Ahmotorsport Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Hellooo.my little 6th year old brother is quite the fish nut. For Christmas i was gonna get him a tank and a fish or two. He likes parrot fish, the cichlid ones. Just wondering if anyone knew which fish don't mind sharing a tank with them. I see on google there are mixed opinions on it.thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 (edited) Catfish. You could pick a fancy fish from the Loricariidae family, perhaps a golden nugget plec or something. http://www.grosvenor-tropicals.co.uk/common-pages/images/fish/gold-nugget-1.jpg They're about £30 typically. Edited November 5, 2011 by Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caled Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Catfish. You could pick a fancy fish from the Loricariidae family, perhaps a golden nugget plec or something. http://www.grosvenor-tropicals.co.uk/common-pages/images/fish/gold-nugget-1.jpg They're about £30 typically. Dependent on the size of the tank, really. If its only gonna be a smaller tank, Id suggest a bristlenose over a gold nugget, or skipping Loricariidae completely and getting otocinclus. But then, its not going to be a small tank, is it, as these will outgrow it... As far as other tank mates, they're commonly housed with other aggressive south american cichlids such as Convicts, but you'd have to take care to ensure you dont get a breeding pair (of Convicts, obviously). Parrot cichlids arent the easiest of fish to start with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 And for the record you can't just buy a tank and some fish, incase you weren't aware. You sjould/need to set up the tank in advance and let it mature before adding livestock. A cichlid tank should never be small. If you want small, get him a 40-50 litre tank and put some small tetras in it with some shrimps. It's all the rage these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caled Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Or guppies. Everyone loves guppies. http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/4358/guppy1pw2.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig855S Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 What's your budget, either you're a big spender or your not fully aware of the costs involved with caring for your chosen fish, you'll need a pretty large tank, adequate heating and filtration, tank decoration, then the cost of the fish themselves. You cant just get a little "my first fishtank" from pets@home and stick parrots in it. I'll second the small tank and small fish advice. Look on ebay for something like a 60-100L tank and stock it with cheap and hardy fish Stu is right about the maturing of the tank aswell. Look into "fishless cycling" or cycle with fish (but just a couple) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahmotorsport Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 In all honesty i know nothing about fish. Yeah i was thinking a large tank as small ones just look inadequate. umm, no budget as such, i mean i don't wanna go mad, there's a few of us so i have other gifts to get. Okay, i've talked him out of parrots for now, whats a good fish to start off with? And how long does the tank take to mature? I'll google the fish already said. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caled Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 The tank'll take about a week to mature. Good starter fish include the aforementioned guppies, also platies; http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/images/graphics/platydisplay3.jpg neon tetras; http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wlfRVOm7zEU/TcleG8H21ZI/AAAAAAAAAKY/YzIqdWDmw0U/s1600/neon+tetra+fish.jpg or their more colourful but more expensive cousins, cardinal tetras http://mustard-eel.tropicalfishss.co.uk/images/neon-tetra-2.jpg and ONE male siamese fighting fish; http://www.free-pet-wallpapers.com/free-pet-wallpapers/free-pet-desktop-backgrounds/82228322.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 A week to mature? Maybe marine but not freshwater! Why not tease him onto the salty side? http://www.h2oaquatics.co.uk/aquariums-sta...ohabitat-marine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidrick Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 He's 6? Get him some fcuking goldfish, you massive poofter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahmotorsport Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 That is a nice tank! 235cm? Thats cant be right? In all honesty i'm not bothered what type of fish they are. lol! I would but he seems to be into fancy fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etrebus Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 That is a nice tank! 235cm? Thats cant be right? In all honesty i'm not bothered what type of fish they are. lol! I would but he seems to be into fancy fish.i keep tropical fish and i would recommend a small tank with some community fish as mentioned ,as he is only 6 when he becomes more experianced then maybe some more exotics (i have two tanks with 5 banded chichlids and to be honest they dont take much looking after but they are expensive to buy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahmotorsport Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 Thanks mate, heading over to a garden centre tomorrow to have a butchers around. Thanks mate, heading over to a garden centre tomorrow to have a butchers around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan99940 Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 He's 6? Get him some fcuking goldfish, you massive poofter. This couldn't be closer to my view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig855S Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 To mature the tank means to grow the friendly bacteria in the tanks filter (which are needed to process the dangerous ammonia given off by fish waste/respiration into less toxic nitrite then again into the almost completely safe nitrate) this process takes weeks, and the only way to make the process happen is to expose the filter to ammonia (either by putting fish in the tank, or an external source of ammonia such as household cleaning ammonia from boots) During this time any fish in the tank will be getting harmed, which is why your best starting with hardy fish, or no fish at all and using ammonia (or get a friend who has fish to give you some of his filter sponge which will be thriving with good bacteria..) Setting the tank up and waiting a week with NOTHING in it does NAFF ALL (other than allowing the disolved carbon dioxide to gas off...which takes just 24 hours, and is only a problem in certain hard water areas like the thames valley) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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