Choosing a new tank

[Mikeski]

Which one of these tanks would you recommend for a beginner such as myself?

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...ast_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1083261648706 http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441778278&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030099&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1083261919282

 

[BrianNY]

Anyone should go with the largest tank they can afford

 

[Menagerie]

Ack! The links are not working and I cannot cut and paste on this computer :?
Mikeski, what type of fish do you want to put in the tank?
Big tanks do allow for more error. Hmmm, I guess bigger is better

 

[Endgame319]

I prefer all glass tanks to the acrylic/plastic ones. They are cheaper too. And definitely go as big as you can.

 

[smilla4]

I see you're talking about the seaclear 10 acrylic kit and the eclipse system 12 (for those who can't follow the links).

What is it that you would like to do? Are there certain fish you wish to keep? Do you want to grow plants?

 

[Mikeski]

i dont really want any specific fish, possibly goldfish, small schooling fish or bala sharks if the tank is not to small. I want to keep the size down since it will be in a dorm room and since it will have to be moved twice a year.
Also, in reguard to those two tanks. I was wondering if the filtration that comes with them is good or not and if i will have to buy other filtration systems. thanks

 

[Mikeski]

basically whitch tank do you think is better, or if there is a similar tank that u would recommend

 

[smilla4]

Being relatively new to the hobby I can only tell you what guidelines I've learned along the way.

+ 8-10 gallons of water per goldfish because they produce lots of waste. So you can only have one in those tanks you were looking at.

+ 1 inch of slimbodied fish per gallon of water. I guess you can count a cardinal tetra as a slimbodied fish. Since they max out at two inches, that would be 5-6 cardinals in those tanks. And nothing else. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=895

Bala Sharks get to be way too big - up to 10" in size. You will have to get a much larger tank for them.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=1177

By the way this is a very frustrating and expensive hobby. For starters you may want to check out fins.actwin.com FAQs to kinda get an idea of things.

I can't tell you which tank is better. I know nothing about the seaclear. I have the eclipse system 12. It's been running for approx 1 year. Fishwise it's fine. Plantwise it's not great. Acrylic scratches easily. There's also the (JBJ?) nano tank that's 12 gallons. It's glass - I'm not saying it's better, but that it exists. I'm kinda curious about it myself. Perhaps I would have liked it better than the eclipse, or perhaps I would still be cursing myself. If you get any of these tanks and have tropical fish you will also want to buy a good heater (ebo jager and visitherm seem to be popular choices here). I'm kinda frustrated about how things are going now, so I apologize if I seem rather brusque.

I think there are threads on this tank in the board that you might be able to find. You can also look up ideas for ten gallon communities - there have been threads on that as well (I find it easier to search this site via google BTW, since phrases don't seem to work here, at least not for me (I think that's a phpBB thing).)

 

[breadlowry]

Big dude. really big. you knw what, why don't you just seal your room off and make it an aquarium, hell yeah.

 

[patryuji]

I don't know much about goldfish but from what I have read most will be 6" or larger at adult size (many around 10"???). With that being the case a 10 or 12 gallon tank would be quite cramped quarters for a goldfish.

Small schooling fish is a good idea.

An interesting tank would be a "shell dwelling cichlid" tank. I believe you could have a male and 3 or so females in a 10gallon tank.

You could also have a couple of blue rams or bolivian rams (quite colorful small cichlids) in a 10Gallon tank. Just make sure the tank is fully cycled BEFORE you put any rams in it.

 

[jaysono]

I'd go with the Eclipse 12. Anytime you can have more water means moe goodies for you, plus the benefit of stable water. Although there is not much of a difference between 10 & 12, theoretically. the 12 would stabilize better in the long run.

12 gal vs 10 gal also allows for 2" more of live fish over the 10 gal.

Lastly, the Bio Wheel in the Eclipse 12 is, according to all the research I have done, a very good filtration system for beginners and it's tucked up nice and neat in the canopy of the Eclipse system.

 

[sofia]

Always choose the larger aquarium. In my opinion the eclipse tanks are far too expensive & not very big. I found a 5 gallon eclipse tank with the hood & working light on a junkyard. It now houses a betta & some frogs When I went to lfs It was $100 I was like WOAH. lol although it had a filter. You could fit only one goldfish in that 12 gallon & it's also too small for a school of bala sharks. I started out with a 10 gallon & I wish I started out with something bigger. Anyways call up many stores & ask about prices.

Here's an example of a setup:
10 gallon glass tank - $10
hood with lights - $30
aquaclear filter - $20
heater - $10 - $35
vacuum - $10
gravel + decors - depends

the expensive eclipse tank doesn't include all of this does it?

also if you remove the "url" in the beginning of the link it will work