.....am I Missing Something

[LauraFrog]

Hmm.... another perspective here. I buy cheap tanks. Virtually all my tanks are cheap, and my growout tanks are actually plastic storage containers (with filters and heaters running in them) - they're not tanks at all.

And the reason I do this? Because it leaves me with more money to care for my fish. I'm 15, I have a part time job, and I have to care for my fish off that and what my parents pay me for helping around the house. Personally, I think it's more responsible fishkeeping to buy a cheap secondhand tank, fake up the filter (the only thing in the filtration system designed for fishkeeping is the powerhead) and then be able to feed NewLife Spectrum. I certainly think the fish are happier.

What's wrong with cheap? There's a tank at my LFS, about 6 gallons, on a stand, $150. I have a tank of equal size which I paid $45 for. Yeah, it's one of those newbie death traps for goldfish - but it doesn't have to stay that way. I overhauled the filtration, lighting and heating system, replaced all the cheap crap parts with ones that will actually work (at a total cost of less than $20). I fishless cycled it, and I have it stocked to reasonable levels (instead of crammed with eight goldfish as per the picture on the box). That tank houses pygmy corys, ember tetras and freshwater shrimp, as well as some fairly uncommon plants - the contents of the tank are easily worth twice what the tank is. And I've got sixty-dollar bettas (fish royalty imported from Thailand) in twenty dollar tanks as well... the fact that I look for bargains on the tanks means that I can afford to import top bloodlines in the first place.

 

[saz326]

Hmm.... another perspective here. I buy cheap tanks. Virtually all my tanks are cheap, and my growout tanks are actually plastic storage containers (with filters and heaters running in them) - they're not tanks at all.

And the reason I do this? Because it leaves me with more money to care for my fish. I'm 15, I have a part time job, and I have to care for my fish off that and what my parents pay me for helping around the house. Personally, I think it's more responsible fishkeeping to buy a cheap secondhand tank, fake up the filter (the only thing in the filtration system designed for fishkeeping is the powerhead) and then be able to feed NewLife Spectrum. I certainly think the fish are happier.

What's wrong with cheap? There's a tank at my LFS, about 6 gallons, on a stand, $150. I have a tank of equal size which I paid $45 for. Yeah, it's one of those newbie death traps for goldfish - but it doesn't have to stay that way. I overhauled the filtration, lighting and heating system, replaced all the cheap crap parts with ones that will actually work (at a total cost of less than $20). I fishless cycled it, and I have it stocked to reasonable levels (instead of crammed with eight goldfish as per the picture on the box). That tank houses pygmy corys, ember tetras and freshwater shrimp, as well as some fairly uncommon plants - the contents of the tank are easily worth twice what the tank is. And I've got sixty-dollar bettas (fish royalty imported from Thailand) in twenty dollar tanks as well... the fact that I look for bargains on the tanks means that I can afford to import top bloodlines in the first place.

Oh - i think you got the wrong end of the stick here. sorry if i didn explain myself properly.

You can get very nice things at low cost. There is nothing wrong with second or even third hand stuff as long as it works. Indeed, my fry tank is a small plastic thing with a lid and sponge filter - it is suitable for the job inhand. Hame made stuff and tanks built on a budget are not bad things at all.

What I cant understand is someone buying a cheap set-up that is unsuitable for the expensive fish they are going to put in it. A small plastic container of any sort is fine for fry as long as they are in good water (whether filtered or changed regularly), but you wouldnt put a £20 fish in it and keep it in it.