New guy

[JFortner5]

I wanted to stop in and say hello and ask a few questions because I know next to nothing about aquariums. My name is Joey and I live near Birmingham, AL.

I have a 5 year old little boy and yesterday was his birthday party. We had a local pet store do the party and they brought lizards, snakes, a parrot, and a caiman. The party was fun and all the kids enjoyed it. My son also got a Betta as part of the deal. I had goldfish as a kid and had been thinking of buying a smaller aquarium for him for quite a while. Well we got the betta in a tiny little bowl with nothing in it but some rainbow colored rocks on the bottom.

I don't see the fish lasting all that long in such a tiny little boring bowl and kind of feel bad for it. I am thinking of getting a 10-20 gallon tank but I know nothing about what to buy or what I need to go with it.

I'd like to buy the tank for the kids to enjoy but I'd like to have it around as a little hobby too. I don't have a ton of extra money to start off with, I'd like to stay under $100 or so. I am willing to add to that in the future. Truthfully if I could get going for 50-75 that would be great.

Ultimately I'd like to have between 5 and 10 fish and maybe some live plants as well.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joey

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[Rodeo one]

imagejpeg_0.jpg
This is a care sheet from my favorite LFS , the Wet Spot. Hope it shows up?.?.
Good luck with your Betta. You should also read up on Fish in cycling, under Freshwater-Getting Started. It s a sticky under that forum .

 

[tomtom14]

I think a great tank for your kid would be a 5 gallon betta tank. This you could get in your budget. But if you wanted 10 or so fish i think it would be a bit over your budget. Have to say though the more fish the better it looks.

The best option for you would to go to you local fish shop and look for a bundle package. This includes the tank, heater and filter. Then all you need is decorations, gravel, water and the fish.

You could do this for the bigger option as well. Need to tell you put the water and decorations in the tank then wait 4 weeks. Then the water should be safe for the fish. In a 5 gallon you could maybe have the betta and a couple of tetras at a push. Hope this helps.

 

[Rodeo one]

Ok, don t think that worked .... Will try again.

 

[JFortner5]

Well I really don't know what 100 would get me but I'm leaning toward a 10 gall to start off. I'm not necessarily wanting 5 or 10 fish right away but to work my way up to it I guess. I don't have a ton of space so a 10 gal might be my best bet.

Probably the best thing I could do would be to just go to the pet store and look around.

Maybe even walmart?

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[Rodeo one]

Walmarts ok for supplies, but would buy anything alive from a reputable fish store only.