Whats right for me??

[Sean13]

Hi I'm 14 and have always love animals and fish. I want to by myself and some from birthday gifts a tank with some neccesary supplies. It would be a freshwater cause I'm not ready to do a salt water. So here are some of my questions!
1. I don't want anything overwelming so what would be a good sized tank?
2. If I had a 30 gallon how many fish could I have?
3. What other things do I need to keep my fish healthy?
4. What are some cool looking fish that do ok in big groups?
5. What would it cost for a freshwater set up if I bought new compared to used?

Any other tips or things I should know would be great! Also feel free to PM me!

 

[BettaGal]

A 30 gallon would be great. Used will always be cheaper than new, but you would also have to consider what the used tank was housing. Was the seller keeping fish or turtles or I've even read rats on one. Depending on what it was used for, you may have to seriously clean it and sterilize it, then would have to make sure all chemicals used were out before setting it up. If you wanna start new, the cheapest would be Petco at about 1 dollar a gallon. You would also have to get the substrate and decor for it. Live plants will help your tank, but you would have to make sure they were true aquatic plants, as a lot of stores will sell others that will rot in the tank and in turn will ruin the water. You would need a test kit and here most recommended it API master. I'm not real good with recommending fish for you, though.

 

[Sean13]

What would be a total cost for everything at the end of the set up please fish and everything around?

 

[Hholly]

It's great that you are doing your research ahead of time! Here's a great article to get you started

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium/

 

[Sean13]

Thanks! I dont wanna get everything ready then not do it right and my fissh end up dieing right away.

 

[Hholly]

Thanks! I dont wanna get everything ready then not do it right and my fissh end up dieing right away.

That's a great attitude! Just a word of warning, if you ask people at the pet store advice, beware. Sometimes you get good advice. But more often than not its bad advice. If they start saying you need several chemicals to use in your aquarium, they're usually wrong. No one can really tell you how much your setup will cost because it's so variable, depending on several factors. But for a brand new 30 gallon setup, I would expect it to cost between $250-300, without fish. If you look on Craigslist.org you can find good deals on used setups. Just make sure the tank is in good shape and holds water.

 

[BettaGal]

You'll want hardy fish to start with, since your levels of waste products will fluctuate. What kind of substrate did you want?

 

[Sean13]

I have no idea what substrate means... Sorry!

 

[CharlieKlein]

Hi! I am 14 as well and am cycling my tank. Here is the cost if everything I have bought
37 gallon marineland led kit(contains tank, filter, heater, lights, and good)---$135--

Black pine stand------------$120-------------

Caribasea naturals substrate, black 30 lbs --$30-

Decor(2 lava rocks,3 cichlid stones, 2 pieces of driftwood, a flower pot, and a couple of fake plants-------------$40-----------

Air pump and stone---$25---

API test kit--$25--
API chemicals(stress coat and Zyme)--$10--

I spent about $380 and counting. I you are looking into a tank for your first one, I'd reccomnend the marineland biowheel kit. Comes with everything you need, excpet for a a few things. It doesn't have very strong lights but they have a cool moon blue setting for night which I like because it is in my room. I'd say the smallest I'd go with is the 29 as it is a decent sized so you can have good stock!
As far as fish. I'd first suggust you go to google and search-------aquarium store near(your location)----- give a couple of them a call and Mabye head out there to see what they've got. I was planning to buy from petsmart but found this store that I now have $115 in gift cards too. The local stores have much better selection and healthie fish.
A cool stok for a 29 is
2 German blue rams
8 neon tetras
6 cory catfish
1 dwarf gourami
6 harqualin rasboras
Hope this helps

 

[Hholly]

I have no idea what substrate means... Sorry!

Please read the articles!

 

[Zimmanski]

Don't want to quote all of Charlie's post haha


I have spent a toooooon of money on my tanks, so I know it's easy to get carried away, but I also know that I have a small tank that I've done dirt cheap. You can get a 29g for $29 and put it on a dresser, spend $30 on a good filter,$35 on sand/gravel/decorations, hood and lights for about $25, and $15 on chemicals, then fish can be as cheap as $20 depending on what you want. Total $155, and that can easily be spread out since while you're cycling your tank for 1-2 months all you'd need for that time is chemicals, filter and tank

Edit: oh and you shouldn't do rams for at least 6 months after your tank is cycled.

 

[Sean13]

Thanks everyone this helps a lot!