Freshwater BeginnersA place where freshwater aquarium fish beginners can go to post their questions and hopefully get responses from those more experienced. Also check out the Freshwater Fish Beginner's Guide and Aquarium Setup Guides. Setting up a new freshwater aquarium can be a rather large project and you want to make sure you do it right the first time. If you need help with your fish tank please don't be afraid to ask questions. That's what this fish forum is all about!
Hello everyone, I have been reading the forum and the articles and I think this place is great. I really want to start an aquarium but I many questions, and I hope you can help me. I know about the nitrogen cycle and I plan on using Tetra Safe Start to get that done.
- What would be better, a tank kit from LPS or buying a tank and then the rest (filter, light, heater etc.) Are those items in the kit any good, or are they junk?
- If possible would it be better to get a 29 gallon instead of a 20 gallon? (These are the two sized I am looking at)
- If question number one is a kit, then would the deluxe kits of the 20/29 gallon tanks Found Here be any good?
- This may seem dumb, but I have read that important bacteria is on the filter media, am I missing something or is that what you replace when it gets dirty, then what happens to the bacteria?
- I went to PetSmart today to look at the fish and these are the ones that look cool to me: DG
Cory
Guppy
GlowLight Tetra
GloFish neon tetra
Dory
of course I cant have all of these fish in the tank, so which would be cooler and go together (top, mid, bottom and how many).
- Also would a ghost shrimp be a possibility in the future?
- Would an air stone / wand be needed in the tank?
As I have asked way to many questions, I hope you can help me on some, and I look forward to your answers.
Hello and welcome!
First off, congrats on learning about fish keeping before jumping into it!
Many of us here use Craigslist.com, Freecycle.org, and Kijiji.com to buy tanks.
It's MUCH cheaper to buy a used tank, and it often comes with EVERYTHING you need. If at all possible, get the largest tank you think you can handle at the moment, they are easier to keep going. I replace my media only when it's literally falling apart, I just rinse it in used tank water during water changes. All of those fish do get along, you just need to keep in mind that you don't want to overstock. Cories are bottom dwellers, the rest are mid-top dwellers. Shrimp could POSSIBLY work, but are often seen as food.
I agree with Amanda, it looks like you've done good research.
Buying a kit or not is a matter of choice. Many people buy one to get started then upgrade parts as needed (Filter/heater/lights)
Others buy the kits and are satisfied with the equipment. Yet others like to buy a tank and the rest seperatly. I've heard the heaters in a lot of kits are junk, but I can't say that from personal experience and I guess it depends on the brand.
I bought a 10g kit . The filter works great, all I had to get was the heater (opted for the visi-therm stealth) and of course gravel and deco. I've been satisfied with it.
The mistake I did make was not buying a larger tank to start with, so I'd go with the biggest you could afford.
An airstone isn't necessary although some people like the looks of bubbles and some fish will play in them.
Ok, thank you for those responses. I have looked at the kit more and I really like it.
Back to stocking the fish, I know most of them are community fish but which do you think are cool and how many of each should I get in a 29g tank ( 30 x 13 x 19). Also, what do snails do?
I was also thinking about maybe getting a beta, would it be healthy in a 5g tank? Since the only betas around here are in the little bowls I will have to try to find one that looks nice and healthy. Should be fun
Thank you again for the help
Last edited by LilMan; May 20th, 2009 at 01:05 AM.
as far as the fish.... its hard to say what is coolest.... its really your choice, the only thing i would suggest is only keeping 2-4 species in a tank that size, meaning its not a good idea to get "one of these and one of those..." try to keep schooling fish like tetra with at least 5-6 in a group, i try to always keep at least 3 cory's in a tank... and you could also have a male guppy and 2-3 females with him....
as for snails... some love em some hate em.... i like them just to have diff stuff tooling around in my tanks, ordinary apple snails, mystery snails ect eat algea and muck, ramshorns eat plants and lay eggs like crazy.... one thing you should know though is if you put some in your tank they are pretty much a part of the tank, very hard to remove after....
as for kits vs piece by piece, i always buy piece by piece because im wayyy to into this hobby and become somewhat obsessive about the equipment i use and the quality of my tanks.... but the stuff in the kits are fine and work well...
I agree with Lucy. Get the largest tank that you can afford and that you have room for. It's been my experience, the larger the tank the easier it is to take care of and maintain correct water chemistry perimeters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
WELCOME to Fish Lore!
Thank you everyone. I will go back to the store and look them over again, my sister was nagging me last time about leaving and didnt have too much time to look.
Thanks again!
Edit: Now I remember, If in the future I buy everything separate, can I just grab one of those tanks at the LPS ?
Last edited by LilMan; May 20th, 2009 at 07:54 AM.
remember if you're buying just the tank to make sure that you buy the correct hood. i bought a hood and tank made by two different companies and it doesn't fit quite right
guppies are perfectly happy in freshwater, and actually prefer it. there are some mollies that prefer slightly brackish water and some that prefer fresh, but it's almost impossible to distinguish the two now as they have been so interbred.
generally it's best to just keep some extra filter media in your main tank so that way you can have an "instant" cycle in your quarantine tank and don't have to keep it up and running and seeded all the time. i'd also recommend keeping it barebottom (no substrate) so it's easier to keep clean, but you can move a few decorations from your main tank to your QT if/when you need to set it up in order to make your fish feel safer
and I had it on a cycled tank that has a main filter, could I take that off and connect it to the Q tank? Would that provide enough bacteria if it has been on the cycled tank long enough?
Anyone have information about the African Dwarf Frog? Is it usually happy in a tank with other fish, it seems cool.
Again thanks for the help/info. This place is great.
ok, I got my tank but petco did not have prime or TSS so I will have to order them.
I did a test on my tap water with API master kit and everything is very close to zero but my pH is dark blue which is 7.5. Is this a good level? Will plants lower the ph?
Also, if I had live plants Im gonna guess that you wouldnt use an airstone, but instead have CO2 in the tank?
I will pass on some good advice I received when I joined from Lucy. If your ph is 7.5 right out of the tap, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to change it. Many fish will adapt well to a ph of 7.5, and it will be worse for them to receive water changes of 7.5 if you've used chemicals to bring it down to something lower.
I will pass on some good advice I received when I joined from Lucy. If your ph is 7.5 right out of the tap, I wouldn't worry too much about trying to change it. Many fish will adapt well to a ph of 7.5, and it will be worse for them to receive water changes of 7.5 if you've used chemicals to bring it down to something lower.
That makes sense.
The filter that came with the Aqueon power filter 30 has carbon in it. I read the article about this and still do not understand. What does the carbon do?
Carbon will take imputies and odors out of the water. It will also remove medications, that is why the carbon needs to be removed before medicating a tank. But the carbon can only absorb so much, at which point it either stops working or releases the contaminants back into the tank. So it needs to be replaced every 3 to 4 weeks.
Yes, you can cut a slit in the filter cartridge and dump out the carbon. You don't want to replace the "floss" part of the cartridge since that is where all the bacteria is.
I have been thinking about planting the tank when it is time, but with the light I have it gives me about .66 WPG, can I just buy a higher wattage bulb for the hood, or am I stuck with this. If I am, is it good enough to grow some plants, and which ones.
I was looking at the Java Fern and some others since they require low light, can I put most plants just in the gravel, or do I need some other substrate with nutrients?
I know I am asking a lot, Thank you everyone for the help. Gonna start building the stand for the tank this weekend so I can start the tank.
Last edited by LilMan; May 23rd, 2009 at 01:36 PM.
The light fixture will probably have a sticker showing the max watts bulb you can use in it. You could just stick with low light plants.
The co2 will lower your ph. If your tap water is at the highest point on the low range test kit, you might want to try testing it with the high range test kit. If your ph is beyond the range of the test it will show as either the lowest or higest. I know I didn't word that well, sorry.
Like someone else said though, the most important thing with ph is to avoid major changes. Most fish will be fine if you keep it steady.
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