Starting Up a New Aquarium!

[Mushy]

Hey everyone, I'm extremely new to the fish life, but I've done a ton of research so I should able to do fine with any tips you can give me!

What I'm mainly wondering is what size of tank I should go for.
I'm planning on having this tank on a stand in my room, which is nicely sized, upstairs, and lots of empty room.
I was thinking of going for a shrimp and schooling fish type of tank, but also considering larger fish so I could actually name them... Can't really name dozens of little fish and shrimp =/
I personally favor the shrimp/school tank because of Pikmim. I think a variety of colored shrimp would be awesome at creating a Pikmin-like setting. Sadly, I wouldn't be able to do many different species due to their breeding.

I'LL BE STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM.
I currently have no spare parts, and will be purchasing them to accommodate the tank size I decide on.
Although, I will most likely have help from my friend's perfectly cycled tank.

Any tips and suggestions would be great, thanks!

 

[tamtam]

hmm. I'm not sure what you mean by Pikmin.. isn't that a video game?

Personally I would suggest your start with a slightly bigger tank. Like 50 gallons. I think that gives you good space for schooling fish if this is what you want. You could keep a few different types and still have adequate schools. Bigger tank are also more forgiving of mistakes than smaller ones so that's always a bonus.

Do you know if you are doing a fish in or fishless cycle? In the articles section on this site there are some great ones about cycling.

There are some larger schooling fish like Rainbow fish. Though again if they all look the same naming them may not be so easy either.

Maybe you could do some livebearers? Say Platys, there are tons of different types and colors so you could have several fish that look sort of a like(ame body type) but would still be identifiable. Mollies and swordtails are other options.

I'm also a sucker of Gourami, there are some fantastic looking gourami you may like.

 

[Mushy]

I'll try to see if my room upstairs would be fit for a 50 gallon! I don't want to risk any flooring issues and what not up there...

Yeah Pikmin! It's the video game involving a ton of little colored specialized creatures, my ghost shrimp reminded me of them so I wanted to have colors relating to them for my tank.
I also plan on doing a fishless cycle and hopefully finish when school starts its first few weeks, August 10th+
I'll be looking into your suggestions for schooling fish, thanks! The Gourami look pretty interestinggg

 

[Samzter]

Welcome to AA! A 50g would be a brilliant starter tank! Lots of stocking options there!

 

[Mushy]

So 50g seems to be favored so far! Do you guys think I should have any worries about it being upstairs?

Should I go for a used tank from craigslist or a new one?

 

[bud29]

Welcome to AA!

You could probably find something good on craigslist so I would look there first. But, if after keeping watch for a while you decide to get a new one, that's fine.

 

[paytertot]

Pikmin? Am I confused or are we talking about pacman? Lol

 

[Brox]

I don't think flooring issues as far as weight goes, 50 gallons would probably be like 5-8 people standing together. But yeah I'm a fan of schoers too, idk as far as the shrimp pikmin thing I don't think that much shrimp can live together because whenever I read about shrimp it seems every other species eats the next

 

[Mushy]

I'd probably have the two standard shrimp builds, opposites so they can't mate.
Still deciding on tank size, I'm not entirely sure about the 50g yet, but I'll keep looking into it and for one!
Trying to decide whether or not to go huge and bring it downstairs, or fiftyish and less upstairs...

 

[Mushy]

I may be going for a 75 GALLON! Will definitely be keeping this one downstairs.
Anyone have any thing you think I'd definitely need to buy for it?

 

[linds3y]

I have a 75 gallon upstairs in my room and its just fine place it against a load-bearing (I.e., wall that is against the outdoors, not another room) wall and all should be well.

 

[Mushy]

I think I'll keep the 75 gallon downstairs for visitor viewing and just in case!

Anyone happen to have a good insane guide on what could be stocked?

 

[bud29]

Cichlids. Cichlids. Cichlids. Cichlids.

I would pick between these 2 plans if I were you:

1. African Cichlids. There are tons to choose from. Red Zebra, Albino Zebra, Yellow Lab, Yellow Acei, Blue Kenyi......the list goes on and on. I am pretty sure you could find an awesome combo

2. A Tiger Oscar cichlid and a Convict cichlid. You may think, "Only 2 fish in a 75 gallon??? Come on!" and if you buy them both as juveniles, the tank may look a little empty. But believe me, it will not stay empty for long. When they are full grown they are very impressive. I have only gotten the chance to see a full grown Oscar a few times, but every time my jaw drops in amazement. They are incredible fish.

 

[Mushy]

I was aiming for a bigger community, rather than just a few fish =/

 

[tamtam]

75 gal! Agh so jealous. lol.

As for the weight thing I think 1 gallon of water weighs about 8 lbs to give you an idea of weight. Of course there is gravel and stuff to think about but it's a good starting point.

I've never had that big of a tank so have only used HOB filters and can't say forsure but I think with that size tank you'd probably want to think about a canister. Just something to think about, they are more pricey I know but I hear wonderful things about them.

as for stocking I've often come across what they call "cookie cutter" stocking lists, usually on cichlid forums but have found some that aren't all cichlids.

4 angels
4 rams
6 lemon tetra
6 rummy nose tetra
6 corys

 

[Mushy]

Looking into the canister and fish now!

At least 3gph per gallon recommended, daaaaaaaaaaaang!

 

[FishyBusiness]

Fluval canisters are very good. I have a 90 gallon and I run an aquaclear 110. Aquaclears are essentially HOB canisters. I love it and I think it's only $90 at Petsmart. You can get it cheaper on amazon or eBay. Just a note: a good canister will run you between $150-$200 but if you have the money it's worth it. You can never have enough filtration!

 

[Mushy]

I'm currently aiming for a CF400, seems to be the most popular and nicely rated on Amazon so far!
I'm just wondering if it'd be enough for a 75... Most reviews are from 55'ers

 

[paytertot]

I do 6x the volume of the tank per hour

 

[Mushy]

At least 450 gph? Gotchu!
Will look into the CF500
I'm not entirely sure how the canisters work, like the stages, any basics?