My second tank, but it's been a while.

[smmy195]

Hello everyone. My girlfriend and I are looking into starting our very first tank together (my second). It's been over 2 years since I had one because I enlisted in the Navy and have been too unstable to start one.

We visited the local Pet Smart where we purchase our cat products and did some pricing. We found the following:

• Top Fin 29g tank: $89.99

• hood: $44.99

• marineland filter for up to 50 gallons (I've always believed in getting a filter that's for a slightly bigger tank than what you own): $35.99

• water test kit: $32.99

• aquasafe (to neutralize tap water): $5.00

• top fin airpump: $12.50

I used to frequent a website that had all sorts of stuff and I would price things out before buying it at the local pet shop but like I explained above, it's been a while.

I'm just looking for someone to point me in the right direction as far as how to start all of this.

I believe in cycling the tank before adding fish, btw.

Hope to hear back soon,

Sam

 

[mfdrookie516]

Welcome to AA Sounds like youre off to a good start in the planning stages... i have a few suggestions for you though... First, i always get my tanks from craigslist, i can usually find 55g tanks for around $75 with pretty much everything needed to start out... if you want to buy new, you might check petsmart if you have one because their tanks are usually cheaper than the price you qouted... i prefer glass tops over the plastic hoods, have you looked in to those? also, i would check in to aquaclear filters... they are much better, imo, last longer than the marineland, are quieter, and do a much better job filtering... seachems prime is the best dechlor ive found, and lasts about 5x longer than most others... save your money and ditch the air pump... theyre not needed and are an eye sore, my opinion once again...you should be able to order an API Master FW Test kit for around $20 from most online pet supply places... What fish are you planning on stocking? Sounds like you already know how to cycle the tank, if you have any questions about that, there is a link in my signature explaining the whole process...

 

[smmy195]

Thanks for the quick reply man. I actually looked into craigslist and found some amazing deals on 55g tanks with all the starter stuff but my apartment isn't the biggest right now and my girlfriend and I don't want it taking up 60% of the living room. LOL

For right now we're sticking with the 30g.

My first tank was a 14g hectagon (I still have photos if you're interested). I had some gouramis, 2 plecostamous (spelling?), and some other community fish I cannot remember. This time around I'm interested into the more colorful cichlids. Some tiger barbs, sharks, and the more aggressive species in general.

What online pet shop do you recommend? I've been to half a dozen and I can't find one I like. I don't like the airpump because the line gets nasty and just gets in the way. I'll scrap it this time around.

Aquaclear huh? - I'll look into that.

 

[mfdrookie516]

well your tank is going to be too small for sharks, and aot of the "aggressive" species... 55g is the minimum for most cichlids, some require even larger than that (of course cichlids include a wide variety of fish)... if by sharks you mean bala sharks, they get to be over a foot long... even a 200g tank is small for them. you could probably do some tiger barbs in a 29g, i cant think of any other fish that arent the standard community type fish that you could keep in a 29g, but im sure there are some... you could do some multis, they are cichlids from lake tanganyika... theyre pretty cool fish... as for online pet stores, i havent ordered much, ive only ordered from aquacave... they have good prices.. drs foster and smith and big als seem to be two of the stores highly spoken of around here. You can get alot off ebay and amazon though, you might wanna check on there too... oh and post some pics of the tank you used to have... we love pictures

 

[smmy195]

Hmm. Good info. I would definitely hate to stump any fishes growth by sticking them in a tank too small for them. Thanks for the heads up!

I might just go with some quiet community fish. I had some Gouramis some time ago and they were pretty cool fish. I guess a 30g is small for the nicer (larger) fish. I'll see if my girlfriend will compromise for a larger tank, but I think she'll disagree! LOL

If I do go with the 30g, I'll go with more passive fish.

Here are some photos of my old 14g: