Ok Rowan is loving fish at the moment, so i want to get a small fish tank like the one below

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002M2XKAG/ref=asc_df_B002M2XKAG1765741?smid=A106CS6YC5AHZX&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22218&creativeASIN=B002M2XKAG

I dont just want goldfish. i want little fish, do i need anything special?

also what water do i use? do i need to put anything in the water? does it need a filter?

you can only keep goldfish in a cold water tank like that. If you wanted smaller fish, you would have to get tropical fish who live in warm water. To keep the water constantly warm, you would need to buy a heater. You cant just put tap water straight in. You have to add a additive which gets rid of chlorine. Chlorine is harmful to fish. If you have a pets shop near you, they will explain everything xx

To be honest an 8 Litre tank like that is far to small, we have just set up a fish tank after being given a 38 Litre tank and all we could have is 2 small goldfish. You could probably get away with 1 small goldfish at most and even then its not ideal. We were advised to stay away from tropical fish even with a 38 litre tank. You will need a filter and some water treatment I think ours is called tap safe.

ta mEg. I knew it was just not tap water.

that tank comes with a filter which keeps the water clean. Yeh we use tapsafe. I keep tropical fish xx

Also just to add for the size that tank is I think its pretty expensive.

Honestly i probably wouldnt reccomend that, 8L holds very little fish. It would probably hold about 2 tiny fish which you wouldnt really egt to see very often as they hide. The rule of thumb is generally 2 inches of fish per gallon.

I would reccomend you went to a fish shop and looked for something more in the region of 35 litres which you can get fairly afforsably from somewhere like a maidenhead aquatics and often come in themed tanks still. Theres a chain of em in south england and they will also give you a lot of help with set up.

http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/Prodshowroomdetails.aspx?id=228 is an example.

For tiny fish you are generally looking at tropical-tetras, platys, guppies etc so you would also need a small heater, the only real cold water tiny fish are danios. You should really have a filter too for optimum water conditions though you will only need a small one for that size tank.

Initially when you set it up the tank needs to mature first. You can buy stuff to mature the water and filter, if you put fish in tank before the water is sufficiently matured they will die. You can either buy a testing kit or the fish shops will often test a water sample if you take it in. Usually takes a week to mature a tank.

Ive kept coldwater and tropicals for several years now so if you want any further advice am hth. They are ace tho and C adores her fishies.

Kelly, try going into Pets at Home in Farnborough. They have some fabby tanks in there and a wide range of fish and the staff there seems to know their stuff (MJ is after fishies too. She wants 2 goldfish. 1 called Dora the other Boots ) Do you know where B&Q is? It is in the little retail park opposite near there by Asda xxxx

Also I found that the bigger the tank the easier it was to "maintain" as it sort of matures and starts to work as a proper eco system

I love fish...
if you do get guppes and platys though they breed like wildfire so would either get just males (they're prettier) or check with the shop that you can take the babies back (although a lot will get eaten!)

I agree that tank is waaay too small.

I got a 26 litre one and its just about ok for 2 small fish...I used to have a very large tank with tropical fish in...but it was alot of work to keep it well maintained.

Also you should get a pleco, they are so cool, they eat algae off of the side of the tank and you can buy wafers for them to eat you put one or two in each day and it sinks to the bottom for it to eat when it fancy's they are also good for helpng maintain a natural eco system within the tank xxx

Depends on the size of tank, plecs get to a fair size

I thought fish only grew to the size of their tank? My plec didn't get too big. I had a 120L tank He was so cool, I was so sad when he died :'0( he was old though bless his little xx

No fish can easilyoutgrow their tank, theres a lot of shops will sell fish unsuitable for tanks like the silver sharks etc which can easily top 30cm and are no good for most tanks. Its quite a common problem

we brought a fish today grows up to 8cm so it will be ok in our lil tank jj loves fish too xx