Tropical Fish?

[Phil Win 79]

My son is just getting into keeping an aquarium.

He has a few guppies. He got some drift wood form the shop to go into his tank, he was reading that it needs to be soaked or boiled to get the tanning out.

Its bog oak.

The boiling method seems the best, how long should he boil it for?

Thanks.

[squab 2,875]

never heard of boiling it if was bog wood ready bought from the shop just rinse before putting in tank and i kept them for years,you can collect your own water logged wood which does need boiling but wouldnt know how long for sorry,great little hobby though he will soon get fed up with the guppies and move on to something a bit more adventurous lol good luck to him

[paulf 820]

the tannings wont hurt the fish mate, personely I think they look good, real natural looking you can hold it down with some stones or and it will leach out and you can remove the tannings with water changes ...

or just fill a big bucket with water and leave them just tip water out everyday ...

if you join tropical fish forums uk they will tell you anything you need to know ..

[Phil Win 79]

Thank you for your replies.

[gnasher16 30,056]

I put them in a bucket and change the water every day till the water is clear.......sort of thing thats worth taking your time with in my opinion

[hutch6 550]

Tiger barbs are good in numbers ,my favourite anyway.

Couldn't agree more.

[Mister Gain 1,764]

Tiger barbs are good in numbers ,my favourite anyway.

 

Agree with that, about 15 Tiger Barbs makes a fine sight. Only thing with them I found is that they do like to nip fins. Another nice looking fish IMO is the Clown Loach with their orange and black bars.

[j j m 6,536]

i never boil mine

[Taggy123 59]

About 20 years ago now a chap who used to run the aquarium at the local garden center used to get african tiger fish, african leaf fish and a few other types of fish that were proper pieces of kit.never seen any for sale anywhere since then dont know if you can still buy them now or not.

[Phil Win 79]

Thank you everyone. My son was also saying that tiger barbs nip fins. That clown loach sounds good, i looked it up, nice fish.

[BIGLURKS 874]

About 20 years ago now a chap who used to run the aquarium at the local garden center used to get african tiger fish, african leaf fish and a few other types of fish that were proper pieces of kit.never seen any for sale anywhere since then dont know if you can still buy them now or not.

need a big big tank and lots of money have too be imported not seen Any uk breeders http://www.globalaquaticsinc.com/2012/08/exotics-special-goliath-african.html?m=1

[Mister Gain 1,764]

Thank you everyone. My son was also saying that tiger barbs nip fins. That clown loach sounds good, i looked it up, nice fish.

 

Tiger barbs are not the only fin nippers, Angel Fish do as well. If you are after a shoal of colourful fish, Neon Tetras and Cardinal Tetras are a good choice, but best to do some research on which fish will live happily with others. I went in a Koi shop a few years back and he had a tank of tiny koi's, but also in the tank were some american brook trout. He sh*t himself when I explained that they were predatory and in the morning he wouldn't have any baby koi's left ... and to think that people go in these shops for advice

[BIGLURKS 874]

Won't go wrong with tetras and there are so many different types you get the neons penguin tetras the glow light tetras the black neons the glass neons the rummy nose tetras also zebra danios I've found the cherry barbs too do we'll as we'll some black widow tetras algae eater and plecs and a couple of Pepperd catfish croydos as we'll snails also rasaboras do well hundreds of types too choose from

[neil cooney 10,416]

We've had an aquarium in the house now for 7 years and there's now 14 platys in it that were born in it. In fact some of the platys are 2nd generation born in the tank.

They share it with Zebra Danios, Plecs and 3 spotted Gouramis.

But one thing I remember when we started was the terrible advice we used to get from the so called experts in the shops. I'm not talking about small corner petshops but specialist shops.

I'd swear they see novice fish keepers as a licence to print money. They sell you the wrong fish, give bad advice and then when your fish die you go back for more fish and bad advice.

And I would not recommend Neon Tetras for a new tank.

[Mister Gain 1,764]

And I would not recommend Neon Tetras for a new tank.

 

 

 

Genuine question, why would you not recommend Neons in a new tank?

 

About 20 years ago I started a new tank with dechlorinated tap water, an undergravel filter and some plant (seem to recall it was elodea), left it running for 3 days and put a dozen Neons in and didn't have any problems.