Beginners Must Have Items

[jasper]

Howdy all,

I am from Melbourne Oz... I am completely new to this hobby and was wondering if anyone could provide me with an essentials items list for begginers eg.. Ph Kit, glass scrubber etc...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Ps. I have a Aqua one AR-980 (empty..until I can understand require :roll: ments a little more.)

[smidey]

your tank obviously has a filter & lights. The next must have would be a heater. I have a similar size tank & have two 150w heaters instead of one larger one. Putting one at either end will heat more evenly IMO. you can put stones or gravel in the bottom as substrate & what ever else you want to aquascape your tank with. you may want to add wood to soften the water but that depends on what type of fish you are going to keep. after that i would get a thermometer & PH kit to monitor water conditions. when you add fish you will need food that suits them. then water conditioner for water changes that you should do weekly with about 25% changed. for that you will need a syphon.

[Ianab]

Things you have... a decent sized tank, filter and lights - so far so good. Bigger tanks are actually easier to look after than small ones. Things happen slower etc.

Things you WILL need

Dont know if your tank comes with a heater or not, you will want one if you are keeping tropicals. Goldfish or White Cloud Mountain Minnows will be OK without one.

Thermometer - to check and adjust the heater.

Siphon and a bucket - to suck out water when changing it and vacumn up the crud that gathers in the gravel.

Net - eventually you will want to to catch fish when you move them around.

Magnetic glass cleaner - handy if you dont have a Pleco to clean the glass for you. If you do have a pleco then you WILL need the siphon tube, trust me on that one.

Fish food - depends what fish you are getting, but most common fish that a beginner should get will eat normal flake food. Catfish and loaches will want sinking pellets or tablets.

Gravel / rocks / plants / driftwood. Depends on the look you want. Mostly to give the shy fish hiding places and make the tank generally look better. What to get depends on the species and the look you are after.

Nice to have stuff

Water test kits. Generally you can just wing it and rely on regular water changes and a lower number of fish to keep your tank healthy. But being able to test the water is a good thing, especially when you get into more demanding fish that need specific conditions.

Extra filter or air pump. Your tank probably has adequate filtration supplied with it, but I personally like the look of a couple of airstones or an air curtain and the extra aeration and water circulation wont hurt. Also a good backup incase your filter gets blocked.

Next steps.....

Fill up the tank with gravel / rock / water. Turn on the heater and filter. Leave for a few days untill the temp is stable ( about 25c) and the water is clear.

Now the important part.. cycling the tank.

Your tank is now clean, means there are no 'good' bacteria in there to break down the ammonia that the fish produce. You have to take the initial stocking of your tank very slowly and let the bacteria build up in the filter and gravel. Easiest way to do this is to just put a few small hardy fish in there for the first week or 2. Feed them lightly and they will be fine. The ammonia will not build up too fast, and the bacteria will multiply fast enough to break it down. After a few weeks you can add a few more fish and gradually build up the numbers.

Other thing to consider is what fish you want to keep. Some like being in groups, others are solitary. Some are good community members, some aren't.

Good fish to start with are Zebra Danios, Neon Tetras, Guppys, Golden Barbs, Bristlenose Plecos ( they are smaller ) or other small catfish (corys). A selction like that will have various fish in the top, middle and bottom of the tank. I'm sure that others will recommend their favourites too, but thats a good combo that I've had in my tanks before without trouble.

Feel free to ask any more questions, but next step is to get some water in there and decide what fish you want while it settles down. Then go and get a FEW fish at first.

Cheers

Ian

[jasper]

Thanks heaps awesome response, gives me a great insight what to look forward too...

[herefishiefishie]

Gday, Jasper. Hope you have a good time in here.

Any questions fire away, nice friendly, informative site this one.

Frenchy

[Alan]

Make it two nets, it saves a lot of stress for the fish you want to catch, and yourself.