I've been reading and reading so I've learnt quite a lot so far. I don't like to get anything and not know how to care for it.

Anyway I bought a second hand tank which has had 6 months use. It has the pump and filter and light. The filter is mature after 6 months use. I gather that's good from what I've read.

I was gonna set it all up with my gravel and plants and all that first. Put the water and the conditioner in then switch it all on.

How long should I wait to buy fish?

Also silly question but how do u know they aren't gonna breed? I don't want that lol.

I've read up about cleaning the tank and testing the water so I think I'm ok with that.

Do I need a themometer.

Also do pets at home have info with the fish about what sizes they grow to and stuff as I don't wanna overcrowd the tank.

I was looking for some pretty fish at the most 6 inches when fully grown. I would prefer smaller.

What kind of easy to take care of attractive fish not too large are available in pets at home. Just curious so I can read up on them.

I really like glofish and neons but have no idea where to get them.

Any advice is appreciated.

Oh it's a 60 litre rectangular tank.

most aquatic shops that stock fish will have neons for you to buy, but glofish aren't available in the UK and they are not allowed to be imported into the country (referring to the brand name glofish - genetically altered zebrafish/zebra danio)


you will need a thermometer, and a heater if you want neon tetras as they are a tropical species and require heated water. your tank size will be better suited to small tropical fish rather than goldfish and other cold water fish as it is, so if you don't have a heater, i would get one. a 100W should do the trick.

If the filter has been dried out and not kept running since the previous owner of the tank decided to sell, it isn't mature, you should wash the sponges out and start from scratch as the bacteria are more than likely dead.

set up the tank and leave it for at least a week to two weeks.
or set up the tank and begin a fishless cycle (i have never done this, but other forum members have and will be able to give you information about it)

and just if you don't want the fish to breed, don't go for any live bearing species, such as guppies, platys and mollies
as these are the most likely to breed in a normal set up

the tank comes with a heater too but I thought tropical fish would be hard to look after.

What more does looking after tropical fish involve? I do only want little fish really.

personally, i found my tropical fish are a lot easier to care for than my coldwater fish were, i had two 60L tanks and had no end of trouble with the coldwater one.

basically, tropical tanks are a lot easier to maintain the water quality for than goldfish are - goldfish are incredibly messy and kick out a LOT of waste.
goldfish also get very big (up to about 50cm)and if they don't have the space to grow to this size, they get stunted which causes a whole host of illness in your fish and ultimately, a premature death.

the main difference is the heating, you need to look at the types of fish you want and then have the water at a temperature suitable for those species, feed a suitable tropical food and you need to get the stocking levels right in your tank too
too many fish and you will end up with poor water quality which leads to illness.

going on the standard tank sizes on this site http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/tanks-uk.htm
using the 24X12X15" tank (59L) you could hold a maximum total fish length of 60cm in the tank you have.

the neon tetra, for instance grows to a length of 3cm, so you could have 20 of these in your tank at a maximum.

what you need to do before you buy any fish its ask how big they grow, the adult size of any fish you buy should be taken into account and subtracted from that 60cm total length.

it would also be best if you aimed to have slightly less than the 60cm maximum amount in your tank too, to allow you some breathing room.

pets at home staff should be able to tell you the adult length of the fish, it is also usually printed on the cards above/below the tanks.

i would hope as well that they will advise you on what species are compatible too, but i would ensure that you ask when you go to look at fish as some staff may not be as clued up as others

Totally agree with this. I've had both goldfish and tropicals- the tropicals were far easier to maintain a decent water quality. Goldfish have to be some of the messiest fish available!

When I get my tank up and running again, I'm going to have tropical fish. Much as I love goldfish, think I'd prefer more smaller fish than a few big ones.

definitely research fishless cycling if you are ok to wait. add ammonia to feed the bacteria and once a colony is established in the filter media you can go ahead and stock slowly.

if you can find someone in your area with a well established aquarium and see if they will give you a piece of the established filter media to kick start your tank and get it to cycle faster. if your filter has been off for more than a couple of hours since it was running on the stocked tank before then the bateria will have died.

cool water tanks are more hassle than tropicals for me. i have a 680L cool water fancy goldfish tank, and a smaller 440L tropical community. the goldfish kick out so much waste its unreal. the tropical community with a few low light live plants seems far more stable and definitely requires less work.

i wouldnt recommend p@h for buying fish or getting advice. most i know are terrible and nothing should be believed without further researching what they have said before you buy any stock from them. i personally like maidenhead aquatics stores, as per usual some are better than others but they seem far more interested in the well being of the fish they sell. also, ive never suffered any illness with any fish from either of the 2 maidenheads i buy from, but any fish from p@h i quarantine and every time end up having to treat for something, usually white spot