Aquarium Newbie looking for advice

[DBPC]

Hey Fish Forums,

This will be my first aquarium ever. I've tried to do a sufficient amount of reading and learning before attempting.

As of now I own a 15 gal aquarium, and that's all. No lid, lights, pumps, fish, chemicals, anything.

My goal is to have an interesting aquarium with a good environment for the fish while spending as little as absolutely possible. Obviously you can't have it all, but when it comes to products I'd love to know from the pros where to really cut corners properly when getting started.

I live near a pretty excellent aquarium store, Hidden Reef, and they seem to have it all.

So with all that in mind here are a few questions.

1. Pump recommendations? are there sites that sell used ones, and is it worth the risk?

2. I'm going with fake plants (for now, to cut down on costs of lighting) and gravel, not sure what color yet.

3. Heating unit? Again, used, or cheap DIY tricks?

4. What sort of lighting? (I'm a lighting designer in fact, but I don't know if fish require a certain type?)

5. Should I paint the back of my aquarium? Does this come down simply to personal preference?

6. Is there a way to skip the start-up cycle? IE introducing a massive amount of the needed bacteria and then some ammonia? I want to do it properly, but I AM eager to get to the interesting part, of course, the fish.


Speaking of, this is the fish selection I was thinking of. Your input would be massively helpful:

4 - 5 Harlequin Rasbora
5 - 6 Neon or Penguin Tetras


And a M/F pairing of one of the following:

sparkling gourami
dwarf gourami
Mollies
Apistogramma


Looking forward to your input, and hanging around this place.

-DBPC

[ZebraDanio12]

Go with a natural gravel, its way more attractive than the brightly colored ugly gravel. Black will bring out the color in fish.
Lighting is not really a huge problem, but i suggest not going with incandescent. it sucks...really yellow, supports algae. go with florescent lighting.
Painting the back is personal preference. I've never done it, nor do i see a reason too.
You can help the cycle by adding fish food, ammonia, used filter media, etc.

Fish stocking, Personally i would go with the apistos. Very awesome fish, and breeding is fun to watch.
On the schooling fish, maybe stick to one kind if you want room for pair of the other fish. 15 gallons is a bit tight for all those fish.

[wooferkitty]

buy a good heater for your fish if it craps out your fish have aprox 2-4 hours untill stress sets in and worse to follow as the tank temp drops. that said I use a standard aqueon heater rated for whatever size tank it will be in.

as for lighting use a florescent bulb. With fake plants your only lighting requirement is how does it look to you (although if you end up with and nocturnal fish like my BGK they prefer less light)

DO NOT skimp on cycle, it will only frustrate you to do so. I would throw a few 15 cent feeder gold fish in your tank for the first month and let them die during the cycle rather any more costly fish. also get a good ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, KH, and GH test kit these are not cheep but they are priceless in the fish hobby for your set up I would go with a 5 in 1 test strip also an ammonia test strip kit (test strips are the cheapest testing supplies)

also you should note any breeding pair of fish will be highly aggressive and will most likely ill there tank mates. If I can be anymore help just ask

[ZebraDanio12]

Originally Posted by wooferkitty also you should note any breeding pair of fish will be highly aggressive and will most likely ill there tank mates. If I can be anymore help just ask

depends on the fish. most of the fish he posted will be aggressive, but wont go as far as killing other fish. Sparkling gouramis are very small, and its likely their fry would be eaten by the others. Apistos are aggressive, but will not kill other tank mates. mollies are not aggressive in breeding. dwarf gouramis I don't know a lot about, so I can't be sure on them.

[emc7]

Backgrounds are a personal preference. I think they are great to have as they block light that causes algae, hides cords and makes fish feel more secure.

Painting one side (before you fill with water) black is cheap and effective and usually looks pretty good. Dark blue is good too and some people use those stone-look flower pot paint. Spray paint the sticks to metal of plastic like krylon or rustoleum usually lasts a long time.

On stocking I would skip the molly as they like hard water and tetra soft (test your tap, you may want to skip the tetra instead). Choose only one gourami (they can be territorial) and chose either 10 neons or 20 rasboras.

[emc7]

Just noticed the 15 gal size of the tank. Stocking needs to be scaled back. Choose 1 compatible pair of dwarf cichlids or gourami, or 1 female molly, or one group of tetra or rasboras.

[lohachata]

filtration is preference...undergravel..box..sponge..HOB..canist er...
heater should be 100-150 watts and of good quality..i have started using the new Aqua Top heaters and like them....
i use black plastic sheeting to cover the back and sides of display tanks..it helps to keep the fish more at ease and allow them to show their colors..
i would suggest a standard 24" fluorescent hood with regular aquarium type bulb...

if it were me ; i would set it up in the following manner....

undergravel filter....air pump rater for a 40 gallon tank...4 way gang valve...25+ ft of airline.....a couple of extra airstones...

a darker natural or black gravel.....small pebbles preferably.

150 watt heater..

24" fluorescent hood..

a piece of driftwood..

a few rocks.include a nice flat one of about 4"x4" size..

you can do fake plants for now but real ones are better and many do not need special treatment...anubias , java fern and cryptocoryne will do great with just standard lighting....

wrap sides and back with black plastic sheet .

as for fish....i think a larger group of a single species is nice..either rasboras or cardinal tetras..but 6 of each is ok..

definitely the apistos..beautiful little fish..

i would also add a few dwarf cories or aspidoras(i love the albaters)

and make sure you get at least 3 of those 2.99 plecos too for algae control......lol

try this place.....everything you could ever dream about.....

www.aquabid.com

[Ice]

If you want to go with fake plants, buy the ones made of silk. They look and act more natural than the plastic ones.