Help

[donkey2418]

Hi All

Im looking at setting up a tropical fish tank in the next few weeks, with a hole burning in my pocket, I cant seem to make my mind up with which tank to by and what size..

Seems that everyone at work knows better and are telling me go for something small

I ve been looking a a Juwel, something around 4ft, is this going to be to big for a newbie

 

[guppymad]

4ft should be ok, just make sure you cycle tank and check water chemistray before adding fish, if you do decide to go for something smaller what about a 3ft bow tank.

 

[Weaver]

Hi swampie
Welcome to the forums
If it was me Id go ahead and buy the bigger tank.A big tank is as easy/easier to look after as a small tank and will give you loads more options for fish.I started with a 2ft and was soon wishing Id got something bigger.The basics of setting up and cycling a tank are the same whatever size the tank is.
There are loads of knowledgeable people on the forums who will be able to give you all the help you need
Good luck
ps If you have questions you are better asking them in the sections eg beginners as not an awful lot of people use this section

 

[Ivan Sloshed]

Hi swampie to the forum, The Bigger the better
Ivor

 

[donna123]

hey swampie
heres what happend to me,i won a 30ltr biorb that lasted all of 4 weeks,
my first real tropical fish tank is a 180ltr juwel vision .
big is best .
donna.

 

[baz_78]

I have to say, I bought a 15gallon (UK) about 4 months ago and am wishing I'd gone bigger - purely for the options it gives you in plants/decorations and fish...

 

[missPenguin]

I have to say, I bought a 15gallon (UK) about 4 months ago and am wishing I'd gone bigger - purely for the options it gives you in plants/decorations and fish...

I agree, I got a 126 litre [UK 25 gallon] tank for my birthday and I'm still in the cycling/planning what I am going get [4 platys so far] and already my tank seems to small!

 

[debbie_7155]

Hi Swampie,

I have a 30 Gallon tank in a cabinet, im very happy with that, as anything bigger for me in our new home would be overpowering for the room,

Though we did have a 110 Gallon tank (specially made for us) for our marine fish in our other house, but then the room it was in was over 30ft so it fitted in nicely,

What i did was to make sure i got it right, was get some boxes roughly the same size as the tank would be then put it where the tank will be sitting, then ask yourself is it too big or small for the room, when your happy with it then go for that size

 

[linda1503]

Hi Swampie
Definately go for the largest tank that will fit nicely into your room. I bought a 95ltr and a few weeks after setting it up I wanted bigger so went out and bought a 125ltr, I would like to have a 180ltr but it wouldn't fit my living room. Wasted money on the smaller tank. Once you start you'll understand why everyone is saying get the biggest.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Main reason why everybody is saying go big, is because a small tank is a much less stable ecosystem- much more likely to go disastrously wrong. A bigger tank is more forgiving of newbie mistakes. At the same time of course everybody can't afford a massive tank, and you may well want to hang fire until you know if this hobby is for you.

I would say, don't get anything under 60 ltrs (15 US gallons). And if you do go for something in the 60-70 ltrs range, bear in mind that this will limit you to a fairly small community of fish that don't grow more than 2-3 inches long. Still, there are some lovely fish to choose from in that category. A 60 ltr tank is not a bad starter size. Though I warn you- once you get into the hobby, you will want to upgrade!

Before you set it up, read through the pinned topics on cycling the tank- and don't be afraid to ask questions.

 

[Ginge]

Yeah go as big as you possibly can taking everything in e.g. price space at home etc.
I got a 55G and i now want bigger for a planted community tank.

 

[karlp]

The Juwel tanks are good starter tanks, because they include everything you need and are reliable.

Going big gives

Advantages

- Can stock more fish or larger fish
- More stable temperature and water chemistry because larger volume of water
- More scope for Aquascaping

Disadvantages

- A 25% tank water change (normally needed every two weeks) in a Rio 240 for example means syphoning off around 6 buckets of tank water and refilling with 6 buckets of conditioned tap water. So moving 12 buckets of water around your living room. Not a great problem but bear it in mind.

It's even more important with a larger tank to carefully cycle the tank, preferably fishless cycling. If you try to add fish too quickly and get ammonia and nitrite peaks, daily water changes to fix it with 12 buckets of water each time is a back breaker.

 

[ClaireN]

Hi

Have you decided what you will go for yet?

If it was me I would go for the biggest I could afford, when I started out I got a small tank (jewel rekord 60) and wish I had got something bigger, that was in August and in December I bought a second hand 160 litre tank which is a lot better.

I’m not sure I would go for Jewel again I don’t like the way the filters are fixed and take up so much room.

Hope this helps

C

 

[Asmp41]

I got an AquaOne 620 at first and well it just did not do, too small fish grow quickly. I had to bu a Jewel Rio 400. Which is my delight at the moment. I put livebearers in the small tank amd as they had babies I now have another small tank. I.e If you like the hobby it takes over.
I would buy the biggest you can have room for remember it needs to fit the space as it will not be moving around much.

 

[Tech-Frog]

One thing to think about is additional costs tho. You may have a budget of I.E: £300 and buy a £200 tank but now you need to buy stress zyme and things and decor and plants(MAybe) and + you will have to pay for fish.