New Member From Ontario

[stipma]

Hi everyone,

Boy, am I glad I found you. I've been wanting to keep fish for a while now. Today a neighbour told me out of the blue that she's looking to give away her 20 gallon tank. There's nothing wrong with it, she no longer has fish and has no interest in getting more. Needless to say I'm taking it off her hands. Considering I have never had fish before, I'm wondering what would be good fish for my new tank. I find fish to be almost therapeutic to watch. I'd like something pretty and colourful but that's really all I can tell you. Any other advice is most welcome. Thank you all in advance.

 

[catxx]

theres a nice selection of fish you can keep in a 20 gallon, any specifics that have caught your eye?

fish such as platys, guppies, the smaller tetras, dwarf gouramis (although not necessarily all together) are colourful good beginner fish for a 20 gallon.

first things first, you need to see if this tank has a mature filter or not, if not you'll need to do a cycle, fishless is best, do a search on the forum for fishless cycle, it's come up DOZENS of times!

 

[voo]

Before you start thinking about what fish you'd like, start to cycle the filter.

The fishless cycle can be found here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

It'll take a few weeks till the cycle is finished, in which time you can think about what fish you'd like.

 

[stipma]

I picked up the tank yesterday. It needs a good cleaning other than that it looks great. 20g is a lot bigger than I thought it was. Works for me! LOL. It only came with a light and that"s because the light is part of the lid. So I need to buy the filter and heater and everything seperately. I have no idea how much these things cost. Can anyone give me a rough estimate in Canadian $? Thanks.

 

[purple_drazi]

So I need to buy the filter and heater and everything seperately. I have no idea how much these things cost. Can anyone give me a rough estimate in Canadian $? Thanks.

It kind of depends on where you are... a heater is somewhere around $25-$30 for that size tank, I think. I don't know about a filter, sorry. The eclipse I got came with a built-in filter.

oh, and btw, welcome to the TFF!
where in Canada are you? I'm in Toronto.

 

[stipma]

Thank you. I'm in Ottawa.

 

[Lord Zogat]

Thank you. I'm in Ottawa.

Hello Canada!

Walmart will have a 20-40 filter for $22.97 - $25
Replacement cartridges come 3 in a bag for $7

Heater for 20 - 50 gallons is $15 at walmart

Fish Food there is about $4 - $6 depending on size

Dechlorinator is about $7

FYI

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. I live about an hour's drive from Ottawa. There's some great stores in Ottawa for you to check out. I bought some of my equipment at PetSmart (Hunt Club @ Merrivale) and some at Big Als. Big Als is a great store to look at and buy fish and equipment. There's one in Nepean off of Terry Fox drive (145 Roland Michener drive), and another at 1900 Innes Road near Cyrville Rd. Their store locator is http/www.bigalscanada.com/storelocations/storemap.htm

You need to get a filter that pumps at least 80-100 gallons per hour. More would be better, you just don't want to have way too much current. Something up to 200 gallons per hour should be ok; 150gph would be great. Prices would be from about $25 to $65, you don't need to spend any more than that.

The heater should be 60-80 watts minimun, however i would recommend at least 100-150 watts. All heaters are basically only a few dollars different in price so you're only paying an extra few (3-5) dollars for an upgraded heater. You'll pay $30-$36 dollars for a good heater anywhere from 50W to 300W.

You can also go online to bigalsonline.ca and look at all the things big als has to offer, then order online, or drop by one of their stores. (They have a big shark tank at the nepean store, it's worth a look!) Hope this helps; have fun setting up the new tank!

 

[BiffMalawi]

A quick note on Ottawa Fish Stores. Walmart will work for equip, but definitely go to Big Als for fish

If you are close to the one on Innes, See if Christy still works there. I dealt with her for years at their old St Laurent location, but haven't been to the new one. She was the most knowledgable LFS empolyee I have ever met in 20 years of fishkeeping.

 

[stipma]

Thank you all so much for for your help. I appreciate it.