Should I Get A 10 Gallon Or 20-30?

[thezodiac]

so basically i want to get a fish tank, and i havent decided what kind of fish i want yet other then freshwater and tropical.


anyways ive been looking on craigslist and there are a bunch of listing for tanks including accessories for around 20-50 bucks. for either 10/20/30 gallon tanks.

now the price difference between the three is virtually different.

im tempted to get the 30 gallon because i would have more fish options, but would need a stand, and am worried about how hard water changes will be ?

10 i like how its easy to manage, but for the same price as the 30 its hard to buy a smaller tank



what would you recommend? thanks guys

also how much better does stocking get between 10->20->30 gallons

 

[thezodiac]

bump i would like to purchase it very soon . thx

 

[minnnt]

Like it how you bumped it after 28 minutes!

Depends on what you want to keep ultimately. Smaller tanks are sometimes more effort to keep than a bigger one. Also, with a bigger one you're choice is widened when considering fish. I would only consider something of 10 gallons if i was attempting to create something specific or for breeding a single pair of dwarf cichlids. IMO you would be better of getting the biggest tank you can afford and fit in wherever it is going.

HTH

 

[Randi]

The bigger the better. You don't necessarily need an aquarium stand, if you have a solid dresser it can handle a 30 gal.

 

[thezodiac]

Like it how you bumped it after 28 minutes!

Depends on what you want to keep ultimately. Smaller tanks are sometimes more effort to keep than a bigger one. Also, with a bigger one you're choice is widened when considering fish. I would only consider something of 10 gallons if i was attempting to create something specific or for breeding a single pair of dwarf cichlids. IMO you would be better of getting the biggest tank you can afford and fit in wherever it is going.

HTH

hey 28 minutes can pass pretty quickly at times... lol

u think with a 10 gallon i could get 3 guppy, 2 male 1 female, and let them breed enough to fill up the tank a bit, and let social Darwinian keep the population in check?

The bigger the better. You don't necessarily need an aquarium stand, if you have a solid dresser it can handle a 30 gal.

it would be going into a family room where there isnt an furniture for it to go on.

 

[minnnt]

You COULD get them in there easily, but they will harrass the female to death. Much better of getting 1 male to 2 or 3 females.

 

[thezodiac]

You COULD get them in there easily, but they will harrass the female to death. Much better of getting 1 male to 2 or 3 females.

do u think breeding wise it would work out ?

sounds like thatd be a cool way to run that tank .

i know i should prob just go for the 30 gallon but im still kinda inbetween

 

[minnnt]

If you get 1 male to 2 females then he can divide his time between them both which would be better for the girlies. I have always found guppies hard to keep the more fancier they were.

I'm not saying it's a bad choice mate, any tank is better than non and not everyone wants a great whacking tank in their living room. Go with which ever takes your fancy, but you obviously won't be able to keep some species of fish in that size tank. But yes it will be fine for a breeding group of 3-4 guppies.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Like it how you bumped it after 28 minutes!

Depends on what you want to keep ultimately. Smaller tanks are sometimes more effort to keep than a bigger one. Also, with a bigger one you're choice is widened when considering fish. I would only consider something of 10 gallons if i was attempting to create something specific or for breeding a single pair of dwarf cichlids. IMO you would be better of getting the biggest tank you can afford and fit in wherever it is going.

HTH

hey 28 minutes can pass pretty quickly at times... lol

u think with a 10 gallon i could get 3 guppy, 2 male 1 female, and let them breed enough to fill up the tank a bit, and let social Darwinian keep the population in check?

The bigger the better. You don't necessarily need an aquarium stand, if you have a solid dresser it can handle a 30 gal.

it would be going into a family room where there isnt an furniture for it to go on.

The preferred ratio for guppies is either at least 2 or 3 females for every male or all males. If you are expecting the guppies to keep the fry numbers in check by eating them, I think you will be sadly disappointed (and overrun with guppies). Guppies tend to ignore their fry, which means most of them will always survive. They also reach breeding maturity fairly quickly, so the population numbers could explode rapidly... I hope you have a plan if that takes place.

 

[fluttermoth]

u think with a 10 gallon i could get 3 guppy, 2 male 1 female, and let them breed enough to fill up the tank a bit, and let social Darwinian keep the population in check?

You mean natural selection; social Darwinism is something else entirely!
Unfortunately, it won't work unless you have some sort of 'mild' predator in with the guppies. A small cichlid would probably do the job for you.

In fact, John Endler did an experiment very like this with ponds of guppies and two levels of predation; 'strong' predation from pike cichlid Crenicichla alta and 'weak' from Rivulus hartii (a killifish). It's well worth reading up on if you can find a write up of it (there's a very good one in Richard Dawkins's 'The Greatest Show on Earth').

 

[This Old Spouse]

Where would you put a 10g if you don't have anyplace to put a 20-30g?

I'd get the biggest tank I could afford. Honestly, I have 7 tanks and I didn't pay a cent for any of them. Didn't pay for most of the accompanying equipment either, just the fish.

If you put male and female guppies together, they will breed. A lot. Even after you separate the males and females, the fry will keep on coming for months afterwards. And they are VERY good at surviving.

 

[waterdrop]

While any of the sizes you mention can form the basis for a good community tank, the care process will be more forgiving of mistakes as you increase through each size. A larger volume of water gives you longer to discover problems and and in general offers better chances for the fish.

At a certain point the gravel-clean-water-change process becomes more work but it is not terribly hard at any of these volumes. Likewise the differences in equipment costs and maintenance materials wouldn't be very different between these. Prices of used equipment vary wildly.

Good luck with your purchase and setup!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Randi]

The question is: Where will you put a 10 gal, and a 20 gal, and a 30 gal? If you get the smaller tank I am certain it won't be long until you want a bigger one. Welcome to MTS (multiple tank syndrome)

 

[thezodiac]

The question is: Where will you put a 10 gal, and a 20 gal, and a 30 gal? If you get the smaller tank I am certain it won't be long until you want a bigger one. Welcome to MTS (multiple tank syndrome)

lol thats where im at right now i have a 10 gallon and i want to get another or a 30 gallon..


(have a 3 gallon right now and its not good for fish keeping at all).

has anybody food something cheap at ikea or something that you can use as an acquarium stand? (20/30 gal)

Where would you put a 10g if you don't have anyplace to put a 20-30g?

I'd get the biggest tank I could afford. Honestly, I have 7 tanks and I didn't pay a cent for any of them. Didn't pay for most of the accompanying equipment either, just the fish.

If you put male and female guppies together, they will breed. A lot. Even after you separate the males and females, the fry will keep on coming for months afterwards. And they are VERY good at surviving.

i was just saying i dont have designated space for anything so ill need to get a stand

also, does anyone have any idea how long itll take to fishless (pure ammonia) cycle a 30 gallon ?

 

[Randi]

I think these are your best bets for stands. http/www.petco.com/N_24_4294951277_30/Fish-Stands-And-Furniture.aspx http/www.petsolutions.com/storefront/browse.ep?cID=100073&filters=cFish+caquarium+cstands&sorter=price-asc

or if you are handy http/saltaquarium.about.com/od/diystandscabinets/ss/sbs2x4cabinetframe.htm


Fishless cycle will go a lot quicker that your fish-in cycle.

FYI angelsplus.com is now selling 'active' filter media so you can almost eliminate cycling time.