Setting up my very own very first tank ... Little Help Please!

[Foxy Smurf]

OK Guys

I have the tank (90cm L x 30cm W x 38cm H) on a nice stand with a canopy and one light inside.

The plan is to keep Malawis as I have a little expierance with them.

Now ..... Here I am clueless! I have never setup any tank before!

EQUIPMENT
Where do I start?

What do I need to make my size tank run smoothly?
(Filter . Heater . Air Pump . Lights . Light timer) <-- What did I miss?

Where in Cape Town will I get the best price for equipment?
(I want to keep my first tank low budget due to my inxspierance, if you got second hand goodies you think might be good for me I will gladly look at buying them)

Any extra goodies that would keep the fish healty and happy?
(Water Test Kits ecs ...)

As I have no idea realy what all the stuff does so braking it down for me to learn and understand better what I am doing will be SUPER nice.


DECORATIONS
Im not to worried about decorating the tank. My grandma have a farm with a river running through it, so I will be collecting rocks, white river sand and maybe some stumps from there. Will this cause any problems? I was guessing just to give them a nice clean scrub / wash.


soooo .... :blink1: here comes euuuh a strange request. Would any one be willing to go with me when I buy anything and set up the tank to keep a watch full eye I dont make a mess of it. God forbid I put fish in the tank and they suffer due to my stupidity! I will ofcoarse make it worth you effort and time :bigsmile:

[Henk Hugo]

righteo,

You can either got for a canister or a hangon fitler. i would go for Fluval 105 (R1085.00) canister or AquaClear 50 hang-on (R416.50) filters. With the hangon you would need to run another airpump of something to air rate the water.....

Panorama is extremely cheap with their equipment and they have an awsome sellection of malawis.

[veegal]

Cisca, I will gladly go with you. I can show you where the places are as well. Let me know :)

[Henk Hugo]

oh oh oh oh and me :D

[veegal]

oh oh oh oh and me :D

:hahaha: :rofl:

[Henk Hugo]

i love spending money that isnt mine

[Foxy Smurf]

I dont like the sound of a hang on .... canister sound better :)

Right ... I tell you what. Ill start piling the money and early next month we can make a date that suite us ALL and go sort out my tank. (or at least get started)

Could any one give me a rough estimate of a budget ill need? Remember I wont need to buy decorations and such.

[Henk Hugo]

i'm in Europe till the 9th.... :P

[veegal]

i'm in Europe till the 9th.... :P

Eish - some of us have all the luck :blink1:

Foxy - LOTS. Seriously though, it depends on whether you want to get the 'best' products (name brands) or do you want to get the, let's call them generics?

[Henk Hugo]

yup yup :D

[Foxy Smurf]

I wana keep it low cost for my first setup.

Lets keep the quality goods for a little later when I have more experience in the fish keeping. I need low cost equipment that would be sufficient for me as a beginner.

[carl p]

get the stuf that works even if its a generic, go for a canister, or build one out of 110mm pvc piping

u dont always need a eheim filter etc, just get something that wil work

i made a canister for R300 thats got a flow rate of 700liter/hour,
im just having trouble uploading pics otherwise u would have seen it already

heres a pic of the filter

[Henk Hugo]

yea it will work.... add a high bioload and watch your fish die from amonia poisoning

[brentnorm]

Just try buy products you know you can get spares for.

[2time]

yea it will work.... add a high bioload and watch your fish die from amonia poisoning LoL Henk

[Henk Hugo]

LoL Henk

well its true...

[Wingman001]

Hey there,
Any one has plans for a home made filter system?

[Rowland]

have fun