First tank in a long time - Hello all :)

[evil Nick]

Hi all

Me and the GF just picked up a 30 gallon (29) kit during a petco sale.

We were looking to do this for a while as its been a long time (teenage years) since I had any tank and then it was primarily goldfish and Oscars.... the literal unkillable fish.

Anyway, Im looking to dive in and actually aquascape this guy with low light plants and during the cycling (which will take place for a couple weeks while we're on vaca) I thought of placing a couple shrimp and snails in there to help.

We're looking at primarily one beta (maybe a big ear), some nicer guppies and tetras, but my MAIN interest is trying to incorporate a pea puffer in there. The more I read about these little guys the more Im falling in love with it.

I know they "can be" slightly aggressive towards almost EVERYTHING I have named but also read that people keep them in community tanks full of shrimp and other fish fine.

Wondering if any of you have had success. A guy I work with big into tanks (mainly saltwater) told me a good trick is to make your most aggressive fish small and dead last after all the other fish have been in there a while and established space. This helps keep the aggressive fish from marking territory out and attacking others who dwell in.

Not sure how true this is or if its just his theory but it sounds good.

We plan on trying to introduce everything incrementally through quarantine first to be sure not to bring anything bad in.

Any other advice anyone is willing to share

Also as the pic shows we placed our tank under our TV.

We're not tv people and dont even have cable and wanted something we could sit in the sofa and look at while we read and have a drink or two.
Anyone see any issues that could arise from this?

thanks

 

[tomtom14]

Starting with the betta, guppies and tetra combo. That's might be risky. A male betta will attack another male guppy as they look similar. This is common but some lucky people have guppies and a betta together. Only 1 male betta can be kept in a tank with many other females. However more than 1 male guppy can be put in the same tank. That may be something to think about.

Also tetras may nibble at the guppys and bettas tails but again sometimes they will not.

I do not know much about the puffer so I'm sorry but I can't help there.

That thing about making fish less aggressive is completely correct so you could use that for any aggressive fish.

With the fish tank under the TV that could be a problem. If it is particularly loud then it could cause the water to move slightly. This would make the fish very jumpy and shy. However if you are not TV people and when you do use it, it is not loud then it should be fine.

Hope this helps sorry I didn't know about the puffer.


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[evil Nick]

actually just came back from all pets club here and got some good info.

Thanks on the info.

I did hear that about the sound and the TV.

We do not watch TV in that area much at all anyway. We bought a 60" black picture in a frame basically.
We also plan to install a small surround system so that may help disperse the noise from being right on the tank so long as the sub is near us.
We also use a ROKU 3 and usually plug it into a beats pod cause the sound on that TV stinks and you can barely hear it otherwise. The roku 3 has a headphone jack in the remote.

Anyway, the guy at the store said the puffers are usually fine. He had them in basically a small community tank there and they were very comfortable away from the other fish.
He said yes you either want semi aggressive fish dead last or first. Ill aim for last.
This rep was actually REALLY knowledgeable so we are going back Saturday when hes there and will pick his brain some more.

 

[Chesmok]

Tetras and guppies together...maybe. But don't add the betta in there. If he's aggressive, he'll chase the others, if he's nice he'll get bullied, trust me.

You could move the tank over to the left side of the TV...? No real reason why it has to be directly under the tv right?

Pea puffer...you'll need lots of plants and hiding spaces. The more densely planted and complicated your tank, the less chance for aggression. Good luck!

 

[evil Nick]

Tetras and guppies together...maybe. But don't add the betta in there. If he's aggressive, he'll chase the others, if he's nice he'll get bullied, trust me.

You could move the tank over to the left side of the TV...? No real reason why it has to be directly under the tv right?

Pea puffer...you'll need lots of plants and hiding spaces. The more densely planted and complicated your tank, the less chance for aggression. Good luck!

Nope I asked and she def wants it there.
Stinks on the Beta I was really hoping for at least one. Maybe I can change my fish selection around when we get there.
I plan on making a pretty well planted tank with lots of little hiding spots.

 

[treemanone2003]

The only thing I can disagree with actually is the noise debate. My tanks have always been in close proximity to stereo/tv and have never seen them stressed from high volumes. And quite honestly, I let my music scream as loud as the neighbors let me.


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