Tropical Fish

[Mrs kempie]

Go onto facebook & search June Kemp - she keeps/sells tropical fish & she's really easy to get on with! Not just saying that because she's my mum in law. She is a genuinely good seller

[VW BUSH]

Go for danio's, tetra's, coreys, barbs and fish like that to start with, they will die and fight but they are cheap.
When you have the hang of it start looking at the more spectacular fish.

I have two big fat clown loaches which are about 6 years old, they follow my fingers and splash for food when they are hungry
I also have a big pleccy.
Sometimes I stick some tetras in for colour, but my loaches and plec are the mainstay.
I find changing the water lots and having a "clean" tank upsets my loaches, I use filtered water to top up and only do a 20% change every 3 months or so.
I clean the filter weekly and make sure it breaks the surface of the water and has good flow.
This seems to work for my fish.
That's the knack really, finding out a routine and set up which works without being a bringer of death

[shepgti]

My top tip would be to use a filter that is ment for a tank twice the size and turn the flow rate right down as smaller filters tend to suck.

[Mikehamid]

I would recommend adding a pleco to the tank. These fish tend to eat the algae from the tank. They do grow pretty quick though, so buy them young.

[Mr_Orange]

Aint rain water preferable, even over filtered?

[VW BUSH]

My top tip would be to use a filter that is ment for a tank twice the size and turn the flow rate right down as smaller filters tend to suck.

+1

I would recommend adding a pleco to the tank. These fish tend to eat the algae from the tank. They do grow pretty quick though, so buy them young.

The Common plec's grow very quick and don't stop growing when the tank starts getting too small like other fish.
I suggest a Golden nugget plec if you dont want a monster in a few years, they are both very entertaining though

[vw_golf_nutter]

I apreciate some people are not experts in fish keeping but some of the advice given here is very mis-leading.
I have kept tropical fish for 13yrs and can tell you the things you need to look into.
First you need to read up on fishless cycling, you cant just set the tank up and plop fish in as you will kill them by slowly poisoning them. You need to add a source of ammonia to start your cycle, this will take a while to explain so your best bet is to read the articles on practicalfishkeeping magazine website. A fishless cycle generally takes about 4 weeks before the water is safe for fish.

Zebra danio are too fast swimming for your size tank. Being a 60litre im guessing the tank is 24"x12"x12"?
In that case you can keep 24" of adult size fish this will be the tank fully stocked. For example you could have 4x male guppies = 12" 2x platys = 8" and 2x bristlenose pleco = 3" totalling 24".

You would have to stock slowly adding one group of fish a week over a few weeks. I would expect to do about a 25% water change weekly.

Suitable fish for this size tank are harlequins, glowlight tetra, guppies (only get males), platys and poosibly ruby barbs? I wouldnt get tiger barbs with guppies as they eat fins and definately DO NOT get clown loaches!! They get to 12" each and need to be in groups of 6 or more.

Need any help just ask or join the practical fishkeeping forum!

[Gavv8]

I apreciate some people are not experts in fish keeping but some of the advice given here is very mis-leading.
I have kept tropical fish for 13yrs and can tell you the things you need to look into.
First you need to read up on fishless cycling, you cant just set the tank up and plop fish in as you will kill them by slowly poisoning them. You need to add a source of ammonia to start your cycle, this will take a while to explain so your best bet is to read the articles on practicalfishkeeping magazine website. A fishless cycle generally takes about 4 weeks before the water is safe for fish.

Zebra danio are too fast swimming for your size tank. Being a 60litre im guessing the tank is 24"x12"x12"?
In that case you can keep 24" of adult size fish this will be the tank fully stocked. For example you could have 4x male guppies = 12" 2x platys = 8" and 2x bristlenose pleco = 3" totalling 24".

You would have to stock slowly adding one group of fish a week over a few weeks. I would expect to do about a 25% water change weekly.

Suitable fish for this size tank are harlequins, glowlight tetra, guppies (only get males), platys and poosibly ruby barbs? I wouldnt get tiger barbs with guppies as they eat fins and definately DO NOT get clown loaches!! They get to 12" each and need to be in groups of 6 or more.

Need any help just ask or join the practical fishkeeping forum!

I'm trying to find the impractical fishkeeping forum myself...

[Britman]

i dont clean my tank weekly and is small 35 cm squared in bedroom no direct light other is 60cm long in kitchen, does get some sun. I had the guppies from birth and are 16 months old. The levels ammonia etc usually fine, i had no deaths just odd one, got about 9 in one and 6 in other. Only problem i find leaving 3 weeks or more is algae, its a right effort get it off ornaments i had a few ruined by leaving to long. Maybe mine are healthy as not pet shop fish, i used have more deaths from pet shop ones coinsidence 

[vw_golf_nutter]

You will get algae if the tank has sunlight on it.
35cm tank is too small for 6 guppies. Just because they are not dead doesnt mean its ok.
A puppy wont die if you put it in a rabbit hutch but does it make it ok?!
I dont know why people think its ok to keep fish in sub-standard conditions but not other animals, what makes them any less deserving of correct living conditions?
If you are going to keep a pet why wouldnt u research how to care for it and the correct way to keep it? Whats the point if u dont want to do this?

Cant remember who made the comment to stock with corys, barbs etc because they will die but they are cheap?!? Sorry but thats disgusting.