Hi! Newbie looking for advice.

[Shanny]

Yay! I finally got my first tank!

Hi everyone. I'm Shanny. I'm a married woman in my thirties. I live in Alberta, Canada.

So for as long as I can remember I have always wanted an Aquarium. My wonderful Husband bought one for me for Valentines this year. So now I get to set it up and start learning.

It is a 37 gallon tank. 20" wide x 18" deep x 24" high. So like a tall rectangle. It sits on a bookshelf-like stand. I can send pics if anyone wants to see.

I am looking for advice on what type/size filter, aerator and heater to get. I want to start with an easy to keep community tank. So I'm also looking for advice on hardy freshwaters and what are good combinations. Also how many fish should I have?

As you can tell I am totally green and would great appreciate any and all advice!

Thanks so much for reading my message!

Shanny

 

[FishEggs]

hello and welcome to AA

 

[Shanny]

Hi FishEggs! Thanks for the welcome. This seems like a great forum with lots of friendly people.

 

[Shanny]

This is my tank

Here is a pic of my new tank. I'm thinking of starting off simple with a Auqaclear Power Filter 50, Aquaclear Air Pump 50 with four 1" cylinder airstones and a 150 watt Elite Submersible Pre-Set Heater.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Welcome to AA!
Are you aware of cycling?
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...-to-Starting-a-Freshwater-Aquarium/Page1.html

 

[Shanny]

Hi Mumma.of.two! Thanks for the welcome!

I have read a couple blogs and watched a couple of videos about it. I didn't know about it before that though. I think I'm going to try it with Zebra Danios. Just not sure how many to get for my size of tank. I will keep them in the tank after cycling as I don't have another tank to transfer them to.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

The article above will explain the two options you have. Fishless or fish in cycling. Adding danios will be a fish in cycle, which is perfectly fine, but can be a bit of work in the first few months with daily water changes to keep the fish safe.

 

[Shanny]

That is an awesome article! Thanks for sharing it. I am going to do a fishless cycle. I don't want to torture any little fishies!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Fish in cycling won't torture any fish if done correctly. Fishless is a good choice for a beginner. It will give you time to research fish (and plants if you choose) while you wait for the tank to cycle.

 

[Jenn27]

Welcome! I am new to here, as well, but not to the wonderful world of fish keeping. Do you have a test kit? If not, the API Master Test kit is the best. It's what I use, and it is super easy to use! It's about $25 on Amazon and will last a long time! You will need a good liquid test kit to cycle your new tank. Test strips, IMO, don't really work well.

*Hope I didn't step on any toes here....since I am new to this site. lol

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[Shanny]

Welcome! I am new to here, as well, but not to the wonderful world of fish keeping. Do you have a test kit? If not, the API Master Test kit is the best. It's what I use, and it is super easy to use! It's about $25 on Amazon and will last a long time! You will need a good liquid test kit to cycle your new tank. Test strips, IMO, don't really work well.

*Hope I didn't step on any toes here....since I am new to this site. lol

Thanks for the advice Jenn27! That is the one on my list so I'm glad to hear that it is the right choice.

 

[Shanny]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

Thanks for the welcome! I'm looking forward to learning and growing here!

 

[redsea]

Hi Shanny, welcome to the fun fishy world!

 

[Jenn27]

Thanks for the advice Jenn27! That is the one on my list so I'm glad to hear that it is the right choice.

Great! Sounds like you are on the right track then.

 

[debisbooked]

That is a very unusual tank Shanny-nice! You have a very thoughtful husband.

I'm sure you will get a lot of good advice on this forum. I would suggest looking into adding plants, by starting with low light, low maintenance plants, such as jave fern, jave moss, anubias, and Cryptocoryne for starters. IMHO, fish feel more comfortable around plants plus the plants help keep the tank healthy.

 

[Shanny]

Hi Shanny, welcome to the fun fishy world!

Thanks redsea!

 

[Shanny]

That is a very unusual tank Shanny-nice! You have a very thoughtful husband.

I'm sure you will get a lot of good advice on this forum. I would suggest looking into adding plants, by starting with low light, low maintenance plants, such as jave fern, jave moss, anubias, and Cryptocoryne for starters. IMHO, fish feel more comfortable around plants plus the plants help keep the tank healthy.

We had actually had our eyes on it for a while. It was a floor display and had some wood issues and the glass cover was cracked so we got it for $400 (reg $1300). We fixed the wood and are replacing the glass cover.

I was thinking of getting plastic plants to start but if it is better for the fish and tank to get real plants then I will try. I live in a very small northern Alberta town so I have to travel an hour and a half to buy all equipment and fish. The bigger city I travel to doesn't have a good aquarium/fish shop. Only two of the big chain pet suppllies stores. I haven't started looking at what they carry yet.

 

[Saltwaterfishgirl]

Since you live so far away you may look into buy fish through websites and have them shipped.

Also a lot of people in my town breed fish and sell them. You could check craigslist.

Nice to see a Canadian!

 

[Shanny]

Since you live so far away you may look into buy fish through websites and have them shipped.

Also a lot of people in my town breed fish and sell them. You could check craigslist.

Nice to see a Canadian!

Hi Georgia!

Really? You can have fish shipped? How do they ship them?