Tropical fish tank

I have just bought myself a Juwel 240 ltr tropical fish tank and i have no experience whatsoever when it comes to keeping fish but thought i would give it a go

If you have any tips or advice that you think would be helpful please list below.

Thanks in advance

[fizzwheel]

Research what fish you want.

Make sure the fish you want are compatable with each other

Buy a tester kit and check your water levels and make sure you understand what they mean

Dont add all your fish in one go, add them a few at a time

Carryout regular water changes

If you are having live plants in your aquarium make sure you know how to care for them / you mght want to think about a C02 system

Read up about "tank cycling" you can either do this with hardy / tough fish or use material to "seed" the tank to start the bacteria generation of

Dont clean out your filter(s) with tap water. Use the water from the tank to rinse them through. TBH I dont touch the filter in ours at all. If you tank is healthy you shouldnt need to.

Remember that the fish in the fish shop are babies and can get much much bigger than they are when you bring them home. So watch they dont or wont at some point outgrow your tank.

Neon Tetras arent very tough and if you add them to a newly setup tank they'll more than likely pop their clogs.

Some fish ( clown Loaches, Tiger Barbs etc ) like to shoal and they are much happier if you keep them in groups

Only get one Black Red Tailed shark per tank, the are territorial and will fight.

It sounds all much more complicated than it is. Read up do your research add your fish at a sensible rate ( 2 or 3 at a time ) and keep an eye on your water stats and you'll be fine. I love watching the fish swim in our tank, its really relaxing

[Bri w]

Get a decent book that details size that fish grow to. Whether or not they are community fish or aggresive fin nippers, which stresses community fish. Whether or not they are alkaline or acid water types. a few fish, and plants at a time. Get a bottom feeder to help keep the tank clean. Make sure you know the temp range of the fish is compatable.

Choose your supplier with care. Look at the fish in his tanks for any signs of illness. Avoid buying from a tank with dead fish in it.

Check the tanks the plants are in for snails - you definitely don't want snails in.

Its not rocket science, enjoy.

As fizz has already said.

But I always run my filter through with tap water when I clean it.
Theres 250 litres of bacteria ridden water in the tank, the filter will be fine if you rinse it with tap water.
Just think what happens if you put new filter media in there, it wont have the bacteria in it already

+

Swordtails, mollys etc will add movement to a new tank and will mature it quicker too.
They are hardy and really cheap (so if they do die its no great loss).

Read as much as you can and then take everything with a pinch of salt

Many books will have conflicting views about what fish you can keep with other fish and how you should look after the tank but really, theres no hard and fast rules.
Do make sure that you keep ontop of water changes when the tank is up and running though.

The jewel 240 is a nice sized tank to start with and you'll be able to grow some proper monsters in there should you wish to in the future.
There is an old saying that bigger tanks are easier to keep

Thanks for the advice guys

The tank is being delivered tomorrow which i will set up but i have been told not to put any fish in for about a week, does that sound about right ???

not really, no.

you will either need some fish (to produce) or an artificial source of ammonia, this will allow you to get a decent colony of baceria going in the filter, that will remove the ammonia (i do get confused over the nitrogem cycle)

you can get small vials of 'live bacteria' from Maidenhead aquatics which will also provide a good start, but I always start my tanks with some fish. You just have to keep a close eye on ammonia levels etc and change the water to keep them down

[BoltonSte]

I've got a Jewel vision 260, had a smaller Jewel for a while as well about 10 years in all (my small one is still going at my bro's)

stocking is just like any other tank however there are some issues with Jewel filters.

1. they take a while to mature, after having it set up for a while, I'd do a light stock just to help get the filter maturing, somthing hardy like half a dozen guppies say. Keep an eye on your Nitrate/Nitrite to make sure it's mature before you add anything lse.

2. Cleaning the filter, I (my dad when I was living in the states) have found that washing all the sponges in tap water at the same time destroys the bacteria colony and you can loose your fish, if you want to wash in tap water then do one at a time. Otherwise I have no issues cleaning all the sponges at the same time if I use water from the tank during a clean out, normally 1 bucketful per sponge.

If you want any other help I can call in when I'm next heading up to the bridge, although the fish shop behind the police station (if it's still there) is pretty knowledgeable and were in it for the love of the game not just to make a quick buck and will turn you off various fish.

Ste

This thread is pretty useful for me. I have got a small 48ltr tank... so a 240ltr to me is HUGE!

But still, its my first and wont be my last.

The guys where I bought it from told me a week aswell, they gave me some 'filter start' which you squirt in the water, the filter sucks it through and it builds up the bacteria. Yous quirt it in every 2 days for 2 weeks.

After that week, I went back and got 2 fish (catfish Loachers? Or something like that) and they seemed to get on fine until I woke up the next morning... The water had turned a terrible green colour, I couldnt even see the back of the tank! One fish was ok-ish but obviously not happy and the other one was upside down floating on the surface gulping at... well, not much.

So I had to do a huge water change, I changed the whole lot! Each bucket of water I managed to get to around 25 Degrees. Eventually added the fish back in and they are still alive 2 weeks later so I must have done a good job! I did all that with a stinking hangover haha.

Someone said tho that they guys at the shop were wrong to sell me the catfish loachers as a first fish, why would that be?

get on over to www.tropicalfishforums.co.uk

fantastic forum... good luck and welcome to another ridiculously expensive and entertaining hobby!

Originally Posted by newts924

I have just bought myself a Juwel 240 ltr tropical fish tank and i have no experience whatsoever when it comes to keeping fish but thought i would give it a go

If you have any tips or advice that you think would be helpful please list below.

Thanks in advance

morning hun i got a Jewel too - love my fish done it for years anything you need drop me a PM or give me a buzz gladly help out!

if you haven'tm already fill it up with water plants etc.. rocks and NO fish ... not the end of the world if you have put fish in but good to build up the bacteria before introducing them .... loads more top tips from BBC