Hi Everyone

After becoming hooked on Finding Nemo I have decided to get a small fish tank for my 6 year old.

Don't worry she is very grown up for her age and all the care, e.g. cleaning, feeding etc. will be done by me.

Plus we are well prepared for her to get bored of them but we have actually wanted to get a few fish for a while now but this has given us extra incentive.

Originally we wanted marine fish as we wanted a clown fish but after researching we have decided it's too difficult to have a first tank and we would like to elarn more about fish keeping first.

We have now thought about getting some coldwater fish instead.
Other than a goldfish when I was young, which I am ashamed to say was kept in a tiny bowl I have no experiance of fish care at all.

We have seen a nice 2 foot tank that I am considering buying.

I know I will need a filter and a light, anything else other than gravel, plants etc?

Also what coldwater fish are there other than goldfish?

It would be nice to have a few different fish.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

__________________


Check out my website - www.sacrelaobirman.co.uk

hey there

first off, well done for staying away from goldfish. as you have seen, these would not be happy in even a 60L tank, and it shows your thinking about the animals welfare, so well done.

there are several other options on fish to have in a coldwater tank. the two most widely available are White Cloud Mountain Minnows and various species of Danio, all of which can live in coldwater tanks in the house, and are readily available from most aquarium shops. a small shoal of some of these in the tank would certianly look quite pretty. a shopping list for these fish would be the tank, light and filter (obviously), and decorations/substrate. you will also need water conditioner (such as Tap Safe or Stress Coat), which basically makes tap water safe for fish. some starter bacteria will be needed to "seed" the filter. most commertially available bacteria solutions dont do much good, but if you can find it, then get some Stability by a company called Seachem, as its one of the few to contain the correct types of bacteria. after this, then the only things at this moment that come to mind are a decent test kit, and food.

of course, it must be mentioned that your going to have to cycle the tank fully before adding the fish. this can take between 4 and 6 weeks. please read the following website for more information

Frequently asked questions on fishless cycling | Practical Fishkeeping magazine

hope it goes well
Fishy

Thank you very much for the advice, it is extremely usefull !!

I did not know about cycling the tank first so will get that underway firstly.

Rep given !

__________________


Check out my website - www.sacrelaobirman.co.uk

you could also consider tropical fish too - just add a heater - and then you could have some lovely neon tetras or a couple of fancy guppies - these are just as easy to keep as cold water fish but there seems to be more choice available

what this person says is true. tropicals are generally considered to be easier to keep than goldfish, and by simply adding a heater to your tank (cost between £15 and £20 usually), there is so much more choice available, you just need to make sure you read up on the fish you are gonna get beforehand, becuase with more choice comes more problems with fish growing large, or compatibility issues. if unsure, you can always ask us though

I used to have a large shoal of leapord danios in my old tank. They are really cheap (around 90p each) compared to other `shoal` fish and look really nice. They arent the brightest but their spots give them a very `wild` look.

When fully grown they look really nice.

Tropical is the way forward, there is just that little bit more variety with them, but as you say you dont want her to get bored he he :-)