Newbie

Hi Everyone, I have just taken up the aquarium hobby, and the bug has bit me hard. I want to get a 1.5 m tank and start it off the proper way so any advice from any body would be greatly appreciated.

At the moment all i have is a 60 liter tank with a filter (waterfall type) heater and a few neons. however the goal is to start the 1.5 m tank. with real plants and probably a few cichlids. So please guys/girls I really need the advise, wheteher its books that have helped or tips on how long to run my tank before I can introduce my fish

 

Welcome to the wet nut house mate...search around on here - there is a wealth of info available...

 

Thanks, I really am excited to get up and running. where is the best place to look for new tanks (online)?

 

Welcome, to TASA, if I may ask, what cichlids are you planning to keep as most cichlids and plants aren't use in the same sentence, don't want to discourage you but rather safe you some cash that you can fork out on something else. Any filter system in mind, lights, etc and what type of tank do you want to setup? Buyo curved, normal rectangular 1.5m with canopy or glass sliders, are you still in the matket for a tank or do you have one?

 

Thanks, I am still in the market for one. My friend has a buyo curved tank with malawi cichlids and the broad leave plants and they doing very well. I still need to do a full setup. I was at Dorys pets this last weekend and they gave me lots of good advice. I am looking at a canister type filter.

 

and dont worry there will be no discouraging, I am new to this so need all the advise I can get so will always take anything in a good way. haha

 

Hi and Welcome to TASA. 1.5m is a nice size tank. Big but not so big that you spend your whole saturday doing WC. Cichlids are very nice but if you want plants and cichlids then I would reccommend most dwarf cichlids. They are not aggressive (for cichlids) and can be in a community tank. And they dont rip your plants to shreds

 

When it comes to filters you need to keep in mind that you need to cycle the volume of your tank minimum 3 times eg if you have a 500 liter tank you need to get a filter of 1500 liter per hour. Canister filters are excellent, just keep in mind that you do get different brands and if you opt for a specific brand look what is the availability of spares for it, do some research on the reliability of the specific filter you have in my mind, read up on reviews, ask for advice here on TASA. When it comes to Malawi cichlids I'll be careful introducing plants with them as you do get different species of Malawi's and they do have a tendancy for chowing your plants. My advice, first go read up and study them before getting them regarding water parameters, diet, aggresive levels, behavior, etc. Look up in the classified area of TASA if there isn't maybe one for sale, can save a huge amount before going off and buy a new one. Usually the guys are selling them with filters, lights, etc.

 

Thanks guys, @TheGrissom thanks will keep that in mind. @wsteene will definitely take what you said on board, I guess I have a lot of reading to get to. any specific books u recommend or just general internet research?

 

There is a lot on the inetrnet available but take care that everything you read on internet is not always the truth, can tie up with a couple of the members here on TASA for info as well with reference to @azurekoi that has been keeping fish for ages, @Double-D who studied Malawis extensively and some other keeping Malawi's. Can post a thread on Malawi's and will get a lot of response and search the forum for Malawi related topics. @Dirk Bellstedt will be able to recommend a couple of good books.

 

Wow, Thanks so much

 

Welcome

 

@SamMatt, you can opt for a sump filter as well if you want to, it will increase your water volume and it is easier to maintain the balance in larger quanitities of water and is one of the best ways to filter water imo. HTH

 

Ive hear that sump filters are harder to maintain for new guys like me, is this not true?

 

Shouldn't be ? It's same idea as a canister really it's actually a huge grey area...
Read this Thread

 

Not that difficult to maintain. Just don't replace all of your filter media at once like with any other filter as well.

 

And don't cheap out on filter media.
Ceramic rings beat hair curlers a lot of places will tell you that they are the same but the Prof says it's not the same...

 

Thanks @RFSwanepoel will keep that in mind, I have been told since starting to never cheap out on equipment.

 

Never cheap out on anything
Unless you have Mozzy Larvae in a bucket somewhere Fish love eating those and it's free

 

What sort of price can I expect on a good 1.5m tank setup. Incl a bent glass tank.