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October 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| New to Keeping Fish
Hello,
My fiancee and I have an empty 20 gallon fishtank which has been sitting in the basement for a few years. I decided it's time to perhaps fill it up and make use of it, so I'm starting on some research. We have a good place to put it in a hallway facing a few windows where the fish would get some light during the day.
Altlhough I had once kept a few small fish alive for two years when I was in my preteen years, I have forgotten virtually everything there is to keeping fish.
I'm hoping someone could provide me with some recommendations around what type of fishies would be best to keep based on the "wish list" that I provide below, and to answer some of my (very) basic novice questions.
The "wish list" for my tank:
1) Ideally would like to keep tropical salt water fish.
2) Fish would have very vibrant colors.
3) Fish would be as big as possible without crowding, but there would be at least 3 fish in the tank.
4) Fish can be aggressive, don't mind them biting me, so long as they don't kill eachother.
5) Moderate difficulty as far as keeping them alive on the right diet, but that's not to say all should be "easy" - I want a bit of a challenge.
Questions:
1) Are there different types of tanks for fresh water or salt water. I.e. The tank we have is a glass tank, but not sure what type of glue the seams are held together with. If I put salt water in it and the tank wasn't made for salt water, will it eat away at the glue and cause a bad situation?
2) I've browsed through the list of fish on the site, but really have a hard time putting together the right types. If anyone could provide a few examples off the top of their head for my scenario above, it would be really helpful.
3) Since the tank will be by a window, I'm wondering if this scenario will have adverse affects on the fish? I live in the Northeast so this shouldn't be too much of a problem in the winter, but worried about water being heated up too much in the summer.
4) Salt water - hmm, how do I put this without sounding completely naive.. where do I get it..  I don't live near the ocean so aside from there do I just get it at the store? I presume keeping fish in salt water is not as easy as just salting the water since they need all their other nutrients and minerals, or is it..?
Thanks in advance!!
Last edited by mha09; October 11th, 2009 at 05:45 PM.
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October 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| sorry! MOD: Please move to "saltwater" | |
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October 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| mha09: Welcome to Fishlore!
I suggest you take your time reading the basics of SW tank keeping. A 20gal tank is considered a Nano tank. There are a few specimens you could keep there. The smaller the tank the harder to keep stable.
I spent a few months reading before jumping into SW. Enjoy the learning process (it never ends) as you plan and review your conclusions.
Please visit the Fishlore pages on nitrogen cycle and Salt Water Tank Set Up.
Pepetj
Santo Domingo | |
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October 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| well id say get 2 fresh water convicts they would give you tons of color and personality salty tanks as a beginer you should have atleast 40 gallons being that it would be harder for you to mess up your perameters smaller tank means its easy for you to cause changes quickly and please read on the nitrogen cycle before adding fish and welcome to fishlore!!!!!!!!! | |
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Hello mha. Welcome to Fish Lore.  I've moved your thread to the Saltwater section of the forum per your request.
Have fun and enjoy the site.
Ken | |
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| +1 on pepetj
You could just buy normal lights if you want fish only or FOWLR. Do not let sunlight into your tank because that will cause algae problems.
There's no difference between a normal tank and a tank with build in overflows. (black box) All of them is connected together with silicone if it's made out of glass. http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterAquariumSetup.htm
Last edited by ATP; October 11th, 2009 at 10:15 AM.
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Hi all, thank you for the info so far! I'm still thinking of starting off with the saltwater. I realize that the freshwater would be easier and I could put more fish in it etc, but ultimately I'd like to have a reef and in general the saltwater appeals to me more. I'm thinking of starting off very small maybe with just with 1-2 fish no larger than 3-4" in the 20 gallon then adding a third, and if things go well I'll start thinking about upgrading the tank to a much larger and at that point adding more to the collection.
As far as the sunlight, the primary spot we have to put the tank right now is unfortunately in the way of light. As such, I'm wondering if the problem of algae be constant, or if I commit to cleaning the glass every few days and introduce a few algae eating creatures it would help to keep it clean?
I certainly have my work cut out for me in way of research, thanks for the links will be checking these out.
Last edited by mha09; October 11th, 2009 at 05:54 PM.
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| the algae on the glass is easy, but on the long run, you'll have GHA on the rocks which took me a year to remove and the algae on the sand. | |
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Is there any living thing which would clean it off effectively and timely from the sand? | |
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| hermits for sand and turbo snails for rocks, but trust me, they can't keep up if you have sunlight. | |
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| hmm ok, based on that then plan "B" might be for me to have some sort of background cover to protect it from the sunlight on that side, I hope I'm not mistaken that this would work. Btw I said "reef" before, but after reading a bit more I now realize I meant I would perfer a FOWLR tank.
Are turbo snails and hermits safe from being eaten by other fish, say clown fish? Thinking that even if I install a cover on the rear these might come in handy anyway in case there's still too much light. | |
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October 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| clown fish are harmless to invertebrates. Fish like dotty backs are semi aggressive to shrimps my gobies are semi aggressive to my yellow tang and hermits for some reasons. Read up on the fish you would like. For example lionfish and puffers eats invertebrates | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Hi there, Quote:
Originally Posted by mha09  Hello,
My fiancee and I have an empty 20 gallon (good size to start with) fishtank which has been sitting in the basement for a few years. I decided it's time to perhaps fill it up and make use of it, so I'm starting on some research. We have a good place to put it in a hallway facing a few windows where the fish would get some light during the day.
Altlhough I had once kept a few small fish alive for two years when I was in my preteen years, I have forgotten virtually everything there is to keeping fish.
I'm hoping someone could provide me with some recommendations around what type of fishies would be best to keep based on the "wish list" that I provide below, and to answer some of my (very) basic novice questions.
The "wish list" for my tank:
1) Ideally would like to keep tropical salt water fish.
2) Fish would have very vibrant colors.
3) Fish would be as big as possible without crowding, but there would be at least 3 fish in the tank. (this is very possible on that tank)
4) Fish can be aggressive, don't mind them biting me, so long as they don't kill eachother.
5) Moderate difficulty as far as keeping them alive on the right diet, but that's not to say all should be "easy" - I want a bit of a challenge. (not sure how much of a challange you are looking for, but the fish that you can keep in a small tank that small are more so easy to keep. There is always exceptions though. It also depends on wether you are going to try to keep corals to make a reef tank)
Questions:
1) Are there different types of tanks for fresh water or salt water. I.e. The tank we have is a glass tank, but not sure what type of glue the seams are held together with. If I put salt water in it and the tank wasn't made for salt water, will it eat away at the glue and cause a bad situation? (No, they are both able to be housed in the same tank, just not together. Like I said there are exceptions to everything)
2) I've browsed through the list of fish on the site, but really have a hard time putting together the right types. If anyone could provide a few examples off the top of their head for my scenario above, it would be really helpful. (Clowns, Gobbies, Chromis, Firefish and possible others like Dmasles or Dwarf Angels)
3) Since the tank will be by a window, I'm wondering if this scenario will have adverse affects on the fish? I live in the Northeast so this shouldn't be too much of a problem in the winter, but worried about water being heated up too much in the summer. (It all depends on how close it is, and the only problem I fore see is algea growth)
4) Salt water - hmm, how do I put this without sounding completely naive.. where do I get it.. I don't live near the ocean so aside from there do I just get it at the store? I presume keeping fish in salt water is not as easy as just salting the water since they need all their other nutrients and minerals, or is it..? (we all sound naive when we first start something, and basically we are naive (at least with regards to what we are trying to learn for the first time). If there are pet stores that are near by your area that sell saltwaterfish, they might also sell Reverse Osmossis water and Saltwater pre-mixed. The store I buy them from sells them for $0.33 and $1.00 respectively. You can buy an RO unit to make your own water or just buy RO water and buy the salt at most major pet stores and mix it yourself. The salt mix will have most of what the fish need, and that it inself is where the debate comes from on which sand mix is better. Never try to mix regular salt with water to use for saltwater fish though.)
Thanks in advance!! | If you have any more questions (as you should just ask away) let me know I will try to help you as much as I can. | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| ahh, this is all such great info, really glad I joined this site everyone is so helpful!! 
I do have another question regarding the live rock this time lol.
So as it turns out, I was dreaming last night about the aquarium and what I hope that it will eventually turn into. It dawned upon me in the middle of the night that several maybe 10 years ago I brought back from vacation a pretty large ocean rock. It's mostly round, maybe 8" in diameter. I'm not sure where I found it, it could have been either Mass, or FL, although not sure something like that would turn up in Mass? In any case, to date, I totally forgot about it except once in a while when I see it as I rummage through some of my "junk" every few years. I have to find it, but after looking at a few people's aquariums here I now realize it is remnants of a coral. I often wondered whether it was some sort of hardened sponge or if indeed was considered a rock. Per the wikipedia image for "live rock", what I have looks just like it.
So the question is, despite that the creatures which I'm sure were in it when I found it are no longer alive, can I still use it in the aquarium and have it be re-populated - will it come alive again?
Locoyo386: Hard to describe the setup in relation to the windows, it would not be right next to the windows, but about 3 feet away. The tank would actually be perpendicular to the windows. The time the sun would come in through would be in the morning.
Last edited by mha09; October 12th, 2009 at 05:26 PM.
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by mha09 ahh, this is all such great info, really glad I joined this site everyone is so helpful!!
I do have another question regarding the live rock this time lol.
So the question is, despite that the creatures which I'm sure were in it when I found it are no longer alive, can I still use it in the aquarium and have it be re-populated - will it come alive again?
Yes, the rock may be used just as long as you wash it before using. The rock may become alive in time, but to bring it back to "live rock" status can be easier if you use other live media (rocks or sand).
Locoyo386: Hard to describe the setup in relation to the windows, it would not be right next to the windows, but about 3 feet away. The tank would actually be perpendicular to the windows. The time the sun would come in through would be in the morning. | If your tank is not in direct light I do believe it will be fine. You may put curtins on the windows so as the light would not hit it directly while the sun is coming thru the window. I have a 55 gallon between two windows (might be different since it is parallel to windows) that have curtins on them and I have not had problems with it yet, going to 3 years in this place. I belive that as long as the light is not directly pointing to the tank it will be ok. | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Quote:
Originally Posted by locoyo386 If your tank is not in direct light I do believe it will be fine. You may put curtins on the windows so as the light would not hit it directly while the sun is coming thru the window. I have a 55 gallon between two windows (might be different since it is parallel to windows) that have curtins on them and I have not had problems with it yet, going to 3 years in this place. I belive that as long as the light is not directly pointing to the tank it will be ok. | Ok that's good news, thanks. I will plan to leave curtains closed for the morning to avoid the direct sunlight. So what I gather is that the non-direct sunlight shouldn't hurt too much if I open them for the day. | |
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October 12th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by mha09 Ok that's good news, thanks. I will plan to leave curtains closed for the morning to avoid the direct sunlight. So what I gather is that the non-direct sunlight shouldn't hurt too much if I open them for the day. | Yeah, it should be fine. | |
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