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March 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Four 85 dollars that seems like a great deal! you might wanna look into what kind of filter and heater he's got on there and if they're not sufficient you could always upgrade and this is still quite the deal. i say go for it. | 
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March 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| About £50 all in would be a good price where I live the fish look like Livebearers so nothing special there but with some imaginative stocking they could be incorporated into a nice community tank set up.
Not sure how the prices stack up in the US mind and it needs LOTS more plants | |
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March 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| well i was just looking for confirmation! you guys all rock my socks haha | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| thought i would update you guys what I got!
38 Gallon Glass Tank (No Leaks)
A hood (with no lights though!)
Penguin 150 Filter
Neptune 50W heater
A Wooden Stand
10 pounds of blue gravel (not nearly enough)
3 decorations (only one I might keep haha) API test kit (sweeeet)
some chemicals and such (food, extra filter bags, etc.)
4 fish ( bala shark, 2 Zebra Danio, 1 Glassfish)
Now that I have all of that, what would you guys suggest I do to make this tank a bit better?
I do want to put more gravel in, as well as some driftwood and real plants, but do I need to upgrade my heater or filter? Thanks guys and girls!  | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Nice tank, pretty good deal.
The sharks are going to need at least 55g's. The wattage on the heater needs to be upped to maybe 200W. I like the visi-therm stealth heaters by marineland.
Don't know enough about filters to comment. | 
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| yeah the bala is pretty big already (6-7 inches?) any ideas as to where and how to shop for hoods with light fixtures? | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Does the bulb just need to be replaced or the whole hood?
If you have to replace the hood, maybe it wasn't such a good deal after all.
I'm not up on wattage and such if you're looking for a planted tank.
What kind of bulbs does it take? I picked up a fluorescent light (in the lighting section) at walmart for one of my hoods. It was less than the LFS | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Lucys right, you'll need a 200w heater for a tank that size. And the Bala Shark will need a much bigger tank. Also, they are great jumpers, so make sure the hood fits well! | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| If you already have the plastic hood with no florescent fixture. Take the empty fixture with you to Lowe's or Home Depot and in the lighting section you should be able to find a small florescent fixture with bulb already included you can glue or screw inside, use the cover to measure the fixture size needed. They are usually white and cost anywhere from $9 to $15 and comes with two screws for mounting but if you don't want screws sticking out the top of your fixture you can use gorilla glue.
You can try that small heater as it will stay on longer to compensate for its size to water volume but if you notice temperature swings between early morning and early afternoon, I would definitely get another heater to assist the one you have 100W maybe, then you'll have them in sink working together on opposite ends and one as backup. Trade the big fish for store credit.
Last edited by CWO4GUNNER; March 14th, 2009 at 02:08 AM.
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I see everybody else has you covered on the fish, the Heat and Light but despite the fact that i still think you got a good deal on the tank you are also going to have to look at upgrading your filter or adding a 2nd one to the tank.
The P150 is rated at 150gph which is not really enough for 38gals you would ideally be looking to filter 380-400gph
Your options would be to go with another HOB filter to back it up, or add a submersible filter into the tank or to go with a cannister filter. Once you have an idea of which way you would like to go folks can help you make your choice.
You will find lots of ideas in the DIY sections of the forum relating to building your own filter if you want to look at that as an option as well. | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I'd presonally take the Balas to the fish store - they are active, large growing social fish that will probably need at least a 1560gal tank full grown.
What kind of plants do you want? The species of plant you want will affect your lighting desicions. | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| thanks for all the insight! you people are amazing with all this knowledge! but i was thinking i probably will just go with some fake plants, because i definitely do not have a green thumb!
About the hood...it is a hood, nothing special, with some glass for lighting in the middle. That being said, it sounds like i can just go to a home depot and get a light that fits right?
Thanks again! | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Yep, thought sounds right.
You might want to take the hood with you or make sure you measure correctly. | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| i have the same ornament (the barrel) in a 14g and judging by the picture on the add, that doesnt look big enough to be a 38g. you might measure the tank and try to calculate the gallon size, or find a chart online somewhere to compare your measurements to.
id say that you didnt get a 'steal', but i would say you got at least a fair deal. | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| dang man your right! it is only a 20g...  well thats a bummer! My lack of fish tank knowledge got the best of me there, i am mad about that haha | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| it sounds like you have a pretty valid reason to try contacting the seller and see about a refund if you feel too ripped off, which i would try and do. i bought my 29g complete w/ stand for $60. if you take your time, you can find really good deals on craigslist | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| based on where i got it...i wont be getting a refund, nor do i want to go back to that part of town haha | |
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March 14th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| lol, i can fully understand that, regardless, i still dont think you got screwed over, at least you bought a cycled tank | |
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March 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| That sucks! What fish where you planning to keep? | |
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March 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Just write that off as a lesson and dont let it stop you from enjoying it. If all goes well and you find that it is a good hobby for you, then hunt for a bigger tank and sell this one. | |
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March 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| well i just gave the bala shark to my LFS, and got 4 neon tetras, and a chinese algae eater....but one of the tetra got caught in the filter suction, and he was too weak to survive, which sucked...this is the tank from hades haha but i do still enjoy it! | |
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March 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by SurfCityFish  well i just gave the bala shark to my LFS, and got 4 neon tetras, and a chinese algae eater....but one of the tetra got caught in the filter suction, and he was too weak to survive, which sucked...this is the tank from hades haha but i do still enjoy it! | The CAE you will want to take back ASAP - with their adult size of just under a foot and agressive adult behaviour they are not good fish for 20gal communitys! | |
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March 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| man, can I do anything right with this tank? haha none of these fish seem happy, and apart from the zebras, they all hide all day! | |
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March 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by SurfCityFish man, can I do anything right with this tank? haha none of these fish seem happy, and apart from the zebras, they all hide all day! | Do research before you buy.  Much easier! | |
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March 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| haha for some reason i thought the CAE was a smaller fish...i need to get a fish lore application for my phone haha | |
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March 16th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by SurfCityFish haha for some reason i thought the CAE was a smaller fish...i need to get a fish lore application for my phone haha |  I always wish I could get a signal on my laptop when looking at fish in a store.
Sorry about the deal, that really stinks. | |
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March 16th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| oh not a problem! life is too short to worry about little things like this! i learned my lesson | |
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March 17th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I have the origional word documents of my Encyclopedia Aquatica (See my sig) on my phone - which is like a fish book in a phone! I don't know how to publish word documents for other people to donload, though. | |
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