I have $75 bucks, and I want a couple of fish

[nickstanley995]

AZ, I'm totally with you on the size. I think 20 gallon is as small as anyone should go to start.

Well that all depends on what you want. If you want a betta you could easily do a ten gallon. Depending on what op would want 20g ir bihger could be a waste of money if he is on a low budget. Five or so guppies would do fine in a ten gallon if you did male only. But I agree with u basking for demensions on craiglist. In canada we have a thing called kijiji (craiglist with a different name) I bought a 35g for 30 $. I know its not that big of a difference but turned out to be a 40g tank. So I got the positive side of that deal

 

[fijiwigi]

My girlfriend came home a while back with 2 goldfish from walmart and a bowl for her daughter. I was like aaaggghhhh. So $200 bucks later they were happy fish in a 40g tank that my buddy now has in his livingroom LOL.

$75 bucks is do-able unless your a fish nerd like most of us on this site.

 

[Manic Fury]

I bought a 10 gallon tank with hood light from Petsmart for $30. Heck of a deal for a starter tank.

I then bought a Tetra EX 45 filter for it (which is overkill but I have a 30 gallon that I'm going to set up in the future that I could use it for) which cost about $32.

You wouldn't need to buy this, you could go with a smaller model for cheaper for like $20-25.

Then you have about $20 to spend on food, test kit and of course fish.

 

[sixtyfou]

I think this begs the interesting question. What was your first fish? I'll start a new thread for that one.

 

[Manic Fury]

I think this begs the interesting question. What was your first fish? I'll start a new thread for that one.

Yeah. It seems you have the tank situation figured out. Now it's fish decision time.

Good luck!

 

[sixtyfou]

I just discovered my local fish club. That's a great resource for beginners. Those folks are getting rid of all kinds of stuff for cheap. It's high end stuff.

 

[Masha]

Joining late in the conversation.

Do you think it's worth including advice on "attitude" or "what to expect"?

Seems to me many beginner problems come from simply having the wrong expectations. That you can have instant results, that tanks require no maintenance. Sort of like those fish-tank screensavers.

"The more patient you are, the more success you'll have."
"Aim to create a stable environment for your fish, dont keep changing stuff"
"Let the natural processes work for you, instead of trying to force things"

That kind of thing.

 

[sixtyfou]

I think all that is worth saying, but don't expect much of it to be heard. I tried to throw out some really basic sound advice two days ago and was totally ignored, and mocked. My father even got in on the act saying, "Troy only you would get so worked up about fish." I thought I was trying to keep the directions simple using some of the points we came up with in this thread. I didn't even start talking about testing, or type of fish.

 

[Masha]

I think all that is worth saying, but don't expect much of it to be heard. I tried to throw out some really basic sound advice two days ago and was totally ignored, and mocked. My father even got in on the act saying, "Troy only you would get so worked up about fish." I thought I was trying to keep the directions simple using some of the points we came up with in this thread. I didn't even start talking about testing, or type of fish.

Sad but true...

 

[nickstanley995]

Joining late in the conversation.

Do you think it's worth including advice on "attitude" or "what to expect"?

Seems to me many beginner problems come from simply having the wrong expectations. That you can have instant results, that tanks require no maintenance. Sort of like those fish-tank screensavers.

"The more patient you are, the more success you'll have."
"Aim to create a stable environment for your fish, dont keep changing stuff"
"Let the natural processes work for you, instead of trying to force things"

That kind of thing.

I agrre with that. As I am guilty with my first tank of being in a giant rush and doing stuff too soon. So now I slowly collected overtime all the stuff I needed for my last tank. Yes the wait is hard and sometimes you want to rush but the long wait has so many more benefits. Your tank looks nicer, your fish are healthier and happy, and the feeling you get when it is done!

 

[sixtyfou]

It's so hard to be patient. I wanted to do everything all and once, and I knew that was wrong, but I rushed a lot of stuff anyway. That's how I ended up with three tanks in less than a month I'm thinking about picking up a four this weekend.

 

[nickstanley995]

It's so hard to be patient. I wanted to do everything all and once, and I knew that was wrong, but I rushed a lot of stuff anyway. That's how I ended up with three tanks in less than a month I'm thinking about picking up a four this weekend.

Lol I have two tanks running and an empty one waiting for funds to be started up hahaha

 

[sixtyfou]

A friend of mine has a 75G he said he would give me when I came home for Thanksgiving. I totally don't need it, but that won't stop me

 

[nickstanley995]

Hahaha I wish my biggest right now is 40g always wanted a bigger one