Who has Fish?

[5hift]

Recently after looking at my friend's fish tank and collection of tropical fish, I've gotten interested in getting a tank and some fish of my own. I've never had any fish, and I have no idea of how much time/maintenence goes into having fish, what kind of fish to get or how much it costs. Im not looking into getting anything crazy, just a small tank for my room with some easy to maintain (dont die easily) fish and a plant or two.

If someone can give me an idea of how much the startup will cost around, what I'll have to buy along with the tank and fish (ie pump? water cleaning things ), how much maintence costs, how much time maintence/feeding costs etc, or even point me in the right direction of where to go (ie Petland etc).

[Weapon_R]

For tropical fish, you will need a tank, a heater, gravel, a pump and a good filtration system. Depending on how deep your pockets are, you can spend hundreds of dollars. There are some starter kits that you can buy that contain almost all of the stuff above for $50-75, but these are very basic.

Fish are very easy to take care of. You will need to recycle your water every few weeks, and replace 10-15% of the water weekly.

Depending on the species of fish you get, they are very hardy and will last for years. Some fish are harder to care for, so keep that in mind when you look for fish. Bettas are supposed to be some of the easiest fish to care for, but they are aggressive so you usually can't put more than one in a tank. I think they are one of the most beautiful fish to have.

[szw]

Your friend won't tell you or something?

[5hift]

While my friend's tank is nice and he does buy nice fish, he also does not take care of them properly and they always die. Because of that I thought of looking elsewhere for advice.

[jdmakkord]

Go with cichlids, try electric yellows and blues to start off with. They are easy to care for, breed easy, and look great in a tank. Try picking up a 33 gallon or a 50 gallon tank kit, either size will last you a while, till you want to upgrade:) IE: I went from a fish bowl, to a 33 gallon, to a 140 gallon. As for food, depending on how many fish, you may spend around $5-10 a month, filter inserts may cost you around 20ish a month, and a bottle of cycle that would last you a few months is around $15. The hobby is real easy to get involved in, and when you get a good community tank going, it is very rewarding.

[handsomebassman]

Its funny you posted this. I have a 40 gallon tall tank in brand new condition that has been being used for the past year. Its an eclipse with built in biowheel and high wattage lighting in the top. Has a gorgeous piece of driftwood that its the main visual attraction in the tank. Im actually thinking of selling it. It comes with everything to set up a tropical tank, and i would help you out, as ive been doing it for years upon years. Back when i didnt have much in life to do, i actually bred angelfish for a year, and made some side $ from it. Fairly easy too. Anyways, PM me.

[D'z Nutz]

Pumps aren't really needed unless you have a particular reason for more air in your tank (ie: plants). Usually the filter is enough to aerate your tank.

And I wouldn't bother with that Cycle crap. It's a marketing gimmick and I seriously question whether it works or not.

[jdmakkord]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
Pumps aren't really needed unless you have a particular reason for more air in your tank (ie: plants). Usually the filter is enough to aerate your tank.

And I wouldn't bother with that Cycle crap. It's a marketing gimmick and I seriously question whether it works or not.

I only use it when setting up a new tank, quicker than cycling without it. As for regular maintenance, I dont bother with it.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by jdmakkord


I only use it when setting up a new tank, quicker than cycling without it. As for regular maintenance, I dont bother with it.

Even when setting up a new tank, I'd say it's still useless (bullshit is probably a better term).

It's claimed to have the ammonia/nitrite neutralizing bacteria to jump start the cycling process, but what source of ammonia/nitrite is available keeping the bacteria alive in the bottle? There is none. So either you're getting dead bacteria (remember, the bacteria needs to be alive to work!) or magic bean juice in a bottle.

When setting up a new tank, there are much more effective ways of getting the cycling process going.

[Weapon_R]

I like to keep the water level as high as possible in my tank, so a filter does not generate the air bubbles that I want. Besides, a pump looks cool, is pretty cheap and my fish love swimming through the bubbles.

[Stratus_Power]

tropic fish tank are EASYYYY .. very little maintence imo...All you need is a tank, a light, a filter and a heater.
I dont think a Pump is required unless you have alot of plants or small surface area exposed to air ( if you happen to get one of those Taller cylindrical shape tank. I hate using pump cuz it is louddd.. especially at night..

I think its good to use those cycle, waste management stuff at the beginning just to get the tank going ( or just steal a bucket of water from your friend's tank.. so you get all the bacterial goodies), usually people would recommand you to start with hardy fish such as Feeder or tetras just to get the tank going with proper bateria and what not, but a bucket from your friends tank will do just that...

the most important thing you need t consider is fish selection, you cant just pick any fish from a petstore (go to GOLD's on 17th ave btw). For example.. cichlids are usually aggressive and if you put them together with normal communitiy fish such as tetras the cichlids will most likely just eat them alive.

Puffer fish are cool, but very aggressive and will pretty much attack anything ( including your hands if they get big enough). Also they need alot of personal space.. so a 20gallon tank should only have ~ 2 puffers.. they are normally brackish (half salf half fresh water), and they required alot more maintence ( ie. you need to feed them snails every now and then, so their teeth wont overgrown to the point where they can no longer open their mouth and eat... you can usually see this in petstores when the puffers are fed w/ nothing but dry flakes)

soo i guess if you want something colorful... go w/ cichlids.. if you want something w/ lots of movement.. get alot of tetras... if you want something w/ alot of personality.. get something like a puffer....


eitherway.. go to GOLD's (17 ave) or Riverfront (close to chinatown) for all your fishing need.. stores like Petland will just rip you off with their limited, yet severely overpriced, products

[dragonone]

pices is pretty big and nice to look at fish as well
never bought from them yet tho
the old guy at riverfront's very nice

[thinmyster]

i have a 28 gallon tank with all my spending ive invested more that a thousand dollars.. and when i moved to my new house my fish died and i really have nothing to show for it.

Trust me and start with fresh water fish and move your way up. It is alot of maintenance.. and whatever you do your going to need to read some books

[thinmyster]

My tropical tank:
200 protein skimmer
200 filter
200 lights
200 live rock
200 live sand
400 dollar tank
heater, fliter pads, substrate, cleaning supplies, blah blah blah you get the idea...
you can definately do this cheaper buying used but dont by shitty products they will just hurt you in the end..

[jus_sum_guy]

http://albertaaquatica.com/

:thumbsup:

[Stratus_Power]

Originally posted by thinmyster
My tropical tank:
200 protein skimmer
200 filter
200 lights
200 live rock
200 live sand
400 dollar tank
heater, fliter pads, substrate, cleaning supplies, blah blah blah you get the idea...
you can definately do this cheaper buying used but dont by shitty products they will just hurt you in the end..


uh that sounds like a salt water marine tank set up.. defintly not a tropical fresh water tank.....
Protein skimmer, $200 light.. live rock and live sand are absolutely useless in tropical tank...

[5hift]

probably why all his fish died

[rip]

I've got two tanks one 75gal freshwater with 4 fullgrown piranhas, and a 30 gal marine tank.

I have spent much more on the marine tank, becuae you have to buy proper lighting, filtration, live rock/sand, and the fish and coral are quite expensive as well. I've got 45lbs live rock 6 fish some coral, anemones etc.

I have about $1200 invested in the marine tank, and about $800 in the freshwater( i bought it used).

As far as maintaining the tanks they aren't too hard, i've never had an upset, but if you do it can be quite costly.

All the info you need can be found on www.wetwebmedia.com.

[FatboyTheHungry]

African cichlids are great for somthing easy, especially since they like the hard water we have in Calgary. South/Central American cichlids typically grow a lot bigger, and have more specific water pH needs. Some of the larger ones also typically get neuromast erosion - "hole in the head" - because of a vitamin deficiency. This can be avoided with proper diet, but it is sometimes hard to find them the trace minerals that they get from their natural habitat.
Go get a 33 gallon tank and at least an Aquaclear300. I prefer canister filters myself, but the Aquaclears are cheap for you to mess around with.
And one more thing, let the filter run for a few days at least before dropping fish in the new water.

[thinmyster]

sorry i was under the impression you were going salt water