Hi! As a possible future investment, can you tell me the minimum sizes of tank for the following fish-
Angel Fish (I know you need a tall (hexagonal) tank)
Silver Sharks (minimum shoal size, not just one!)
Oscars
Clown Loaches
Common Plecs
Clownfish (yes I know you need a marine tank and all that jazz)

Basicly these are all fish I like or my mum likes, meaning ~I have an even better exscuse to get a bigger tank. PS. This is not all together! I mean for one or a minimum sized shoal.

Angelfish don't "need" a hexagon you just need a tank bigger than 18" in height.
Clown Loaches, the absolute min size tank is a 55 gallon then they need to be moved in 5-10 years to a larger tank.
The rest I don't know on the top of my head.

Clown fish (Marine) don't need a big tank. Depending on the species you could get away with very small tanks. Nano (small marine) tanks are not for marine newbies, read the nano tank diaries in the saltwater chit chat forum. Common clowns don't grow very large (3" max), while the Maroon clownfish grow to double that.

For the other fish you mentioned, think of the biggest tank you can get and then add a couple of feet

The fish profiles here... give an idea

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile9.html

Jon

here is a post from marine about clown fish or "nemos"

http://www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-the-hobby/31715/http-www-fishforums-net-index-php-showtopic-31715/

Oscars can be "graduated" from one tank size to the next but you should start with something huge to begin with (like 55 gal) Thats how I got my 55g... the woman had just gotten a bigger tank for her oscar. Oscars also are kept alone because they are agressive. I'd hate to have a huge freakin tank and just one fish

You dont necessisarily have to have a hexagon tank for an angel as long as the tanks is tall enough.

jeez girl ... you need like no less than 125 gal for most of these ... probly more.

Have you considered tetras?

angelfish--they do need a tall tank. I'd say 36" x 12" x 20" minimum. in most places you can get a 40-45 breeder tank (36" x 18" x 18-20") that would be great. or a 55 would work well for angels.

oscars--for the first 6-8 months a 55 would be ok, but then they'd need to be moved to a minimum 75, though a 6' tank (125 gallon or more) would be much better. oscars are not typically aggressive and do not have to be kept alone. there are plenty of cichlids and other non-cichlid fish that oscars can be kept with.

silver sharks--for a full size school of 6 of these I'd look for no less than a 180 gallon (72" x 24" x 25"). these guys get 13" long and are very active fish.

clown loaches--55-75 would do for a long time, but eventually they'd need closer to a 180 for the same reason as the silver sharks.

common plecs--probably the most abused aquarium fish around next to the goldfish. these guys can get 18-24" long or more and stop eating algae as adults. I'd say 125-180 gallon would be fine for an adult specimen, though bigger is always better.

clownfish--no clue...never kept or read about saltwater.

I know that Basically, esp. for the angelfish, is gonna be a case of, oh, but mummy, if you pleeeeaassse let me buy a bigger tank I can get some of those nice silver sharks/ angelfish you really like. And this won't be until after I have started (and finished) my betta obsession I'm planning to have Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea- It'll be years until I can afford- let alone keep- these fish and all their doo dahs.
And yes, I have considered tetras but my tank is only 5 gallons and I would rather have some platys or a nice VT betta

This post has been edited by OohFeeshy: Jan 22 2005, 09:43 AM