Would love your thoughts on bigger tank

[frannyscho]

Firstly, thank you everyone for the last few weeks advice. It has been so nice being able to discuss things with fishy people. The tank seems to be getting on fine, no-one else has died yet, and all the fry are still alive.

As a newbie I hadn't appreciated how few fish my new starter tank could accommodate - 30L (6.56imp gals). It's also too small for the Mollies when they grow up, especially now there are 5 fry. But I don't want to take the 2 balloon Mollies back because the kids are fond of them. (I find them a bit dull, they just sit above the heater all the time getting the water current blasted at them from the filter). The platy is ok.

What is a good sized tank for a reasonable community tank, a size that one couldn't get impatient with quickly? Or is it better to have two medium ones?

I realise that question depends on the fishes involved - I suppose for kids (and me too), I would like the prettier, brighter, most characterful or interactive shoal fish - not just chaps behaving in a bored fashion or doing nothing. The fish I have liked best so far in the lfs are the little puffer 8 babies, because they curl their tail round and play whirly whirly in the filter current. I do realise a puffer isn't for us though due to their aggression factor. I quite liked my Danio because he was so nosey, but maybe he was lonely. Are there many breeds of fish with characters like that?

How much extra maintenance is a big tank compared to a small one? I am fairly busy with three small children. I would love some thoughts... B)

 

[Bloo]

Oh dear - you're starting already !

If you're thinking of going bigger, buy the biggest you can afford and have space for. It really is as simple as that. One large tank is better than several small ones. Unless you decide to keep completely different fish such as goldfish, cichlids, brackish fish etc. where they need seperate tanks.

It's far easier and less hassle to maintain a bigger tank than a smaller one (in my opinion)

My largest tank takes me all of 20 minutes a week (30 minutes max) - gravel vac and water change + filter maintenence. Once a month I spend about an hour doing a more thorough gravel vac and removing any algae from the glass, but that's all there is to it.

Edit: the "bored fasion" or "doing nothing" you describe, is due to a small tank My mollies, swords and platies are always whizzing about.

Oh and I'm sure you know by now, but research is the ultimate when it comes to starting a new tank with fish you know little to nothing about. Check out what's available in your lfs and then do research on every single fish before you decide to add them to a community.

 

[abstract]

i would go at least 29 gallon! but as bloozoo stated, you may as well go as large as possible now, because you will be upgrading down the road! B)

 

[frannyscho]

My largest tank takes me all of 20 minutes a week (30 minutes max)

How big is your largest tank?

Yes I have caught the bug....actually the tank wasn't for the kids....I've always fancied keeping tropicals....ever since I helped my first boyfriend buy some, and in the morning the ones I had chosen had eaten half his tank contents!!! ooops! The kids were just an excuse....

How big is a 29 gallon tank in inches or cm? I have seen some big tanks on e-bay, but I suppose you need to know what you are buying with it.

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

I'm picking up a second hand 31gallon tomorrow.
Dimensions are 48" by 12" by 15" (4ft by 1ft by 1.3ft). It is worth looking in your local paper or ebay for second hand tanks within easy pickup reach. I can't afford a brand new model with stand at the prices they ask so 2nd hand was the best for me. As it happens the woman I'm getting mine from is fish mad so I may spend half the day there.
Hugs,
P.

 

[MegTheFish]

If you want interactive fish, you should look into goldfish. I feed mine by hand, and they get all happy when I come up to the tank ("The food lady is coming!!!" LoL). They have such interesting personalities, they are my favorite fish. They need a large tank though, and you have to be good with water changes. Also, they like company, so you'll want to get atleast 2 of them. There are tons and tons of different kinds too.

 

[sylvia]

But if you want tropicals, you may be more interested in cichlids or something like gouramies, gudgeons or loaches. Those all have interesting characters but some are more suitable for communities than others. Then there's cute little cories - a small school of corydoras catfish will keep you entertained for hours. They are incredibly social and display all sorts of interesting chcracter. The bronze cory, for one, is incredibly easy to breed and you can catch them laying eggs etc too which is always interesting. Besides that, they are also hardy, grow to a decent size of between 2" and 3" and come in several color variants. Peppered and blackfin cories are also interesting cories to start out with. I'd also strongly reccomend gouramies but the species you get willd epend on your tank's size, the other fish in the tank and your own prefferences. You'll want at least a 20 gallon if you want to add cories to the fish you already have but you're going to need a bit more than that if you want to keep a selection of cories, loaches, peaceful cichlids and/or gouramies. I'd go for at least a 30 gallon. That'll keep you busy for a while. However, if you can manage it (financialy), do yourself a favour and get a 55 gallon. You'll want it eventualy anyway A larger tank is also easier to maintain as it's mroe stable. Alternatively, get a slightly larger tank for your current fish and maybe something extra (say a 20 gallon) but also buy yoursef a nice spacious tank to keep something mroe boisterous in - like mbuna cichlids. They are full of character but too aggressive to eb kept in a small tank or with your current fish. Ask int eh african cichlids section for more info. I'd reccomend you start off with a 55 gallon if you want to go this route.

 

[abstract]

How big is a 29 gallon tank in inches or cm? I have seen some big tanks on e-bay, but I suppose you need to know what you are buying with it.

this will help with getting general sizes..

http/www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/size-chart.html

29 gallons is 30"x12"x18" approx...

 

[fatguppy]

You're doing just what we did - we moved up from a starter tank - about 32 litres (dunno in gallons) to a 180 litre (40 imp gallon) within about 4 months. My son inherited the middle tank (about 72 litres) and the little tank is kept as a quarantine/fry tank at present. God I need to get out more!!!

The tank we have now is (as I said) 40 gallon and in line with other comments is as big as we can go in our room. It does help concentrate our minds on NOT buying any more fish because we have a definite limit now!

Comments on figure of 8 puffers - I know the stuff about them being aggressive but we have two and in all honesty have no probelm at all. I don't know if we've been lucky or because the tank is not overcrowded they have space to be non-aggressive. However, we have not had them very long so are waiting to see if our luck holds. We have also got 6 Tiger barbs (1 male/5 females) and they are great fun because they never sit still. Again - comments are often made about Tigers that they are aggressive, but with the tank size and the male/female ratio, again we have had no problems. I was also told categorically (by the lfs ) that you cannot keep glass catfish (which we had in the small tank at the time) with Tiger barbs. One evening, in a panic because we thought the heater in the little tank was malfunctioning, we were forced to move the glass catfish into the large tank with the tiger barbs. They would have died anyway so it was just a case of see what happens. Again, we have had no problems and have left them in there.

Probably the best advice I have had from an lfs that I trust implicitly because they are enthusiasts themselves, was that it's all a case of suck it and see. There are some obvious no-no's but I've found in my limited time that the bigger tank gives less problems because the fish have more room. Tiger barbs are great if you like active fish, you will be told that they are aggressive, but my own experience is that given the ratio we have they are so busy with each other that they are not interested in the other fish. Tigers however should not be kept with long finned fish as they can fin nip and things like Angel fish would die.

If you have the opportunity to get a bigger tank and keep the smaller one as well, then at least you have somewhere to put fish should there be a personality clash.

The only other tip I would give you about a larger tank is make sure you have one that you can get your arm down to the bottom (for replanting etc) should you need to. This makes cleaning and general maintenance much easier. Although the water changes are more time consuming on a bigger tank, I've also found that the filter is so much more powerful and therefore efficient that it is probably, as said earlier, just as easy, if not easier.

Have fun! They really are relaxing!

 

[frannyscho]

I went and had another look today, and quite liked the corydorus pandas, they act silly enough, one kept on doing little twirls on the floor of the tank.

I obviously should get out more too!!!!

I also liked the tetras with the bright blue eyeshadow!! B)

Trouble is I like most of the little ones. I wasn't too keen on the discus ones. Too big. )

 

[Jen21]

I would go with medium or larger tanks. Somehow I got in the habit of only getting 10 gallon tanks... now I have a 30 gallon and two 10 gallon tanks, but somehow my logic says "one more 10 gallon wont hurt"... I think I should get at least a 20-30 gallon next time.