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Am paying it off it is a juwel rekord 70

61 x 31 x 46cm
Approx 70L

Rekord 70 Aquarium - All the work is done, all you have to do is add the fish, plants and stones!

Remember, Rekord 70 Aquarium comes complete with:
* complete internal filter system -Compact
* waterproof lighting system - 1 x 15W
* heater thermostat - 100 watt
* powerhead - 400l/h
* digital temp guage

is the info on it. Yes i am researching. So far my centre pieces are Siamese fighters,Pearl gourami and Angel fishes yes i know you cant put them together hence why i am making a choice which one out of the three and build the tank around them. Any hints will be great.

They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

i would go with a dwarf gourami and gwt some tetras to go arround it. about 7 neons or cardianls will do. that would be the capacity of the tank. you could also do 6 corries instead of the tetras.

make sure you cycle your tank first!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

When i fill the tank do i need to fill it with lukewarm water or cold then heat it up??? I've got goldfishes and the tank i am getting is the same size but this time i am going tropicals. I like the sound of the tetras as with the corries. And also when i do my water change with the tropicals that will be lukewarm wont it.

Thanks for the suggestions on the fishes i will look at the dwarf gourami I do however like the sound of the Pearl gourami.

They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

i believe pearl gourami get too large for your tank, but i may be wrong. dwarf gourami will allow more color in the tank and be a lovely center peice.

you can fill it with lukewarm, but water changes you should try your best to match the temp with the tempof the tank (there are many ways to do this).

just make sure you cycle your tanka s this is VERY IMPORTANT to the healthy living of your fish!

also change your light fixture bulb to one made especially for aquriums plants growth, so that you cna keep some live plants in there to help with the healthyness of your tank.

also look into keeping zebra or leopard danios as these will also give a nice look to your tank. these would of course be insteadof neon tetras and/or corries.

also i would suggest that if you have to cycle your tank that you use some leopard danios (add two at a time with week intervals) and then two weeks after the last group (no more than 8) that you add your dwarf gourami. that would be a good way to go about it.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Yes i was looking at the dwarf gourami i do like the blue one it is pretty.
Yes I do intend to cycle my tank for a good 24hours before i get the fishes I do also have cycle the bacteria supplement for the tank which i will use.
So your saying i'd be best to get the smaller fishes before i add the gourami as opposed to the gourami first.

They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

Here's a stocking you could do:

1 Dwarf Gourami
6 Harlequin/Brilliant Rasboras
3 Kuhli Loaches

The good thing about this stocking is that it distributes the fish to different levels of the tank. Rasboras normally swim in the middle level. Kuhlis are almost exclusively bottom fish. Gourami are considered to be surface fish, but they do spend a good amount of time in all levels of the tank. Danios aren't a bad idea by any means, but on the other hand they're mostly surface fish and that would leave you less fish actually in that middle layer.

Another bonus is that they're all Asian fish, which is cool. Rasboras are basically the tetras of Asia, and are an appropriate analogue.

Try to add the water as close to the correct temperature as possible so that the fish are not stressed by water that is too cold.

I'm a believer in cycling without fish. We've got an article about it in the Articles section.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I had a look on the article thread and i found it to be helpful. And the suggestions on your stocking i also found helpful been looking at them. If I was to start with the danios in my tank when i go to add the other ones like the gourami,rasbora and loaches would it upset the balance.. And I have heard that the trops are plant trashers like the goldfishes unless they are of the species that trashes the plants, not that is a problem i dont mind replacing the plants lol

They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

None of the species I mentioned are especially herbivorous. They're omnivores at most and most likely carnivores. The plants will barely be touched.

Adding new fish always changes the balance; usually you add fish a bit at a time and the tank will be fine. However, depending on the amount of ammonia you add for your fishless cycle, you may actually have a strong enough bacteria colony to handle quite a large number of fish. Having fishless cycled in the past and stocked a tank fully before, I can confirm this.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Yes I do intend to cycle my tank for a good 24hours before i get the fishes

It'll take longer than that. I'm one month in and the water still isn't ready.

Saint Paul, Minnesota USA 20g Freshwater Started June 10th 2008
-> Tank Info In Profile <-

Really mnventurer... Well with my goldfishes i cycled the tank for a good 24hours and added the fishes and viola. So your saying that i will need to do it longer with the trop tank???.

Another question from me with the goldfishes i know they like to have bacteria in the tank are the trops the same?? stupid i know.
And is this a good way of looking at it that its the same as goldfishes accept there is a heater in the tank

They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

Cycling. There is an excellent article at the beginning of this section on the cycle. Many people seem to think they are cycling a tank because they are setting it up and letting it run a day or two. Nope!Cycling refers to the nitrogen cycle. Fish make waste (poo,uneaten food etc)which quickly breaks down into ammonia, which is toxic to fish. Then an amazing thing happens, bacteria begins to grow and colonize and consumes this ammonia leaving nitrite in its place, less, but still toxic. Then more bacteria grows and consumes the nitrite leaving nitrate. This process may take up to or even more than a month. Nitrate is even less toxic than nitite but still must be maintained by doing partial water changes. Generally people try to keep them under say..20 or so ppm. Some are higher and some lower. A good liquid test kit will help to realize and see this taking place.
Yes, it is very much the same with the golfish, but with the heater. Except that goldfish are very hardy fish, they will easily cycle a tank with little or no trouble. But many species are not so hardy, and the stress from the cycling process may cause them illness or even kill them.

DEFINATELY get a good test kit. This is very important! Per my recent experience and tips from people here the strips are useless. Get an API Master Test Kit or something of its likeness.

Saint Paul, Minnesota USA 20g Freshwater Started June 10th 2008
-> Tank Info In Profile <-

Cycling for goldfish and tropicals is not different. You just got lucky and none of your goldfish died from high ammonia or nitrites during the cycle. This is unnecessary suffering on the fish's part, however.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I will look for the test kit mentioned. And yes a lot of people say that i am lucky with my fishes but i aint so keen to take the same chances with the trops ohhhh no. And when i get a chance i have been reading lol.. I have a few questions come to mind

I aim to have a themometer on the outside of the tank and also on the inside of the tank would this be a good idea?

And also temperature when i get the fishes if i get several speices how do i make sure i have the right temp?
Would i need to check which one has the highest temp and set to that maximum is what i am thinking i would need to do.

They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

I have one on the outside and inside of my big tanks.. not necessary but if you wanted it, it wont hurt anything. Average a temp of 72-82 degrees (not changing though..) I believe most people do 76-78 degrees in tropical tanks.. In your research of fish write down the min and max temps for all the fish you are thinking of.. Make sure that they are all close to the same ideals!

for example say: (total example no truth)
betta 78-85 F
angel 72-75 F
hillstream loaches 68-70 F

the hillstreams (only and example please do your own research) wouldn't eb a good fit for the tank because their top end is lower than the middle.. you want a good few degrees of overlap in all your specimens so if and when something does go wrong you have a few more degrees of temp to play with before adding that as another stress to the already developed problem

For temperature, about 76 F is good. This is an appropriate temperature for the vast majority of tropical fish. In some cases, such as Discus, warmer water is necessary, and in others, such as the aforementioned hillstream loaches and other fish from cooler streams, cooler water is necessary; if you turned the temperature up for the species that comes from the warmest waters, you would cause those from cooler waters to be unhappy or stressed. You cannot keep Discus and hillstream loaches together for this reason; either the discus would be too cold or the hillstream loaches would be too hot. It's goes further than just temperature. Warmer water holds less oxygen, so a cooler water fish is unhappy due to the temperature as well as lower oxygen levels.

Don't worry too much about this, though, as most species are quite fine at 76 F. Most fish stores do not actually have separate heating (or filtration, for that matter) on each tank anyway.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

well stated.. i went a bit into it.. sorrylol, but yes my tanks are set at 76 and range to about 78 depending on the summer weather right now

Brace yourself for a barage of questions people.

Would you also need to adjust the temp in season as well or make sure your tank stayed the stable temp..

And as for hillstream loaches i had those in with my goldfishes but in the middle of winter they died upon further research i figured where i went wrong so hopefully i will be able to get some more.

Me looks at the speices list and see if i can get the example right also what about the gravel i hear that you need to be careful about the type of gravel as some can mess with the ph.

and lastly for now the ph kit that i have for the goldfishes can i use that for the trops or would i need to get the trops thier own things??


They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

Ok just looking at the speices for examples about temperature range

Danio is from 64-77f
Harliquin is from 72-77f
Kuli loach is from 75-86f
Dwarf gourami from 77-82f so i would need to set my tank at the max of 86f looking at that i feel that i would be pushing my luck with the danio's.

Keep researching i think

They say fishes are dumb, because humans need to be smarter in keeping the fishes alive.

i would aim for arround 76 or 77 wiht that list. although danio is a general term, which species are you looking at?

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"