New hobbyist questions

I have tried starting a fish tank before, but it was years ago. I am interested in trying again and have some questions:

1) I find the small danio-style fish kind of boring (sorry danio fans!). If I want to have a more interesting fish, can I do this with a 20g? 30g? Ideally I want a tank with a Convict Cichlid someday.. and some schooling fish.. and maybe a little minI lobster I saw on Live Aquaria. I know that Convicts require bigger tanks, and they are semi-aggressive.. so I know this won't be on my first tank.

2) When it says a fish likes a well planted tank, does this mean live plants? Or would fake plants be ok?

My goal is to have as little maintenance as possible, so I want to go freshwater and non-planted. Any suggestions would be helpful as I'm just starting up my research.

Thanks!

 

As far as the as little maint as possible goes, sometimes the live tanks make that even easier. My 20gal has fake plants where my 75 has live. The live cost more and I opted to go with higher lighting and yes that cost more as well however, the maint now that they are setup that tank merely requires water addition and a little water removal periocially where as the 20 requires gravel vacs and water changes on a semI regular basis.

As far as planted go it seems to be more of cover in the tank than anything so some good fake plants can be fine as well.

 

HI there, Glad to hear you're back in the aquarium hobby after a few years away!
In terms of stock, there are quite a few choices for a 20-30g tank that don't include small danios and other community fish.
You could try a pair of keyhole cichlids if you get a 30 gallon tank. They stay fairly small and have personality that a lot of smaller community fish don't. They're not too common in big box stores, but any good local fish store should stock them or be willing to special order them for you.
Also, If you haven't done so already, please read up on the aquarium nitrogen cycle before purchasing any fish for your tank. There's a few great articles that help explain it on the main fishlore site. If you have any question don't hesitate to ask. Good luck!

 

Welcome!

First I would read up on the nitrogen cycle if you havent. It is the single most important thing to fish keeping.

Real plants have more benefit in the long run IME. In the beginning, you'll need to shell out money but the live plants have many benefits fake plants dont. But to answer your question, fake plants are perfectly fine as long as they are aquarium safe.

 

Welcome to Fishlore and have fun setting up your tank. Everybody usally start with one tank and they get the Tropical Bug and the next thing you know another tank and almost always bigger. Its habit forming. Good Luck