etc are all good. I am about to put some plants in and in a few days shall introduce some fish. Initially I plan on some Neon or Cardinal Tetras which I believe are easy 'community' fish to care for.

 My tank's water temperature is consistenly around 31 to 32 degrees C. All references to ideal water temperature for tropical fish are around 27 degrees C. Nowhere can I find an acceptable upper temperature for the water.

I really don't want to introduce fish to the tank and have them stressed, or worse, die due to unsuitable water temperature.

Are there any members on the forum who keep tropical fish? If so, what sort of water temperature due you consider 'normal' here and perhaps more importantly, what fish do you find success in keeping here?

Thanks in advance.

Ken

I have a lot of experience with tropical fish.  One reason (among several) that I have not set up a tank here is because of the temperature problems.  If you want to keep valuable species you will need a chiller to keep the temp down and stable, possibly a heater / chiller.

Where is your tank?  Why is it so warm?

What temp are your shop's tanks at?  If they are keeping neons at 31c then you should be OK.

[Jollygoodfellow]

4 hours ago, Huggybearman said:

or worse, die due to unsuitable water temperature.

Bright side is if they die you can throw in some vegetables and overnight your fish soup should be ready for breakfast.  

[bastonjock]

6 hours ago, Huggybearman said:

I recently purchased a small 30 litre aquarium from a local petstore and am in the process of setting it up for tropical fish.

I have a couple of good books on the subject and have conditioned the water and the various parameters for nitrites, nitrates, PH etc are all good. I am about to put some plants in and in a few days shall introduce some fish. Initially I plan on some Neon or Cardinal Tetras which I believe are easy 'community' fish to care for.

 My tank's water temperature is consistenly around 31 to 32 degrees C. All references to ideal water temperature for tropical fish are around 27 degrees C. Nowhere can I find an acceptable upper temperature for the water.

I really don't want to introduce fish to the tank and have them stressed, or worse, die due to unsuitable water temperature.

Are there any members on the forum who keep tropical fish? If so, what sort of water temperature due you consider 'normal' here and perhaps more importantly, what fish do you find success in keeping here?

Thanks in advance.

Ken

I used to keep both fresh water and marine tropical fish, i still find my self looking at fish in the sea around mindanao ,thinking ,id pay about £50.00 for that one lol

Anyhow , id start of slow with a few neons ,a small shoal and buikd up slowly ,i underline slowly , what kind of filtration are you going to use 

Temp looks like it coukd be problematic, the fish in their native habitat may be used to a few degrees less , but as OMW suggested , check with the pet shop 

[Huggybearman]

3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I have a lot of experience with tropical fish.  One reason (among several) that I have not set up a tank here is because of the temperature problems.  If you want to keep valuable species you will need a chiller to keep the temp down and stable, possibly a heater / chiller.

Where is your tank?  Why is it so warm?

What temp are your shop's tanks at?  If they are keeping neons at 31c then you should be OK.

My tank is in the lounge. We are fortunate that we don't really need to use the AC very often as we have a nice breeze flowing through the house. But the background temperature has been quite warm recently so has been around 31 to 32 degrees C.

The pet shop is in our local Ayala Mall which is always very cool so I guess is kept at a reasonable temperature. They are suggesting that the fish will be OK at the higher temperature we have but I am not so sure. 

If it is needed I can invest in a chiller. I see they sell them on Lazada. That would be more economical than running the AC.

Ken

[Guy F.]

Please be careful about who you buy tropical fish from. Better yet, don't buy tropical fish.

"

"Some fisheries are really well managed," he says, "like Hawaii." Australia and Fiji also manage their aquarium trade activities fairly well. But the Philippines and Indonesia—which together account for about 86 percent of the fish imported into the U.S.—have some of the more poorly managed fisheries.

For instance, it's illegal to use cyanide—a poison that can stun fish and make them easier to catch—in the Philippines, says Brian Tissot, director of the marine laboratory at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. "But almost half the fish coming out of the Philippines [are] treated with cyanide."

"

Cyanide kills more fish than it stuns. That's bad, mkay?

Quoted from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140718-aquarium-fish-source-sustainability-animals-ocean-science/

[Huggybearman]

1 hour ago, bastonjock said:

I used to keep both fresh water and marine tropical fish, i still find my self looking at fish in the sea around mindanao ,thinking ,id pay about £50.00 for that one lol

Anyhow , id start of slow with a few neons ,a small shoal and buikd up slowly ,i underline slowly , what kind of filtration are you going to use 

Temp looks like it coukd be problematic, the fish in their native habitat may be used to a few degrees less , but as OMW suggested , check with the pet shop 

The tank has its own built in filtration, using sponges and ceramic tubes for the bacteria, as well as special peat granules substrate which also acts as another level of filtration. The water quality is excellent at the moment. 

Ken

 

[bastonjock]

6 minutes ago, Huggybearman said:

The tank has its own built in filtration, using sponges and ceramic tubes for the bacteria, as well as special peat granules substrate which also acts as another level of filtration. The water quality is excellent at the moment. 

Ken

 

You have to allow the filter time to become biologically active ,as soon as you introduce fish, water quality is reduced ,slowly build it up ,dont feed too much , watch to see if any food is left, change water weekly using a syphon to "hover " the bottom of the tank 

Its a great hobby 

[graham59]

1 hour ago, Guy F. said:

Please be careful about who you buy tropical fish from. Better yet, don't buy tropical fish.

"

"Some fisheries are really well managed," he says, "like Hawaii." Australia and Fiji also manage their aquarium trade activities fairly well. But the Philippines and Indonesia—which together account for about 86 percent of the fish imported into the U.S.—have some of the more poorly managed fisheries.

For instance, it's illegal to use cyanide—a poison that can stun fish and make them easier to catch—in the Philippines, says Brian Tissot, director of the marine laboratory at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. "But almost half the fish coming out of the Philippines [are] treated with cyanide."

"

Cyanide kills more fish than it stuns. That's bad, mkay?

Quoted from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140718-aquarium-fish-source-sustainability-animals-ocean-science/

I believe you are referring to the MARINE fish trade... and I agree with your view on that.

This gentleman is referring to a FRESH WATER aquarium. Different altogether. Most of these fish will have been bred on fish farms.... probably in Singapore, if bought in the Philippines.   

[graham59]

I had my own (freshwater only !) 'aquatics' shop, with almost 200 stock aquariums, for a number of years. 

The advice given so far is good . Give the filter two or three weeks to 'mature', and introduce a very small number of fish initially, to help with that process.

If you want more fish (or for them to be able to grow and develop properly)... buy a bigger tank . With aquariums, the bigger the better, as the environment becomes increasingly more stable, when correctly stocked, filtered, and lit. 

I wouldn't worry too much about the temperature. 30C is slightly on the high side, but the fish experience even higher temperatures at times, in their natural habitat... when entering shallower, sunny areas of rivers and streams. 

Study your books, and take things slowly at first.  Put any live plants in a bath of Potassium Permanganate  solution before introducing to your tank... to kill bugs and parasites. 

Water quality is key to happy fish.... and no people banging on the tank !