New Tank For The Family

[MandiMarie13]

Hi Everyone, 
 
My husband has been dreaming of having an aquarium in our new home for years. He turns 40 in October and I would love to get him started with this new hobby but I just need guidance!!! 
 
He has always talked about Marine tanks vs. freshwater and after taking our son to a tropical fish store today, I feel like I really need more information before I even think about buying anything. 
 
We have the perfect place for a large tank, out of direct light, away from air vents and entry/exits. I have friends who are avid fish lovers and have multiple tanks of all sizes. They have advised me that we should go freshwater because of ease of care vs. saltwater. We don't mind doing the work but I just want to make an informed decision.
 
Googling and googling has been interesting so I came here looking for some advice from the pros.
 
Thank you for your advice in advance. I'm really hoping that I can get his dream started!! 
 
 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Start here:
 
Nitrogen Cycle
 
Fishless Cycle
 
And finally, decide what size tank you want (bigger is usually easier to keep, believe it or not, as the water is more stable than a smaller tank), get your water tested to determine the parameters of your tap water, and finally - choose fish that are best suited to your water... keeping fish that don't match your tap water is a headache that is not recommended for novices.  Save that advanced stuff for after you've been successful with fish that match your tap water.
 
(For example, if you have soft, acidic water - South American or Asian fish are best, fish like most tetras, rasboras, corydoras and SOUTH AMERICAN cichlids.  If you have hard, alkaline water - African cichlids or livebearers are some great fish.  Be sure to research which fish can be kept with which so that you don't end up with chaos.  A zookeeper wouldn't keep the zebras with lions, and so you shouldn't keep small 'bait' fish with larger predatory fish.   And you need to know which is which because they all look cute and small in the LFS, even the tank busters!)
 
Great job doing the research first!!!

 

[AmtotheBurr]

2nd eagle here, a good many of us ended UP here because we 1) didn't know to cycle our tanks 2) didn't research properly 3) purchased fish too large for the aquarium we have based on looks

Kudos for figuring all this out now instead of when your poor fish are dying from things that could of been helped.
Can't wait to hear what kind of tank you're looking to get and seeing what options there are for the perfect fish for you!
Welcome to the addicting world of fish keeping, glad to have you!

 

[MandiMarie13]

Thank you-- 
 
I definitely have been enjoying the reading so far. I think for us, we would do a fish-less cycle. We are very OCD and would want to make sure we had a good set up before subjecting any fish to it. 
 
I still need to do research on the saltwater tanks and the appropriate set-up and care for them. I have friends who say they are rather difficult to maintain so I'm not sure if that's the route we are ready to take. Of course you can find the more exotic fish for these tanks but I'm not sure if that should be our first undertaking. 
 
I am going to purchase the kits and start testing our tap water- doing research on the fish that would be good in our water while I learn about the saltwater process. Naturally I would wait until the middle of August to start the research that should have been done already for my husband's October birthday. 
 
Thanks again!! 
A

 

[AmtotheBurr]

Cichlid freshwater tanks can give you more of an exotic feel than some tropical tanks and aren't as difficult as salt water. You can find some really cool and bright cichlids so if you go freshwater, tropical tanks and cichlid tanks have two very different feels so you have options!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I am going to purchase the kits and start testing our tap water- doing research on the fish that would be good in our water while I learn about the saltwater process. Naturally I would wait until the middle of August to start the research that should have been done already for my husband's October birthday. 
 
Thanks again!! 
A

 
The cycling process can be shortened a bit using certain products, or better yet, since you have friends with established tanks, if they have freshwater tanks, adding a bit of their filter media to your filter can dramatically shortened the cycling time... dramatically.
 
The full cycle time takes roughly 6 weeks starting from scratch (on average).  But using established media, you can theoretically be instantly cycled if you add enough bacteria from another tank (called 'cloning' a filter).  But even if you don't add that much, it can still cut the time way down to under a week.  You will have a different looking cycle than a 'scratch' cycle, but the basic tenants are the same, just the doses are different.
 
The fishless cycle article says add 3 ppm and wait to test.  Adding established media to your tank, I'd suggest adding the 3ppm and then testing after 24 hours, to see how much ammonia is being processed daily.  If 1 ppm is processed day 1... The rest could be fully processed by Day 2.  Add another dose at that time... and then test again Day 3, which could be fully cycled.  
 
If only 0.5 ppm is handled day one, then it will take a little longer, but still far less than day 1 of a scratch cycle where ammonia sometimes doesn't drop at all for the first week.
 
 

Cichlid freshwater tanks can give you more of an exotic feel than some tropical tanks and aren't as difficult as salt water. You can find some really cool and bright cichlids

so if you go freshwater, tropical tanks and cichlid tanks have two very different feels so you have options!

 
I am going to disagree with Amber just a bit... not that cichlids aren't some very exotic looking fish and that they are awesome looking, but I would disagree that they are the only ones.  There are quite a few exotic looking freshwater fish, and there are plenty for nearly every water type.
 
Even the 'boring' fish like guppies can be amazingly spectacular, and if you can get them from quality stock... the color palate is seemingly limitless.
Rainbowfish, peacock gudgeons, emperor tetras, laser corydoras, gold nugget plecos, are just a few of the amazing fish that could be in your tank.
 
Take a look at our 'Fish of the Month' winners from the past, and consider that nearly all of these fish are freshwater fish.  
Also our 'Tank of the Month' winners show the full displays... again most are freshwater.
 
 
This is not to try to sway you away from saltwater... but freshwater fish can be quite an amazing display in their own right.  Add in some plants, some inverts and you can have quite a cool set-up, just like salty.

 

[AmtotheBurr]

I agree there are exotic freshwater too (besides cichlid). I think when you figure out your water is you can look at fish for the size tank and water you have and see if any strike you.

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

Cichlids, IMHO, should not be grouped together in a discussion like this. That group is huge and the environmental needs vary as much as the species themselves. African Lake, African riverine, and South American cichlids are very different and even within those groups there is a lot of diversity.
 
I think Amto is referring to African cichlids which have some of the color intensity that is found in salt water with the ease of caring for a freshwater tank.

 

[AmtotheBurr]

I was referring to African cichlids
I was at a special fish store yesterday and did see some colorful tropicals so they do make ones that aren't "boring". I am still partial I guess to a gorgeous display of colorful African cichlids. Their size and demeanor make them very interesting to me. I always got compliments on my cichlids and I think it's because it wasn't a typical household aquarium fish
BUT, tropicals can be just as lovely in numbers it just boils down to preference.