FishyNoob

Thanks for the replies! I'm based in Rangiora and I have a 200L tank. Just got a light for it too 2nd hand off a mate, so that will do for a start til I can save up for a fancy pants one

Hiyas Right, so I've located a replacement pump from a forum member (yay!), going to look at a light tonight and just have to get another heater (i'm going to run 2 smaller ones), then I'm ready to rock. What I wanted to know is: Which fish need to go in first and do plants have to go in before everything else? Shopping list consists of: Cardinal & Neon Tetras Zebra, Leopard and Gold Danios Honey and Pearl Gouramis Glass Catfish (which will probably be the last as I want to get the setup PERFECT first) and finally a few Pleco's in various colours. Anything else? lol. I quite like the mail guppies as well - they're super duper pretty, but we'll see. Plant wise, I dont know yet - I'll have to go look at stuff and decide.

Hi guys Can anyone recommend some tropical's for me? So far I've got Danios, silver sharks and a pleco on the list.. Also, whats the maximum one would put into a 200L aquarium? Ta! Oh! and whats the go on gravel/sand? I'm going to be planting it out as well, so would finer gravel be better than coarse? or would sand be better.

I had the fittings etc submerged (cept where the bubbles come out) so it was running. Its decided to start going again, but the wee fan thing at the bottom has a cover which is supposed to attach the pipe and that doesnt go in properly, so i'm going to replace the whole thing. Yep, it does need filter wool, a friend said thats all it needed (plus mat underneath) - I havent got that far yet can one use polyester wool like the stuff that goes into cushions etc or does it HAVE to be a mat? i also need the charcoal mat for underneath. Once it was working again, water was coming out of the tube over the noodles nicely. I'm sure it has other things missing tho, so perhaps a whole replacement of pump and filtration system might be the way to go.. plus its so clogged up with god knows what. I was thinking of an external, but I think I'll keep it to an internal to stop fingers from fiddling with things they shouldnt (I have 2 small people in the house).

Hopefully I'm posting in the right place. So I just set up my new (2nd hand) aquarium and the pump has stuff missing but I was able to quickly get it working to make sure the filter works - which it does, albeit FILTHY.. heres picture of the label on the pump - can I replace it with an aqua-one or something similar? also a short video of it working (it died at the end of the vid): http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150546029182383

lol I have an incredible amount of stuff to learn! thanks guys

Totally! I cant wait to have it all set up. advice on where to go to get stuff apart from redwood aquatics? I love them, but I know of another place which I cant remember the name of!

Wow, yay for you guys and your awesome forums My name is Alex and I live with my hubby, 2 kids, 14 pet rats, dog, cat and foster kitten in Rangiora, Canterbury! I've not had a heck of a lot of experience with fish - bar having goldfish and danios at various stages of my life. Yesterday I was at the local sallies shop and scored an excellent 200L aquarium for $150 and all the fittings (I know, deal right?) which I plan to plant out and populate with lots of pretty coloured tropicals! To save me from photospamming you all, heres a link to my facebook folder with the pics of the Aquarium. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150543633327383.393920.639707382&type=1 Now, it's absolutely filthy dirty - looks like it's been stored outside for ages for the amount of pollen on it.. its also got left over nasty scaly stuff in the filter area which I can assume can be cleaned out? I plan on cycling the tank empty for a few months to get it into pristine condition before I plant it out and ad fish! Also, whats the deal with this type of media filter? I've only ever had experience with those plastic aqua-one type thingees. Any advice or help would be appreciated! xox