Nessie!!!

Ok so instead of hooking up my 10 gallon tank I want to go larger. Does anyone know a good type of aquarium, maybe 20 gallons thats good for some larger fish? If so please tell. Thanks aTon!

lilsoccakid

tetra and topfin both have 10,20, 29, and 55 gallon sets, which come with flouresent light and hood, heater, filter, net, and thermometer. the 20 is around $70, the 29 is around $90, and i just bought the 55 for $130

COBettaCouple

How large of a tank would you go to? Some larger fish, like Oscars, would be good with a 120g tank or more and Red Bellied Pacu (a trio) would need a 1200g tank.

jack11

WOW thats so cheap compared to us over here in aus. the cheapest u'll find a 55G set for here is about $550 US.

Nessie!!!

Wow! I think I'll get the 20 gallon one, hopefully they have it in stock, so I can let it cycle for a few days befire getting any fish.

jsalemi

A 20g would take more than 'a few days' to cycle, unless you do something to speed it along. Unfortunately, PetSmart doesn't carry Bio-Spira, but you can get it online. Also, if you have another tank that's already cycled, or know someone who does, you can use a filter cartridge or some gravel from it to seed your new tank.

Otherwise, go the pure ammonia or the 'piece of shrimp/fish' rout, and expect it to take a couple of weeks.

Nessie!!!

Well I got a 14 gallon tank and we are going to let it cycle for about a week, know any fish that are good for a 14 gallon, though?

jsalemi

The general rule of thumb is one inch of adult fish per gallon. Since the smallest fish are 1.5 - 2" adult size, you're looking at about 6 to 10 fish.

Nessie!!!

ok so maybe a Kissing Fish or something, I'll find out next monday when I go and get the fish, thought the tank could use about a week to cycle, so far so good, can't wait till monday! Still open for suggestions.

jack11

no offence but you seriously need to listern to everybodys advice and read the article on the nitrogen cycle on the main fishlore site. it will definantly take between 4 and 6 weeks not just a few days.

Nessie!!!

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Nessie!!!

I've had many fish tanks in my life when I was little, not one of them I had cycled, they all turned out just fine

Nessie!!!

Way better way to put it Jack11

jsalemi

Well, that's not entirely true -- the tank will eventually cycle on its own, even if you don't do anything explicitly to make it do so. The purpose behind cycling first is to prevent the 'new tank syndrome', where the first fish put in the tank are weakened and eventually die due to ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

My dad and I had a tank many, many years ago, and at that time (the late 60s/early 70s) the chemistry behind the cycle was pretty much unknown to the average fish keeper. Even most aquarium books from the period didn't mention it, or at best advised waiting a couple of days to add the first fish (more to get rid of the chlorine, though -- we didn't have Prime or AmQual back then, either ). And yup, the first bunch of fish in the tank died early deaths; the second bunch did a little better, and the third bunch lasted for years. So we didn't know it then, but that first batch sacrificed
their lives to our cycle.

COBettaCouple

Isn't it kind of pathetic that the chain stores give out information that's about 30 years old?

Nessie!!!

Yeah I've noticed that when Wal-Mart stocks Oscars, they only get like 1 and that makes me mad, because when I get a bigger tank, I might want to get an Oscar becasue I've researched information on them and I don't think their as mean as Wal-Mart workers say they are, and thanks jsalemi, I didn't think that tanks really needed to be cycled anyway, I didn't with my 16 gallon one and it's just fine, only two fish have died, and everythings running well, I let it run overnight before getting fish though becasue if I didn't I would have to wait two weeks before getting fish.

jsalemi

Well, again, while you may not have lost all the fish, the ones that didn't die will probably have shortened lifespans and be more prone to disease than if you waited.

It's not like we make this stuff up to annoy or frustrate people. There's now solid science behind the idea of cycling the tank before populating it, and most of us here just want to 'spread the word' to all the newcomers that this is the proper way to do things now. But ultimately, it's your (the collective 'you', not you in particular) tank and your choice whether to follow modern or (as Dave pointed out) 30-year-old advice.

Nessie!!!

Yes, I have taken note of that but, I am going to buy all the esentals( sorry I can't spell) like algea wafers, I'm getting Ghost Shrimp, PH and ammonia testing kits`n`stuff. Also I have taken note of this too, there is this product, the Jungle Brand, that says,"Makes the water safe for fish itemditly." Sorry for the spelling again.... But hopefully that works!