Pet fish...or w/e you call them...

[cvec7]

Would that be your LAS?

Lol.

Anyway, I got ahold of the 'las' and they only do the big stuff, but they do have some fish. Anyway, they were saying that I should get the tank first, and let it filter for 2 weeks....lol, by then, I won't even want fish. But can't I just buy some water conditioner chemical or something so I can put the fish in right away?
And, would I have any problems w/ a beta and algae eater in the same tank?
And, a male and female beta in the same tank are fine right?

 

[vbgagnon]

Out west we had a kick ass place that had salt water already mixed. All you had to do was pour it in all the levels were set. They had fish ranging from $1-$1,000+ Nice place!

 

[vgibbens]

cvec, it's a little more complicated than just letting it sit for a few weeks or letting algae build up. You need an ammonia source to jumpstart the biological filtration. There are several types of bacteria that keep the animal waste in check. One type consumes ammonia (fish pee) and creates nitrites. Another bacteria consumes the nitrites and creates nitrates. Nitrates are the least toxic to the fish, but at high levels can cause problems. also, high nitrates will cause excessive algae along with other things such as phosphates and silicates. To answer your question, yes, there is a chemical called Cycle that will add the bacteria to the water so you can add a fish right away. Another way to do it would be to setup your tank and drop in a cocktail shrimp. Wait about 4 days and pull it out. Wait another couple of weeks and the nitrogen cycle should be complete the natural way. Here is a good aquarium website www.wetwebmedia.com

 

[.30savage]

i never knew that about nitrates till one of my tea cup stingrays died,i took a sample of my water to the pet store and that's what they told me that me nitrates were way to high,most likely from feeding them to much.i was only droping in cube of blood worms or some time brine shrimp.

 

[Tarant]

Forget fish,

you have to worry about all kinds of stuff, and for some reason watching a fish swim isnt all that interesting IMO. Get a pet you can hold, watch it hunt, a pet that will reach a leg span of 13in,a pet that can live for upto 25 years, a pet that can go a year and a half with out feeding,a pet that only needs a little bit of water, a piece of wood and peat moss, and bugs or gecos or goldfish or frogs for feeding.

You need a Tarantula, they come in tons of colors, size's, some have a 13in leg span and some have only a 3in legspan, a 10 gallon tank will hold almost all kinds of Tarantulas and for the bigger ones a 20 gallon is what you need.

i had fish but after the cats tried to eat them and they died cause i put another fish in to it and it was sick or somthing and killed them all. but I have had Tarantulas for 5years

 

[vgibbens]

blood worms will do it. I'd stay away from brine shrimp, it's kinda like you trying to live on popcorn. Unless, it's baby brine shrimp, but they're so small they're for baby fish.

 

[JESSE G]

We have a 25 gallon tank with about 8 differnet kind of fish in it all fresh water. I couldnt tell you what they are we just went and picked cool looking ones and got them lol. My dad just gave me a really cool 30 gallon hexagon tank. I have been buying all of the ornaments on ebay. Unfortunatly we won 8 different decos and the seller sent them wraped in really thin styrophome (sp?) paper, Needless to say all of them broke. After a long argument with them my wife was able to get half the money back minus the moneu they charged us for the envelope and stamp lmfao!! SOme people :shrug:. I love my fish they really help me relax just watching them

 

[Error401]

I just had my pirahna that I had for 3 years die. Now I just have a empty aquarium that I let my mom use to grow plants in last spring..lol.

I had one for about 10 years. One day the heater came on and didn't go off. poopy way to die if you ask me.

 

[olds97_lss]

A good rule of thumb on how many fish per gallon is 1" of fish (measurement from nose to tail) for each gallon of water. With smaller fish that don't grow/eat/crap much, (like tetra's), you can up the count a bit.

A tetra is around 1/2 inch to an inch long, so you could get by with 16 or so without ending up with a really messy tank in a 12 gallon tank.

I wouldn't go any smaller than a 20 gallon actually. The smaller the tank, the harder they are to keep clean. A larger tank with a gravel filter and a waterfall (back of tank) filter keeps itself pretty clean.

I have a 55gallon tall tank with about 40" of fish cumulatively. It has a full under gravel and a whisper hanging filter. I clean the filter about once every 6 months and do a half water change about every 6 weeks. Other than that, I put food into it and make sure the aerators (bubble things) don't clog up.

 

[jetmechG550]

What is a (Na)? H20.

Sorry it's aquarium geek for Saltwater tank, used on reef forums.

cvec, it's a little more complicated than just letting it sit for a few weeks or letting algae build up. You need an ammonia source to jumpstart the biological filtration. There are several types of bacteria that keep the animal waste in check. One type consumes ammonia (fish pee) and creates nitrites. Another bacteria consumes the nitrites and creates nitrates. Nitrates are the least toxic to the fish, but at high levels can cause problems. also, high nitrates will cause excessive algae along with other things such as phosphates and silicates. To answer your question, yes, there is a chemical called Cycle that will add the bacteria to the water so you can add a fish right away. Another way to do it would be to setup your tank and drop in a cocktail shrimp. Wait about 4 days and pull it out. Wait another couple of weeks and the nitrogen cycle should be complete the natural way. Here is a good aquarium website www.wetwebmedia.com

I think he's going to do freshwater.

Would that be your LAS?

It's LFS = Local Fish Store

 

[Bouzouki]

Attachments

 

[Bouzouki]

More pics

30 Gallon Reef (Moving to a 90G reef soon)

175W Metal Halide 10K
2x 96W Power Compacts 10K/Atinic

Skimmer
50 LBS. Live rock
Live sand, Shallow sand bed
2x Maxi jets for water movment
Many corals, few fish.

Amonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0


I dose calcium, magnisium, iodine, kalkwater, stronium, Oceanic salt with 0 TDS RO/DI water only!!!, i'm sure i'm forgeting a lot.

I love this hobby, pricey though.

 

[cvec7]

Ya, I've always thought it'd be real nice to have one of those big cabinet type fish tanks...unfortunately, I wasn't willing to spend that much, and I couldn't get my parents interested enough to buy one....
I think I still am going to get into fish, but not real soon at least, the money I do have I need for rc, and the money I'd be willing to spend on it now wouldn't get me anything I'd enjoy. But I probably will this winter when I'm bored and rc has died down a bit...
But I really appreciate your all's input and advice, I really learned a lot.

So far, this is what I'd like to go w/ once I do get into it:
12-20 gallon tank w/ power filter, and under gravel filter
Fish: Tetras, an algae eater, bala sharks, glass catfish, celebese rainbows. I figure since they're small fish in a 12 gallon tank (I'll most likely go w/ a 12 gallon one) I could have 16, or maybe have 3-4 of each. Also, would adding some small snails be a good idea?

And, what kind of chemicals and stuff would I need to buy for first starting out? And how much would the chemicals cost total?

 

[vgibbens]

cvec, I would steer clear of the under gravel filter and just vacuum the bottom at least once a month. Too much crap gets trapped under the grates that you can't get to and causes high nitrates. They used to be really popular, but aren't used so much anymore. A good HOB (hang on the back) filter is all you'd really need. Airstones are also good for adding water movement or to power some decorations. Also, I would pass on the Bala shark until you had a bigger aquarium. They should reach 10" and like to be in groups of at least 3. Remember, fish grow. Some may only grow to their surroundings, but too many fish especially in a small tank is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[cvec7]

Ya, I just read an article on how almost every fish I picked was a bad beginner fish...bala's for size, tetras for acidic water requirements, glass catfish (forgot why they were bad..)...

But barbs were said to be good beginner fish, and I've seen some cool looking barbs too, especially the gold barbs. So, I may end up getting 2 dwarf plecos, some barbs, and maybe some danios and rasboras if I see any I like...

 

[Bouzouki]

Cvec, I would start with a 20G if you want to do freshwater, you will quickly find out 10G is too small.

Run a hang on back filter, somthing like an Aqua Clear, get a bigger filter for your tank, EX. If you ran a 20G, get a filter rated for a 30G.

Run Carbon and a sponge, maybe amonia remover and replace them montly.

You wont need to worry about nitrate in freshwater since it only affects saltwater corals etc.

No under gravel filter.

Use crushed coral as substrate, dont use too much. I believe this will help maintain your PH which should be around 7.2 for fresh.

Do monthly water changes, clean the substrate while you do water changes, 20% water changes is a good ammount.

You should start with Chicalds, they are agreesive fish but probably the best freshwaterr fish imo.

Convicts are GREAT starter fish, very hardy, so are Jack's.

Stay away from Oscars, they get big.

I wouldn't dose any chemicals in your tank, maybe chlorine remover for your tap water.

Dont over feed, once a day...

Feel free to PM me with any questions, I have years of Salt and Fresh water experiance.

EDIT: I forgot, to anyone starting any type of fish tank, you must let it cycle first.

A test kit is a must.

Let the tank cycle for a few weeks until the Amonia and Nitrite are zero or very close to zero.

After you can start putting fish in, make sure you aclimate them, don't just dump them in.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

I hate to steer this thread off the road, but i have a question about fish...

Ok, I have 2 very large goldfish (about 12in and 7 in). I change the water once a week, but all of the extra food and stuff settles to the bottom in the rocks. I bought some new gravel, and plants from petco, and was wondering if i could change all of that while the fish are in the tank? And, how do i clean the bottom of the tank when gravel is in there? Is there some sort of water vacuum or something? Help would be appreciated. I dont wanna kill em.

 

[vgibbens]

yes, buy a gravel vac from your LFS or Petco. Use this to do your water changes. A handy unit, if you have decent tap water, is a Python. It has a gravel vac and a 15' hose that can attach to your faucet with an adapter. You can start the syphon with it to suck the crap out of the gravel and use it to fill the tank back up.

Bouzouki, I disagree with your statement about nitrates and Cichlids. Nitrates will affect freshwater inverts just the same as marine inverts and will cause algae just the same. Nitrates are plant food, no way around it. Some Cichlids have specific pH and alkalinity needs that other fish don't like. I'm not a big freshwater guy, so to come up with a list of beginner fish would be too difficult. Salt is another matter. Having both fresh and marine tanks at home and at work, I don't think marine tanks are any more difficult than fresh.

Cvec, you could start with a 20 gallon marine tank with a bag of bacterially live sand and some base rock, a hang on the back filter and a pair of clowfish or some other type of Damsels for relatively cheap. You DON'T need special lights unless you plan on having corals or anemones, a simple flourescent light strip would suffice.

 

[cvec7]

Ya, I wouldn't mind getting a salt water tank, but I think it might be too much work, I want something that I don't have to maintain much once I get it going. I just think that freshwater would be easier, and more readily available to get supplies for.......However....My dad did have a saltwater tank set-up, and he'd be able to help me out w/ that... I dunno....I'll have to go down to the LFS some day and see what all they have and such...

 

[Bouzouki]

I hate to steer this thread off the road, but i have a question about fish...

Ok, I have 2 very large goldfish (about 12in and 7 in). I change the water once a week, but all of the extra food and stuff settles to the bottom in the rocks. I bought some new gravel, and plants from petco, and was wondering if i could change all of that while the fish are in the tank? And, how do i clean the bottom of the tank when gravel is in there? Is there some sort of water vacuum or something? Help would be appreciated. I dont wanna kill em.

http://petco.com/Productlisting.asp...16&ct2=Gravel+Cleaners+&+Vacuums&Dept_ID=1116

You clean your gravel with that,

Bouzouki, I disagree with your statement about nitrates and Cichlids. Nitrates will affect freshwater inverts just the same as marine inverts and will cause algae just the same. Nitrates are plant food, no way around it. Some Cichlids have specific pH and alkalinity needs that other fish don't like. I'm not a big freshwater guy, so to come up with a list of beginner fish would be too difficult. Salt is another matter. Having both fresh and marine tanks at home and at work, I don't think marine tanks are any more difficult than fresh.

I never said Nitrates wont effect Inverts, he never said anything about inverts, only fish.

They wont effect his fish in anyway.

Yes, it will cause algae to grow but that is if your nitrates are very high,

THe point i'm trying to make is, in a salt water reef tanks, everything has to read zero, in freshwater, it doesn't matter if you have low nitrate readings, he wont have to worry about them nearly as much.

In saltwater FOWLR tanks, people use Wet drys, Canister filters, etc, these are Nitrate factories, they use them because 1. they brake down Amonia and Nitrite, and 2. because even though they can't brake down nitrate, it wont effect their fish anyways.

In Reef tanks, you run no canaster filters, no HOB filters, nothing that traps debris, all you really need is live rock which is the natual way of braking down nitrates and a skimmer.


PH should be around 7.2 for Chicalds, I may be wrong, its been a while since I did fresh.

You may be able to compare freshwater and FOWLR saltwater but when it comes to reef tanks, there is no comparision.

Try maintaining all of these.

Temp: 26-29º C (78-85º F)
Salinity: 35ppm
pH: 7.9 - 8.3
Calcium: ~ 380-400ppm
Alkalinity: ~6 - 9dKH
Magnesium: ~1200
PO4: <0.015 mg/l
NO3: <0.5 mg/l

Metal Halide, Skimmers, water movment pumps, sumps, live rock (2 pounds per gallon) RO/DI tap water filters