[AquaticLife] 1st Fresh Water Aquarium
Fish selection for a novice is fairly broad, and would depend on the kind of water you have. You do not mention pH or hardness, so it is difficult to make a good selection which you could choose from. Also, you say nothing of your interests in fish. Are you looking for color, behavior aspects of the fish, or what?
You still have plenty of time to make the selection, as you need to get the nitrogen (biological) cycle started before adding fish to the tank. Search this list and the web for “fishless cycling” to learn more about it. This is the hardest part for the novice, you will have the tank sitting for some time with no fish in it while you are growing the needed organisms to help you maintain your tank.
Fortunately, if you decide to go with live plants, you can have the plants in the tank, getting established, while the tank is cycling. The use of live plants or other decorations is a personal decision. You might want to skip live plants for the time being while you are learning about keeping fish, or you may choose to also learn about live plants at the same time because they will help to remove a byproduct of the cycle, nitrates, that, allowed to build up, can harm your fish.
So, go ahead, set up the tank tomorrow, and start cycling it according to the instructions you now have in hand after doing the research I suggest, and start reading here and elsewhere about how to keep fish. It would not harm you to actually buy a book, such as the Baensch Aquarium Atlas, Volume 1, to have handy for reference. Ask us questions that will most certainly come to mind while doing your homework.
\Steve//
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
