Seen through the eyes of a beginner

[Velvetgun]

Going back to the post about future fish sizes...
I am a person who loves to read, loves to be informed, loves to understand and I would like my future fish to live very well and for a long time.
I bought a 54-liter tank because due to current conditions in the house I cannot have a larger one but in the future I would like a nice tank 200-300 liter with many possibilities of choice of flora and fauna.
The problem is that I am also very afraid to start.
As a beginner I read everything and the opposite of everything, then in the shops I hear absurd things
I'll give you some examples:
- filter: some say it's strictly essential, some suggest a simple sponge filter, some an external adjustable one (my choice), some tell you that a tank like this is better without anything
- water changes: some say the tank creates a balance and should only be done if necessary, some tell you they're essential, some say once a week, some once a month... (if you want I also have articles on the internet about the cons)
- bottom even in the absence of cory: some tell you that sand is essential (I took this) some tell you that gravel allows bacteria to proliferate better


fish: here we can go crazy. I'll give you some examples:
- some tell me platy together with betta is ok but I have doubts about the values
- yesterday a famous betta breeder suggested tanichtys together with betta. I love tanichtys but then I have doubts about the temperature values but they tell me that they adapt.
- I was suggested opercularis and tanichtys in the 54 liter tank but then others advised against it...
- dwarf or pearl gouramis yes or no in 54 liters?
- on the poecilids always for the 54 liters a dealer advises me against platy or swordtails and another strongly recommends them

Do you understand that for someone who aspires to do the best it is really complicated?

The more I inform myself the more I am in crisis...

 

[GaryE]

Here's how I would navigate the disagreement, the opinions, the facts, the dogmas and the gurus.

Choose a fish, the one you like best. Read up on its natural history. Where does it come from, how does it live. Avoid aquarium advice. Look at nature, always. If it comes from a small stream, go look at small streams, brooks and creeks. Are they stagnant? If so, make a stagnant tank. Do they move? Filter and water change.

The fish determines what you need. They shouldn't have to adapt. We have to adapt to them. Your instincts on the white clouds in with a Betta splendens were correct. Experts? This is the Internet and anyone can claim to be a guru. I could be a guy who bought his first fish 3 months ago. So read me and others carefully. Do I seem to favour my convenience, or a good life for the fish I keep? Am I selling a system? Do I seem to want followers, or do I seem to want people to discuss with? This goes way beyond the fish world...

So back to nature and the fish. What would make it do well, based on what you've read about it? Now, tankmates. Follow the same process, and see if the needs are similar. If they are, you have a good maybe. Never put two territorial species with the same needs in a tank, and build from there.

The complication is fishkeepers. They're as much products of their environment as the fish... if you are talking to a fish person from the agricultural midwest of the USA, he/she may have polluted tap water, high in nitrates. So you'll be told to only change water when the test kit tells you you must. It makes sense to them, where they live. The same may be true if water is expensive, as it is in many dry places.

If you talk to me, surrounded by clean freshwater lakes, I'll suggest water changes at a good volume every week. My local water is great, plentiful and available. I don't know your situation, but you do. If you can, do water changes. Streams in nature turn over and change. If you have to adjust, then do so. You may need to adapt. Most people forget that and assume everywhere is like where they are. They tell you how you should keep fish in their house, not yours.

The no water change people are generally dogmatic, and want their system to work as a one size fits all. If the advice avoids discussing the natural history/life of the fish and only talks about the tank, avoid it, or at least be skeptical. The tank is a means to an end, and is otherwise just a glass box.

The hobby can be simple if you:
put something that isn't your needs first. Plants, fish, snails, whatever. Adapt to it.
choose a style, and try it.
base your tank on nature. Go out and look at it. I keep African rainforest fish in Canada, but the way a stream flows is the same here as there. The water is warmer or colder, the seasons differ, but look at how the stream, the lake or the river functions and make something like it. When I caught aquarium fish in Africa, the plants, the bugs, the lighting - all were new to me. But the streams I was standing in acted just like the streams up the road from my house. I do weekly water changes and like to have moving water.

But if I look at a hobby Betta, it has been handicapped by large, unnnatural fins. I have to adapt to its problems, which were created by breeders. Does it look like it can swim well? No. So slower moving water is probably good. Base your decisions on the fish you see and research.

 

[Velvetgun]

first of all, thank you very much for the very very thorough answer.
I propose you an article on the water change that had also convinced me.

Cambio d'acqua: necessario o superfluo? - Acquariofilia Facile

Nella vita dell'acquariofilo ci sono poche certezze. Una di queste è il cambio acqua programmato. Ma siamo così sicuri che sia davvero necessario?

acquariofilia.org

Then I listen to him (maybe with the automatic translator you can understand)


and I get confused...

 

[GaryE]

If one video is confusing, look for several different ones that aren't. There are confusing videos out there, often by people who know their subject but can't teach it. Where I am now, I can't watch that one to comment.

 

[emeraldking]

Choose a fish, the one you like best. Read up on its natural history. Where does it come from, how does it live. Avoid aquarium advice. Look at nature, always. If it comes from a small stream, go look at small streams, brooks and creeks. Are they stagnant? If so, make a stagnant tank. Do they move? Filter and water change.

This already says it all when choosing a fish species...

 

[Fishkeeper123]

Going back to the post about future fish sizes...
I am a person who loves to read, loves to be informed, loves to understand and I would like my future fish to live very well and for a long time.
I bought a 54-liter tank because due to current conditions in the house I cannot have a larger one but in the future I would like a nice tank 200-300 liter with many possibilities of choice of flora and fauna.
The problem is that I am also very afraid to start.
As a beginner I read everything and the opposite of everything, then in the shops I hear absurd things
I'll give you some examples:
- filter: some say it's strictly essential, some suggest a simple sponge filter, some an external adjustable one (my choice), some tell you that a tank like this is better without anything
- water changes: some say the tank creates a balance and should only be done if necessary, some tell you they're essential, some say once a week, some once a month... (if you want I also have articles on the internet about the cons)
- bottom even in the absence of cory: some tell you that sand is essential (I took this) some tell you that gravel allows bacteria to proliferate better


fish: here we can go crazy. I'll give you some examples:
- some tell me platy together with betta is ok but I have doubts about the values
- yesterday a famous betta breeder suggested tanichtys together with betta. I love tanichtys but then I have doubts about the temperature values but they tell me that they adapt.
- I was suggested opercularis and tanichtys in the 54 liter tank but then others advised against it...
- dwarf or pearl gouramis yes or no in 54 liters?
- on the poecilids always for the 54 liters a dealer advises me against platy or swordtails and another strongly recommends them

Do you understand that for someone who aspires to do the best it is really complicated?

The more I inform myself the more I am in crisis...

Go with whatever you feel is right, I agree with what @GaryE says. However for your individual fish questions, think about what’s best for the fish. Look at the size, is a 15 cm fish okay in a 60cm long tank?(pearl gourami) Nope. Don’t trust just one person says, especially not a seller, they might be telling you the correct information but they might also just be wanting more money. Swordtails would be a very bad choice for your tank as well, they get quite large and are livebearers. I wouldn’t do platies in your tank with a betta but maybe without a betta they could be fine. There’s no law with fishkeeping, “you must keep (…) in a (…) tank.” However read about stuff, read old threads on the forum and other ones have information. The 2 main ways I’ve learnt are from personal experience and reading information about fish and looking things up and reading from reliable sources.

 

[Back in the fold]

Something that hasn’t been mentioned is talking to people who’ve been in the hobby for a long time . Next time you go in a pet shop see if there’s somebody else looking at the fish , or better yet buying some , and strike up a conversation . Ask them about the fish they have . Nothing beats experience .

 

[Sir Guppy]

I’m a generally -almost- no water change guy, only if a tank is heavily enough planted/very understocked.
Edited to fix a sentence mistake