Help Choosing Type Of Tank

Hi, I'm sort of new here and have yet to start up a tank. My hope is to get a 29 gallon Aqueon Deluxe starter kit but if that is not a good starter please let me know.
The main reason I am making this post, however, is to ask what type of tank should I create, are community tanks fun or should I go with something like a cichlid tank, and are these good for beginners.
But if you have any stock recommendations or different starter kits or even just separate parts that I would need please let me know!

 

I would start by deciding what kind of fish please you and that you want the most, then work around that.

 

The kits are ok but most people will recommend buying everything separate since you get much better quality for longetivities sake with only a little more investment.

 

Cichlids are not good for beginners and need a tank at least 4ft long. Like a 55 gallon or a 72 bowfront.

A 29 gallon is fine for a community tank. But I’d get the biggest tank I could afford because in no time you’ll wish you did.

I agree with David about staying away from the kits.

 

Bump it up to a 37 if you can. This is our 37 gallon guppy aquarium.
29's are nice (we have one as a grow out for our mystery snails)

 

It depends on the type of cichlid you want. There are dwarf cichlids that would be fine for a 29. They are a bit more delicate. but if that’s what you want you could set up a tank with some other fish that are compatible, wait a few months to gain some experience, then add them in.

What drew you to fishtanks to begin with? Knowing that can help you decide what direction to go in.

 

The kits are ok but most people will recommend buying everything separate since you get much better quality for longetivities sake with only a little more investment.

do you have any recommendations for a 29 gallon for buying things separately?

It depends on the type of cichlid you want. There are dwarf cichlids that would be fine for a 29. They are a bit more delicate. but if that’s what you want you could set up a tank with some other fish that are compatible, wait a few months to gain some experience, then add them in.

What drew you to fishtanks to begin with? Knowing that can help you decide what direction to go in.

I have always been interested in marine biology and just recently went scuba diving for the first time in open water. This experience really made me want to start up my own little habitat in my own room.
and yes I know it is a lot of work

 

If your from the us petco and pet smart have dollar per gallon sales on tanks. An aquaclear filter that would depend on tank size and stocking as per which one. A glass top. There are lots of cheap led lights which would depend on if your going planted. Oh and a heater depending on which fish you go with.

 

I have always been interested in marine biology and just recently went scuba diving for the first time in open water. This experience really made me want to start up my own little habitat in my own room.
and yes I know it is a lot of work

Oh, that’s so cool! I haven’t been diving in ages.

I suggest going to a store that sells fish and looking around. Find a few fish that you like, and do some independent research. Pet store employees are not always knowledgable, so it is important to get information from elsewhere.

I unfortunately had to take down my 29 gallon recently due to space issues. I miss that tank. It is a nice size and does have many stocking options. You could easily do dwarf cichlids like rams or apistos with some other community fish. As far as community fish being fun on their own, I was endlessly entertained by my zebra danios. I had forgotten how active they are! So having something less common like cichlids is not necessary to have a fun tank.

 

Cichlids are not good for beginners and need a tank at least 4ft long. Like a 55 gallon or a 72 bowfront.

A 29 gallon is fine for a community tank. But I’d get the biggest tank I could afford because in no time you’ll wish you did.

I would have to disagree, some cichlids such as shell dwellers (my all time favorite fish) will do just fine and even breed in tanks as little as 10 gallons. Most African Shell Dwellers are from lake Tanganyika.

 

I’m a fan of the 29gal tank. I think it’s a great beginning tank. Kits are no good!!!! You will end up replacing everything but the tank. Petsmart dollar sale is a great deal. They also honor online prices from other stores. For filter a marineland 350biowheel. Under $30 moves 350gal an hour. A 150watt heater $30. 40lbs of gravel $20-40. For lighting a vivagrow or aquaneet 30” 24/7 led light. Bought on eBay or amazon for around $35. Now you’ve got a good working tank. If you want you will be able to also grow plants in the tank.
As to fish walk around your local fish store see what looks good. Write down what you like than go home and look them up on line and see how compatible they are.
Go to the pictures of members tanks for ideas.
Welcome and enjoy this great hobby. Ask lots of questions!!!

 

There are cheaper means of filtration too, such as a sponge filter, you can find nice equipment for pretty cheap on amazon, I got my heater for my 60 gallon for $25 off of amazon and it works great

 

If you're just curious about the aquarium hobby, 29 gallon is a good start for freshwater. I believe dollar per gallon sale at petco is still going on so you can get it for 29 dollars.

If you know you're serious about the aquarium hobby, I would bump up to a 40 gallon breeder if money allows. I believe it's $55 dollars during dollar per gallon sale. If you decide to go into high tech planted tanks, a lot of lights are actually only 24'' with expandable legs up to ~34'' with the next step up being 36'' lights. I'd also recommend 40 breeder over 37 since length is typically more important than height when it comes to fish selection.

If you're really serious and want to jump straight into saltwater, I hear a lot of people recommend 55 gallons -- I don't know personally because I only do freshwater. Be aware that saltwater is super expensive.

 

Yes saltwater is super expensive, if you need to go to a 48" length tank skip a 55 for the most part and go straight to a 75 gallon. A 75 gallon is so much more flexible with being 18" wide. I have a 55 and out of my 3 tanks it is the least capable of aquascaping. The other two are 18 and 24" wide and offer so much more creativity for design and setup.

 

The advantage of getting a kit from Petsmart is that they with the stand (they have kits without the stand if you want). Petco does not sell or cannot get the stand for some of the aquariums they sell. I was going to buy a 75 gallon from them but was told that they could not even order the stand for it. Just something to keep in mind. I have 3 kits that I bought from Petsmart with stand. 29, 37, 150. They had glass lid, florescent light, but no heater or filter. The light is not worth keeping, I use all LED. I added the filtration and heaters..

If you go with Petsmart be sure to get the Topfin brand (in house brand) they have a life time warranty, and they really do stand behind the aquariums they sell.

Here are a couple of links about my experience with a 150 that let go after 4 years.

The 150 Just Let Go.

Went To Petsmart Today.

 

But I’d get the biggest tank I could afford because in no time you’ll wish you did.

Hence the reason why I have 3 older, smaller tanks taking up space in my garage!

Hi, I'm sort of new here and have yet to start up a tank. My hope is to get a 29 gallon Aqueon Deluxe starter kit but if that is not a good starter please let me know.
The main reason I am making this post, however, is to ask what type of tank should I create, are community tanks fun or should I go with something like a cichlid tank, and are these good for beginners.
But if you have any stock recommendations or different starter kits or even just separate parts that I would need please let me know!

I'll probably get shot for this, but keeping things simple at first may be a plus, IMO. Some of those all-in-one kits are actually reasonably good. Now, I will say that my own experience with those kits has been mixed. I believe they can be OK, but generally speaking, you get what you pay for. So, IF you buy one, I'd go for an upscaled one like the Aqueon kit you’ve been looking at, or the MarineLand 29 kit, which runs about $140 – 160 at PetSmart. You probably won't need to upgrade much initially with those kits. The biggest plus that I see with those kits is that the included hood is practically guaranteed to fit the tank! LOL.

I’m not telling you to completely ignore the many experienced people who tell you to stay away from those kits. I’m just saying that it’s OK for many people to start out with something simple, complete and ready to go, then upgrade later as you grow into the hobby. I’ve seen people spend tons of cash for great accessories when they haven’t even learned the basics of good water chemistry.

Go freshwater and start out with some very adaptable (and probably cheap) fish that are easy to maintain. Nothing will kill your budding interest in the hobby faster than spending lots of extra time caring for high-maintenance, expensive fish that end up becoming bloated floaters because the pH went up 2/10ths of a percent (OK, that’s dramatic, but you see my point). A good aquarium store employee will tell you all of this, but some just don't care.

The WORST thing I see newbies do is overstock a tank. I had a friend who took his son to the store and bought 8 goldfish to house in a new 10-gallon tank. Luckily, I talked him out of that massacre-in-waiting within a day of purchase and re-homed half of his stock into one of my tanks (4 is still too many goldfish to put in a 10-gallon, but I did what I could). I keep my tanks pretty sparse in terms of stock. I have a 25-gallon that has 4 fish in it. -Much easier to maintain a lightly-stocked aquarium and the fish are less stressed.


Finally, get the biggest tank you can practically afford and maintain. Bigger tanks are less susceptible to temperature and chemistry fluctuations. One sad thing about this hobby is that many beginners buy smaller aquariums, get fed up with fish deaths caused by small tank fluctuations and leave the hobby altogether with a bad taste in their mouths.


Good luck with your purchase. Be careful though. This hobby gets addicting pretty quickly.

 

Maybe try looking for second hand tanks? My 36 gallon bowfront was a hand me down fromy my brother in law, and it was free. He also gave me the stand, the filter, light, decorations and air pump, since he upgraded to a 72 gallon bowfront (that he bought off of craigslist for 80 bucks, with a stand too). I spent 35 bucks on an eheim jager heater and then I had the full set lol. My only advice is to check the tank for leaks before you purchase them second hand, and clean it really well (I use vinegar and then rinse like 10 times, then dry with paper towels.) It also doesn't hurt to have some aquarium safe silicon sealant handy if you buy a leaky tank, since it could be an easy fix. I also have a 30 gallon tank (not in use) that I got for free because I posted on a free cycle Facebook page.