Hey! I'm new, help!

[sdadlani]

Well, browsing through the site, you guys have convinced me to get some fish. I am currently 15 years old, and intrested in purchasing Betta fish in the near Future. I was wondering what size tank is very low maintance? And how many fish can I have? I was thinking about breeding ish, but I wanted to get a tank set up before, and get used to al the maintance befor ei jump on anything. Thanks guys!

 

[cherrylt04]

Well with bettas I say anything between 1 -5 gallons would work, but only put one betta per tank. I have 3 bettas (one male, 2 female) each in there own 1 gallon tank. And they don't need any air pumps or anything ( but you can use one so you don't have to chang the water as often, but you won't be able to breed the betta b/c they build bubble nest on top of the water and the pumps with destroy them {same with gouramis}), but you'll need to change that water every week or two.
If you want other fish I've always used as a rule of thumb, If I have a 10 gallon tank I don't want more than 10 fish that are no bigger than an inch, 5 if they are 2inches, so fourth and so own. sometimes you can have more than that or less than, but that is what i do.
You need to cycle your tanks though and there is an article going around about that. I'll send you a link if i find it, and during cycling I've found it is a great time to get some live plants started (these will help to keep some of the chemical levels down), some people like starting plants during cycling and others look down on it, but I've found it doesn't really effect the tanks much.

Peace,
DPS B)

 

[CFC]

Believe it or not the bigger the tank you have the less work you have to do (providing you stick to the stocking limits,cherrys rule is a v good one 1"=1g).With smaller tanks toxins build up much quicker and so require more frequent water changes,a bigger tank also allows a bit of room for the often not so pretty cleaner fish,so you can still have the brightly coloured ones and get your tank cleaned.The best thing to do is to always get the biggest tank you can afford/have space for

 

[Doohic722]

I would also be very intrested in that cycling article.

I have set myself up with a 55 gallon tank and Im almost ready to order a Magnum 350 pro (has the bio wheel) for filtering. My tap water is very soft, I need to get a test kit but im not sure what all is necessary, there are tons of testers out there (nitrate,ph, all kinds of stuff )

I am currently in college and my tank will be set up at home, that leaves me with about 7weeks of learning time and buying time. And if I decide to (or hear if its a good thing) I have heard that you can cycle a tank using fish food that means I could possibly get the cycling done while at college and not have to worry about the fish, then when I get home I can add some fish. What do you think?

 

[sdadlani]

Ok, thanks for the help.. I was looking at Petco.com, and it seems as if I misunderstood the prices, I was hoping to spend a little under 30 dollers to start off, I know it isnt much, but oh well. The other day i was at a local hobby store,and they carried these decorative glasses, some even sqaure- almost like a tank. I didn't check the prices, but I'm assuimg its a lot cheaper then if i bought it at a pet store. Is this a bad idea?

Thanks for all the help guys, really appreciate it.

also, tell me more about breeding, do you hink i can do it? Anyone have pics of different stages the fry were in. It seems like fun, but I really don't want to be stuck with a lot of fish.

Thanks again!

 

[Jesse]

For 30 bucks you can go to Wal-Mart and get a 10 gallon, thats what I did.