# starting a tropical fish tank up..



## n0kiasn4ke (Mar 24, 2009)

hey guys!

help is needed as aquatics is all new to me, as i'm used too reptiles..
thinking about getting a tropical fish tank set up.
currently have an aqua one horizon 90L, 2ft L 1ft W
it just has a light unit but not sure what i will need so it can be all set up to then start getting ready to buy fish etc to place into the tank.
i guess there would be temps that need be met first like reptiles etc
but if you guys can point me to right direction on which pump/filter etc would be the right one get for the tank i have at the moment, as it used to be a marine setup but i find thats going be a bit too costly for me to run/keep.
this is the tank when it was first used if its any help.


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## Cheyneib Kohni (Feb 25, 2013)

Good tanks them Aqua One Horizons, I have a Horizon 130. 

Tropical wise you need a heater and filter, and lighting but the light tubes for tropical are tonnes cheaper than for marine.

Its a case of having to then set your tank up, excluding fish, and run it for a few weeks to cycle it having adding an ammonia source. Theres a thread recently on here somewhere with a good explanation of how to do this.

Good luck  Its quite easy really, and I find later on the more you fiddle with stuff (ie adding solutions to settle PH etc) you only make it worse. Best to get tropical fish that match your water parameters rather than adjusting.


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## n0kiasn4ke (Mar 24, 2009)

thanks for the info much appreciated!
what type/make filter and heater would you recommend for a 90L tank.
also would fluorescent tubing be ok with the unit for use with tropical fish?
if not, what type would you say, as i like the bright ones that show the color of the fish you don't normally see with normal lighting, if that makes sense :lol2:


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## Cheyneib Kohni (Feb 25, 2013)

Probably an internal filter for a tank of that size, however an external cannister filter would give you more tank space. I recommend the Tetra tec external filters but they are pricey, internals are pretty much all the same 

As for lighting a fluro tube is the best thing and what most people use, there are different colors to, some are sun glo which give a yellowish color, some purplish for aquatic plants and some more blue shaded ones. All are fine and quite cheap too if you buy online or even some fish shops 

Also sometime a natural light is better, I have been using a reptile UVB 6% and it reflects so amazingly off the fish without being bright in the water. All depends how you do a setup, whether you have lives plants etc


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## Chance (Jun 14, 2008)

n0kiasn4ke said:


> thanks for the info much appreciated!
> what type/make filter and heater would you recommend for a 90L tank.
> also would fluorescent tubing be ok with the unit for use with tropical fish?
> if not, what type would you say, as i like the bright ones that show the color of the fish you don't normally see with normal lighting, if that makes sense :lol2:


Hey,

I've kept and bred Siamese Fighting fish for a long time and also various other types of tropical freshwater fish.

As Chey said, cycling the tank is important before you add any fish to it. I have always used Fluval internal filters and for a 90l an internal should be fine. Tropical fish are fairly easy as long as their basic needs are met such as temperature and water chemistry.

I find that cycling a tank is relatively easy and 'fishless' cycling is a lot more humane. 

Do you know anyone who already has tropical fish? If you do, ask them to squeeze their filter sponges/cartridges into a plastic bag for you. (they will be full of lovely bacteria for your tank if they have been running a while) You can then pour this over your filter and it will 'magically' add all the good bacteria and provide a starting base for the cultures of bacteria you need without the need to wait months adding ammonia to the water to build them from scratch. That's how I've always done it and it worked for me. Then you can leave it running for a week or so and you're good to go.

Again as Chey said the lighting depends entirely on what you want to keep. If you can use more than one bulb thats even better. You can use ones with extra UV for live plants and ones with specific colours depending on which type of fish you use. If there is a local aquatics shop near you, take a look at their range of bulbs as the packaging should tell you what they are best for.

If you don't want unsightly wires etc you can also get in-filter heaters which are good as they circulate the warm water as the filter pumps it out into the tank.

What kind of fish are you planning to keep?


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## n0kiasn4ke (Mar 24, 2009)

i am not really sure on what kind of tropical fish i want ..
i was hoping to get a few of all different kinds, but a few more of others depending how big they are etc. but then again i guess it would depend on what substrate i'm using etc? is there one that will do all kinds of tropical fish.

currently have in the light unit; 2 Aqua One T8 18W Sunlight Tubes 
would you say thats ok for what i was after? as i don't know how it looks until all my set-up etc is in and the fish of course, want see all the unique colors of the fish :2thumb:

thanks for all the replys guys, all the help is much appreciated.


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## Chance (Jun 14, 2008)

n0kiasn4ke said:


> i am not really sure on what kind of tropical fish i want ..
> i was hoping to get a few of all different kinds, but a few more of others depending how big they are etc. but then again i guess it would depend on what substrate i'm using etc? is there one that will do all kinds of tropical fish.
> 
> currently have in the light unit; 2 Aqua One T8 18W Sunlight Tubes
> ...


With regards to substrate I have used all sorts. My best tank has to be the sand which looked amazing and allowed me to have loads of real plants. I'll see if I can find a photo of it.

I find that natural gravel looks ok but the coloured stuff in my opinion looks crap! 

This was the gravel in the tank before:









Sunlight tubes should be fine but like you say it depends on what kinds of fish you are wanting to keep. There are so many different tubes that you can get you can always go for trial and error and see what looks best. Having two different bulbs gives a totally different view as opposed to two of the same.

After sand and plants it looked like this (sorry the pic is small):










This tank had a male siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) a few corydoras, a baby plec and a few harlequin rasboras. 

Don't make the mistake of overstocking.

My stocking formula was 2" of fish per gallon of water in the tank, or 1cm per litre. This is the best formula for working out so that the adult sizes of your fish wont outgrow the tank.

It is true that fish grow to the size of their tank but this makes them stunted, their organs continue to grow inside their tiny body and they eventually die.

Happy Fishkeeping hehe!


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