First Freshwater Tank

[loveforfhishies]

i have always been into aquarium fish but never really thought of haveing my own, today i was looking at my friends saltwater tank in his liveing room and thought to myself i get so much joy out of watching the colorfull little fish swim around, why dont i get into one.

i started some research and found out saltwater tanks can be quit the task so i decided to get into the aquarium hobby slowly, so i decided to go with some basic freshwater fish and start learning and building from there..

i have a 12 by 14 foot room and will probly put the tank on my dresser, i was thinkin about starting with a 10 gallon and some basic little fish,

can someone give me some ideas or tips and how much of a coast am i lookin at to get started in a freshwater tank, like i said just something simple easy to get started and some hardy fish.

if you could maybe make a suggestin list or something i would appreciate all the help i can get.

thanks

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

cool, well first off the tank will probly cost about 20 dollars the hood-50-60 dollars, filter and heater 45-100 dollars, then the deco (rocks, silk plants, ect.) anywhere from 20-60 dollars. you need food and water conditioner 10 dollars. then the fish and that depends on what fish and where you are. i would suggest guppies, dwarf gouramis, neon tetras, white clouds, the more begginer fish. an estamited price will be about 200 dollars give or take for a basic setup. make sure you learn about the nitrogen cycle and cycle your tank before adding fish in. hope i helped. ooh yeah the first fish i got were a shoal of neon tetras and a dwarf gourmi. they lived okay but im not so sure about the compatibility of dwarf gourmis and tetras.

 

[topthrill]

i would advise you to get a ten gallon tank. you should put in some stuff called stress coat wich you can buy at a pet store, to rid the water of clorine and then put in stress zlyme, wich is also found at a pet store, to start up the boilogical filter. you should let your tank run as normal for about one week before you get your fist fish. oh and i would advise you to get some neon tetras as a first fish because there easy and rely nice to look at.

 

[Captain Retardo]

Learn how to fishless cycle first- http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861&st=0

Then once you cycle it you add fish!- Recommendations for a 10 gallon

Good Luck!

 

[Silverlady]

Neon Tetras are not suitable to Cycle a tank.If you must cycle with fish most people recommend Zebra Danios or Platys.

As Captain Retardo suggests read the link on Fish less cycling.

 

[loveforfhishies]

some of the fish i have been looking at are

cichilids
Nimbochromis livingstonii
Heros severus
Barbus schuberti
figure eight puffers
siamese tiger fish
Blue panda apisto
Panda dwarf cichlid
Blue Neon
Dwarf tanganyikan cichlid
Dwarf rasbora
Five-bar cichlid
Discus


im sure by now you know the style of fish i like, im sure these are all very hard to take care of but i was just throwin some names out incase some are the kinda fish im lookin for, or if there not maybe you can tell me about fish that are simmilar.

 

[xostrawberryox]

oh and i would advise you to get some neon tetras as a first fish because there easy and rely nice to look at.

NO NEON TETRAS AS A FIRST FISH... please dont advise anyone else of this, perhaps they did fine for you, but many people will tell u otherwise. Neons like mature tanks of 6months plus and are very sensitive to nitrites. Platies or mollies, 2 or 3 would be ur best bet.

 

[dwarfgourami]

some of the fish i have been looking at are

cichilids
Nimbochromis livingstonii
Heros severus
Barbus schuberti
figure eight puffers
siamese tiger fish
Blue panda apisto
Panda dwarf cichlid
Blue Neon
Dwarf tanganyikan cichlid
Dwarf rasbora
Five-bar cichlid
Discus

Right, of these Nimbochromis livingstonii is a Malawi cichlid. It would need to go in a specialised Malawi tank, much bigger than a 10 gallon (i would guess at least 55 gallon, but know very little about this species). They grow to about 8", so would need quite a bit of space. Am not aware of any Malawi cichlids that can go in such a small tank.

Heros severus- way too large for this tank. Not sure what tank is recommended, the new cichlid forum will know. Probably at least 55 gallon.

Barbus schuberti are a schooling species of medium sized fish, I think you would probably want 25 gals. But the cherry barb might be a good alternative, you could keep those in a 10 gals. A trio of 1 male, 2 females would leave room for some small bottom dwellers (like pygmy corydoras) as well.

Figure eight puffer might be ok. A dwarf puffer or two certainly would be.

Siamese tiger fish- ?

blue panda apisto- 15 gals?, probably like below

panda dwarf cichlid- should be fine in a 15 gal, with some small surface/middle fish. Wouldn't go smaller than that, needs acid soft water

blue neon (?tetra)- if so, should do in 10 gal tank, once it has been running for a while, prefers soft acid water, schooling fish so will need at least 6 to feel really happy.

Dwarf Tanganyikan cichlid- not sure what species you mean by this, but a small community of shelldwellers would actually be the one type of cichlid that could go in a 10 gal. You would need sand for a substrate, hard water and quite a collection of snail shells (like the ones you can get from a delicatessen). It would have to be the one species only. Neolamprologus multifasciatus is recommended for this size tank.

dwarf rasbora- should be fine in 10 gals, prefers soft acid water, schooling fish.

five-bar cichlid- ?

discus- put these on hold, they will need a much larger tank and are not recommended as beginner fish

 

[dwarfgourami]

Siamese tiger fish- would that be Datnoides microlepis? A predator that is supposed to be able to grow to 15 inches. In which case, you can see why that one won't work.

 

[Tetras]

Maybe its siamese fighting fish?

 

[loveforfhishies]

http/freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquarium...ankmistakes.htm


That information says small tanks are harder to start with then a bigger tank, it makes sense to me but do you all agree with that cuz i have 30 gallon tank i could use?

 

[Tetras]

I have a 10 g, because thats all I can fit in my apartment for now. I find it hard to clean, even though I only have a few plants, they always get pulled up when I try to clean the glass or syphon the gravel, because there is just not enough room.

 

[ImperfectFaerie]

I think a 30 gallon is a great size to start with. Smaller and the water fluctuations can be more deadly, harder to catch in time.

 

[loveforfhishies]

I went to the pet store last night and checked there stuff out, and i got overwealmed i think, looking at all the tanks, hoods, areators, lighting, plantation, Digital tempeture gauge, and everything that goes with it.

i have a 30 gallon that i keep my hampster in, and im thinking about takeing him out and putting him in my 10 gallon tank and just buying a hood for my 30 gallon, that should save me some money.
exept im not completyl sure if its 30 so how should i pick out a hood for it.

can someone try to help me understand the tank cycleing process, i read that link someone put out but im kinda confused how it works and what its purpose is?

thanks

 

[Gilby77]

I went to the pet store last night and checked there stuff out, and i got overwealmed i think, looking at all the tanks, hoods, areators, lighting, plantation, Digital tempeture gauge, and everything that goes with it.

i have a 30 gallon that i keep my hampster in, and im thinking about takeing him out and putting him in my 10 gallon tank and just buying a hood for my 30 gallon, that should save me some money.
exept im not completyl sure if its 30 so how should i pick out a hood for it.

can someone try to help me understand the tank cycleing process, i read that link someone put out but im kinda confused how it works and what its purpose is?

thanks

My advice would be to read, read and then read some more about fishkeeping... I bought my first tank (15 gallons) in April 2006 and have just upgraded this to a 76 gallon tank recently. I started my first tank all wrong and I have certainly learnt by my mistakes! I had no idea about cycling a tank, the nitrogen cycle etc, but it is really important you understand this. By taking time to prepare your new tank (without fish in it please!) you really will reap the rewards in the months and years to come!

This forum is an excellent source of information, be wary of your local LFS, some are excellent, others leave a lot to be desired! Be careful - if you don't like what you see, visit another one!

Finally, I definitely think smaller tanks are harder to keep than larger tanks, but buying the tank is not the only big cost, there are the ongoing costs of food, plants, fish of course(!) and treatments they may need. Not to mention the liquid test kits and additives you must ensure are added to the water, then there are all the gadgets (gravel vacuums, algae magnets) the list is endless! My fish equipment takes up a whole cupboard! In comparison my cats are easy peasy to look after!

But if you do it properly, you will thoroughly enjoy your aquarium!