Starting Out

[watsonlovessushi]

i plan to replace my relatively cheapo 50ltr (~13gal) tropical set up with something closer to 30gal. as i'm pretty much a begginer, do you think i should stick with my current tank for now? Or would i be wasting my time with one so small and basic?

if not, and i do splash out, what kind of fish do you recommend i fill a 30gal tank with? i suppose i'd be after fish that are quite hardy and not too agressive, but also interesting of course. and would you recommend i steer clear of real plants to start with?

anything else anyone thinks i need to know, let me know, that'd be very helpful

thanks,
watson

 

[Matty P]

Setting up a 30G would be much easier than keeping a 13G as with the bigger volume there would be less fluctations with the water parameters. Also with a bigger tank there are a bigger range of fish that you could have in the 30G that you couldn't of had in the 13G. It is up to you whether you want the challenge of keeping real plants or not, there are some realativly easy to care for plants out there. It depends what kind of fish you want: community/species, peaceful/aggressive and so on...

 

[watsonlovessushi]

cool, that's pretty much the reply that i expected, thanks.

and is it true that an external filter is much better than an internal? and that aquariam employees are generally useless for information?

 

[Matty P]

cool, that's pretty much the reply that i expected, thanks.

and is it true that an external filter is much better than an internal? and that aquariam employees are generally useless for information?

Some employees from pet shops can talk absolute rubbish, fish shop employees are a better source of information.

Internal Power Filters...

These are generally for smaller aquariums.

Advantages: Easy to remove media and clean & because the filter is in the aquarium rather than outside and below it there is no head pressure for the pump to work against.

Disadvantages: Expensive in terms of turnover/£ & because they are in the aquarium they are unsightly.


External Canister Filters...

These are generally for larger aquariums.

Advantages: They are good value in terms of turnover/£ & because they aren't in the aquarium the are not unsightly as they can be stored inside cabnits etc.

Disadvantages: The pump needs to work harder than usual because they need to work against head pressure & you have to take them apart for cleaning them which is a bit of a chore...

Hope this helps

 

[vinylman]

Having had an external filter since February, I haven't found ANY disadvantages. The internal filter I had before was a total pain in the arse, particularly trying to take it out of the tank without half the gunk leaking back into the tank water. Internal or external? - it really is no contest.