My First ever Fish Tank Ever!

[Getthejist]

Well I have never noticed a green tint in glass, and as for live plants if you get the right ones for your tank they're easy to grow and they take nitrates out of your tank :D and they look great so its a win win situation and if you don't want snails bath them in carbonated water for 12 hours.

[Blowfish]

[Getthejist]

Yeah the soda water(carbonated water) has a low pH and a lot of co2 in will kills the snails but doesn't seem to harm the plants and its worth waiting 12 hours for a snail free fishtank :D Is perrier a company ? I just buy whatever they have gots 8l for 99p once :)

[Blowfish]

[malakye]

I dont think the optiglass is worth the extra cost either. I have a tank made from it and in all honesty its no better than my other tanks.

If its a peaceful community tropical tank you could get a nice mix of fish, just avoid things like common or gibbiceps plecs, redtailed sharks, clown loaches and angelfish to name but a few. I have a peaceful community myself which has pearl gourami's, kissing gourami, hatchet fish, bristlenose plecs, blue rams, bolivian rams, green neons, black neons, x-ray barbs, harlequins, rummynose, farlowella, several types of corry catfish, bamboo, amano and cherry shrimp to name a few.
If you want easy to grow low maintenance plants go for things like amazon swords, vallis, java ferns, anubias etc.

[cathface]

I third the opinion of not getting optiwhite. not worth the extra money.

in terms of filters, since you don't want the pipes etc hanging down, get two internals, for the reason someone else (sorry I've forgotten!) said about in case one fails, you've still got another as backup. I don't know how much filtration tropical tanks (like what you need in terms of turnover) need so the others'll need to weigh in here. I do recommend Charterhouse Aquatics though (charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk), I've bought from them before and they post efficiently and often I find things are better-priced. in terms of hiding the filters and heater, getting live plants is a good plan because you can plant them in front of where they are and they'll eventually grow up and covering them. say if you put the filters facing left to right for example, you can put plants on both sides so when they grow, you'll not be able to see it from either side of the wall!

in terms of live plants, I've been told that bleaching them or using PP (potassium permanganate) is best because it not only kills snail hitchhikers, it also kills off any diseases that might be carried on them. with bleach it's at the ratio of 1 part bleach, 19 or 20 parts water (has to be pure bleach though, nothing scented or whatever). you will only need to soak them for a few minutes. however you can risk killing some plants with the bleach, not all plants are good with it, so it's probably better to use PP. with PP, you just add enough to make the water a light purple colouration, then soak the plants for about 5 hours. after whichever one you choose to do, remember to rinse your plants thoroughly with dechlorinated water!

oh and Kazeem, whereabouts do you live? this would make suggesting a good place/price for custom tanks easier. :)

[malakye]

If you use the bleach option buy really cheap thin bleach only use a tiny amount about 5ml to a gallon of water and do not immerse the roots. Only dip them for about 10 seconds no longer.

[Blowfish]

i would prob go with getthejist's idea sounds pretty good and safe!! also prob gives the plants a wee boost all that C02 ;)

[Getthejist]

I used the bleach option once left them in a minute extra and they all died also carbonated water is really cheap 12p for a litre can't beat that.

[malakye]

Ok we have gone way off topic here so back to the original.