Hello- I am really in need of some advice.
To give you some background here, I have twin 8 year old boys. One of them has special needs so we spend lots of time at the hospital while he is in therapy. My kids all love the tanks there. Most are just gravel, a couple fake plants and 2-3 large fish floating around. My son LOVES these- I think because of his vision problems he has a hard time seeing very small fish that swim alone so the big ones or schools are easy for him to look at. Anyhow I have thought for a long time that he would love to have a tank at home. His brother has a hamster and I do pretty will with pets as long as I know what I need to do. So, this summer we got our pond out back running and my hubby bought two goldfish to swim around in it. I didnt think they would make it but they are about 4-5 inches long and doing fine. Because we were doing so well and enjoying the fish so much my mother decided to give my son her old tank. He got very excited about this. I had seen the tank before when it was built into her wall and it didnt seem so big. Plus I was under the impression that all of the equipment was included.
Anyhow, two weeks ago the tank arrived. It was covered in heavy plastic but what I could see was so dirty you couldnt see through it. When I unwrapped it and measured it I was quite surprised to find it was a 75 gallon tank and empty of all of the equipment. She had given the equipment away to her "fish guy" (she had hired someone to come in set up the tank and then run it for her)
I finally got the nerve up to try to clean it and after scrubbing it down a couple times I was actually surprised how clean it ended up looking. Because my son was so excited about it we brought it inside, filled it halfway and put his betta in it to swim around (my hubby figured it had to be as good as the 1 gal bowl it was in) Then I went around to several LFS to find out what I would need to buy. I also went to the library and checked out a book and have been looking online. Now for my questions. Everyone I talk to has a different take on what I really need so I am not sure what to do. My thinking is this- I have my two goldfish I would like to put in the tank to start. I would like to get it set up and running so that it looks nice and I can keep it clean but I dont want to spend a fortune until I know that this is something my son will really take an interest in. What do I really need? I would eventually like plants but I am a bit timid of this so can I start off with plastic or do I need to gets plants now? Also I am unsure what type of filter to get? The tank did have 2 plastic underground filters in the bottom with nothing attached to them but I dont know what I need to get to go with it or how much I need to spend on it. I would like my tank to look more like a river stream and not a tropical paradise so we did get a rock patterned background. Do I need a heater right now since they are goldfish? One told me that I needed two heaters and someone elso told me that one would be fine. I have also been told that I should get two of the rim type filters, and that I should just buy a canister.
I am just confused. because we were not expecting to buy all of the equipment, my hubby is not liking the idea of spending hundreds of dollars. but knowing him if I could get it up and running for now and he likes the outcome- he usually gets into it and wants to upgrade (which is why our hamster now lives in a two level cage with two wheels) Please give me your advice. Thanks
Stacie
To give you some background here, I have twin 8 year old boys. One of them has special needs so we spend lots of time at the hospital while he is in therapy. My kids all love the tanks there. Most are just gravel, a couple fake plants and 2-3 large fish floating around. My son LOVES these- I think because of his vision problems he has a hard time seeing very small fish that swim alone so the big ones or schools are easy for him to look at. Anyhow I have thought for a long time that he would love to have a tank at home. His brother has a hamster and I do pretty will with pets as long as I know what I need to do. So, this summer we got our pond out back running and my hubby bought two goldfish to swim around in it. I didnt think they would make it but they are about 4-5 inches long and doing fine. Because we were doing so well and enjoying the fish so much my mother decided to give my son her old tank. He got very excited about this. I had seen the tank before when it was built into her wall and it didnt seem so big. Plus I was under the impression that all of the equipment was included.
Anyhow, two weeks ago the tank arrived. It was covered in heavy plastic but what I could see was so dirty you couldnt see through it. When I unwrapped it and measured it I was quite surprised to find it was a 75 gallon tank and empty of all of the equipment. She had given the equipment away to her "fish guy" (she had hired someone to come in set up the tank and then run it for her)
I finally got the nerve up to try to clean it and after scrubbing it down a couple times I was actually surprised how clean it ended up looking. Because my son was so excited about it we brought it inside, filled it halfway and put his betta in it to swim around (my hubby figured it had to be as good as the 1 gal bowl it was in) Then I went around to several LFS to find out what I would need to buy. I also went to the library and checked out a book and have been looking online. Now for my questions. Everyone I talk to has a different take on what I really need so I am not sure what to do. My thinking is this- I have my two goldfish I would like to put in the tank to start. I would like to get it set up and running so that it looks nice and I can keep it clean but I dont want to spend a fortune until I know that this is something my son will really take an interest in. What do I really need? I would eventually like plants but I am a bit timid of this so can I start off with plastic or do I need to gets plants now? Also I am unsure what type of filter to get? The tank did have 2 plastic underground filters in the bottom with nothing attached to them but I dont know what I need to get to go with it or how much I need to spend on it. I would like my tank to look more like a river stream and not a tropical paradise so we did get a rock patterned background. Do I need a heater right now since they are goldfish? One told me that I needed two heaters and someone elso told me that one would be fine. I have also been told that I should get two of the rim type filters, and that I should just buy a canister.
I am just confused. because we were not expecting to buy all of the equipment, my hubby is not liking the idea of spending hundreds of dollars. but knowing him if I could get it up and running for now and he likes the outcome- he usually gets into it and wants to upgrade (which is why our hamster now lives in a two level cage with two wheels) Please give me your advice. Thanks
Stacie