Dog Community

New Fish Tank!

Posted : 4/29/2007 8:10:42 AM

Well,
I've been bugging BF for quite some time about getting a fish tank, and yesterday we finally decided to do so...

We bought a 29 gallon aquarium, as its our first tank, and we did not want to go too large or too small.

We are planning to keep a freshwater tank, saltwater is too much for us, though there are a lot of beautiful saltwater fish, which brings me to one of my first questions...

Are there any pretty freshwater fish? Most of the fish we saw in the pet store were grey, black, etc. (We didn't buy any fish yet, we just bought the whole setup, and are waiting a week for things to stabilize. We also haven't gotten any plants yet!)

We definitely want some algae eaters (bottom dwellers) and I would like ONE goldfish, as I know they are very messy, but will one small goldfish mess up the ammnoia levels for everyone else?

I would also like one or two small angel fish, but will they get too aggressive in the future?

BF wants a freshwater shark, at the store they had tricolor sharks... any other suggestions as far as freshwater sharks go?

Please, recommend some fish!

We have 29 gallons to work with, and I know the rule of thumb is one inch per fish, so we are looking at possibly 10-15 med fish. We will probably not go over ten, and we know to introduce only four at a time to the new tank.

We have the temp set to 79. I had read 73-85, so I think 79 is ok, but correct me if I'm wrong.

We have two 30 gallon filters on it, in order go keep the tank well cleaned. In addition, we plan to do a half of the water switch every two weeks or so.

We have bought a water testing kit, have added Cycle to the water, and another tetra brand water stabilizer that came with our "kit".

I think that about covers it...

Ill post some pics up later...

Please feel free to put up pics of your set up, make any suggestions, correct me if Im misinformed, etc.

Lets talk fish!

Mark

Posted : 4/29/2007 8:14:03 AM

Not fish related but,if you have a garden or flower bed,the old tank water makes GREAT food for your plants.We put ours on our roses every year and they are REALLY healthy.

Xebby

Posted : 4/29/2007 9:31:26 AM

There is a fish.com forum as well, it's run by the same people that run our very own dog.com. Also fish.com started selling live fish! I don't know a whole lot about fish because I'm still learning myself but if you head on over to www.forum.fish.com I'm sure there will be a few people that who would love to help you.

jjsmom06

Posted : 4/29/2007 9:48:09 AM

It has been about 7 years since my last tank so I can't remember temp and such but cycle is outstanding and a must.. personally I wouldn't go for a goldfish, but that is just me. i personally feel there are MUCH more beautiful fish out there and since you are limited in term sof space and not wanting overcrowding I wouldn't get one unless you guys have your heart set on one...

I can't remember all the fish I had buit here are a few of my favorites....
gouramies:
http://users.bigpond.net.au/aquaone/Pictures/Fish/gouramies.jpg

http://www.fishdeals.com/anabantids/gourami/opaline_three_spot_gourami/three_spot_gourami.jpg

bala sharks- they don't look like much here but they actually are very beautiful and I use to love to watch them swin.. mine got HUGE! Bert and Ernie were my favorite fish and were calm and gentle.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/richards/bala.jpeg

Blue lobsters- really cool looking, but I brought mine back because he was harrassing all the other fish at night just as soon as I would turn off the aquarium light.. he would go hunting.. but if your tank is big enough you will prolly be fine..
rev=/images%3Fq%3Dblue%2Blobsters%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US

fficial%26sa%3DG>http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tropicalfishintl.com/images/enlarge/Lobster/blue%2520maroon%2520lobster.jpg&imgrefurl=http://scottbarnum.stumbleupon.com/&h=525&w=700&sz=62&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=TR6f2y-A1tcokM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=140&

rev=/images%3Fq%3Dblue%2Blobsters%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US

fficial%26sa%3DG

I really like tetras too because I think it looks neat having a schooling set of fish too...

I have to say that i NEVER had luck having more than 1 angel fish. They seemed very territorial and one would always attack the either. They would literally rip their beautiful flowing fins apart, the fish would get sick and would die. SO I learned my lesson and only had 1. Perhaps if the tank is really large it might be OK.. just never worked for me and our 40 gallon one.

My very best bottom feeder was my plecostumus named hoover.. he did a great job at keeping the tank clean (I still did monthly vaccuming, etc..)
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0XQAAACkhnffPy6s*CYnmytE6CEwpl5Aeem0EFNd*p1JWz3WCjV*kY4XtjmjNZqLG4MjmA4ya8vh6STqZ2Ro8vpyGXZcf*f1mJqgU1Xf2lMAmPeQ7tqm76Wap0fHElZvvTHIkkNRKRKg/Common-Pleco-(Hypostumus-plecostumus).jpg

meilani

Posted : 4/29/2007 11:48:32 AM

I would say some of the most beautiful freshwater fish to have would be Neon Tetras, Cardinal Tetras and Guppies(especially the males). I have a 55 gallon tank and the Guppies are the prettiest ones in there. The thing with Guppies is they breed like crazy, and this is the first time in my life I've ever had fish reproduce for me, but they've produced some beautiful young'uns.

Here's my Guppies...

And here's a pic of Neon and Cardinal Tetras I took at the Shedd Aquarium...

ColorCodingDots

Posted : 4/29/2007 12:01:13 PM

My absolute favorite freshwater fish are the dwarf gouramis, the males are fantastically gorgeous; just google them. =]

I wasn#%92t able to convince my parents to let me get a large enough tank (29 gallons is plenty, but I have a 10) so I have three platys instead, and I think that they are really pretty as well. They're pretty small fish, though. (I also have a shrimp!)

Forgive the green-ness of the pictures; my tank isn#%92t that bad. =P My sister#%92s camera doesn#%92t like glass.

Not a photo, but it actually shoes some of the colors that are really in the fish. (They have brigher red than this. =P They're just... allusive about being seen by the public.)

Most people I#%92ve heard from who are into fish say that one goldfish living alone needs a minimum of 30 gallons because of the amount of ammonia that they produce, but I also have heard that if have super-great filtration and loads of bubbles, you can go slightly above that. Keep in mind the adult size of the fish, too, not just the size they are when you get them, because they will grow. (I'm sure you knew this, but I had kinda half-forgotten until I read it in a book. =P)

Also, about water changes, I#%92ve heard that a smaller change every week (like, 10-25%) is better than a large one less often because it has less impact on the good bacteria in your filters. I think it#%92s also less stressful for the fish.