Taking the plunge....

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2cvbloke

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
May 27, 2006
Messages
502
Location
Lancashire, UK
Sorry for the pun.... :mrgreen:

Yes, I'm thinking of getting this tank:

Clickety click

which is the same tank as my mums only this one is blue and hers is black (and this one is about £30 cheaper!!! :mrgreen: ), I'm not after a fancy tank, no tropical stuff or salty fish, just something to watch and enjoy looking after with no troubles with heat or salt...

Anyway, other than the Weather Loaches, what fish would be suited for someone like me and my tank (if I get one)?

Thanks!!! :D

EDIT:
And this "Cycling" lark, what would I need to do before I add the fish/more fish?
 
Welcome to AA! For cycling a tank you can read this article. I prefer to use pure ammonia instead of shrimp. Or you can get some established media from another established tank and seed the filter.

If you don't want a heater, your options will be limited. I'm not familiar with a lot of cold water fish that will survive in that size tank.
 
Zagz said:
Welcome to AA! For cycling a tank you can read this article. I prefer to use pure ammonia instead of shrimp. Or you can get some established media from another established tank and seed the filter.

If you don't want a heater, your options will be limited. I'm not familiar with a lot of cold water fish that will survive in that size tank.

Thanks.... :D

So, if I say, borrowed the filter sponge (wheh soiled) from my mum's tank and rinsed it off in my tank, would that suffice to aid cycling?

Coldwater fish are fairly common here in the UK, as they usually come in the form of goldfish from funfairs in a plastic bag (rather cruel in my opinion, loads tend to suffocate and die whilst hung there as prizes), but I definately wat the same type of loach as my mum's as they're really funny to watch zipping about all over the place!!! I'll probably go with my mum to the petshop when she next decides on getting another fish or two and see what they have...
 
I'd either add the sponge to your filter or just leave it in your tank on the substrate. If you can't do that then rinsing it out in the water will definately help.
 
Goldfish are a definate no for that size of tank and also won't do with a loach. You could get a few platies. They don't need a heater and do fairly well without tons of caretaking.
 
DepotFish said:
Goldfish are a definate no for that size of tank and also won't do with a loach. You could get a few platies. They don't need a heater and do fairly well without tons of caretaking.

Well, my mum's 3 goldfish (some fancy breed with interesting tails) and her loach & 2 other residents are happy in the same sized tank, the only trouble they have is some algae on the glass, which I'm tying to sort out, they enjoy swimming in the water stream from the filter. I guess tank reccomendations are different accross the pond because there are plenty of tanks even smaller than the one I want with a few goldfish in and they don't appear to suffer in this country... :?


Zagz said:
I'd either add the sponge to your filter or just leave it in your tank on the substrate. If you can't do that then rinsing it out in the water will definately help.

I think the sponge rinse would be the easier option for me, as I can swap the sponge with my new one (if I get the same tank) and I keep the soiled sponge for my tank, the rinsing would be because I'm not sure if the carbon filters and Biorbs would affect the cycling...

Also, how long do I cycle for?
 
you would be able to broaden your horizon tremendesly if you just bought a heater, they dont require any maintence and a good brand like visitherm can keep your tank within 1 degree. Also if your fish ever got ICH you would be able to treat it without meds, but if you really dont wanna heater there are fish that can do coldwater, I just dont know anything about cold water fish. : )

You need a test kit to know exactly when your cycle is over, generally it is an ammonia spike, then fades to zero or close, then a nitrite spike then fades to zero and then you are left with nitrates which is why you do w/c to rid the nitrates. Your cycle will vary depending on conditions tempature paitence etc.. but once ammonia and nitrites hit zero and can stay zero then you are done.

I just saw what size tank it was, you could get a 50 watt heater for real cheap, you defiently wouldnt need anything bigger than a 100watt and those are only like $15 in american, the 100 watt that is
 
Thebluyak said:
you would be able to broaden your horizon tremendesly if you just bought a heater, they dont require any maintence and a good brand like visitherm can keep your tank within 1 degree. Also if your fish ever got ICH you would be able to treat it without meds, but if you really dont wanna heater there are fish that can do coldwater, I just dont know anything about cold water fish. : )

You need a test kit to know exactly when your cycle is over, generally it is an ammonia spike, then fades to zero or close, then a nitrite spike then fades to zero and then you are left with nitrates which is why you do w/c to rid the nitrates. Your cycle will vary depending on conditions tempature paitence etc.. but once ammonia and nitrites hit zero and can stay zero then you are done.

I'm on a tight budget unfortunately, and when I saw that tank for £40 I thought that I might aswell go for that seeing as how I can already see one in action. There is a heated version for sale too but as I said, tight budget....

I'm sure I could get hold of a test kit at one of the local pet shops who stock fish. So, after rinsing the soiled sponge in the water, do I need to add anything during the cycling, like fish food (in order to feed the bacteria)?
 
I guess tank reccomendations are different accross the pond because there are plenty of tanks even smaller than the one I want with a few goldfish in and they don't appear to suffer in this country...

Goldfish grow to be large or larger (depending on the variety) and are very dirty fish; they eat a lot and poop a lot, which equals more work for you! They might survive in a tiny tank, but they won't thrive or be happy. In any case you would have to move them to a larger tank in short order.

I don't know if you can get them, but some teensy native fish like these http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Heterandria_formosa.php; don't require heat, and stay tiny. Plop in a wee snail and you're set!

They do make a teensy heater for about $8 USD, too, which would help keep the temp stable. Then you would have a lot more fish to choose from-- :D
 
plecoperson said:
Goldfish grow to be large or larger (depending on the variety) and are very dirty fish; they eat a lot and poop a lot, which equals more work for you! They might survive in a tiny tank, but they won't thrive or be happy. In any case you would have to move them to a larger tank in short order.

I don't know if you can get them, but some teensy native fish like these http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Heterandria_formosa.php; don't require heat, and stay tiny. Plop in a wee snail and you're set!

They do make a teensy heater for about $8 USD, too, which would help keep the temp stable. Then you would have a lot more fish to choose from-- :D

My dad had a goldfish (called Jerry, used to have another called Tom, but that died), it started off at about 1 1/2", and ended up at 9" long after being moved into a pond!!! I probably wont get goldfish (or this rather posh looking variety my mum has), I just want something that I'll enjoy looking at and playing with, like Weather loaches... :D

I think there's a variety of Minnows in the local river, but the quality of the water is a litle sketchy so I'll leave them there, as I said I'll be having a look about in the petshop my mum went to for her fish and see what they have on display, not after anything big or fancy... :mrgreen:

As I said before, there is a version of the same tank with a heater, it's about £5 more, but that's £5 less to spend on fish... :D
 
Did the fish tell you they were happy? At any size they will produce too much ammonia and waste for that small tank unless you do 50% water changes daily and test the water everyday too. I'm sure your mom's fish will eventually develope problems from chemical poisoning if she doesn't keep up with their cleaning.
 
DepotFish said:
Did the fish tell you they were happy? At any size they will produce too much ammonia and waste for that small tank unless you do 50% water changes daily and test the water everyday too. I'm sure your mom's fish will eventually develope problems from chemical poisoning if she doesn't keep up with their cleaning.

Well, to be honest, I don't think she's done a change since she got them in March, however, the fish appear to be happy in there, they swim about playing with the plants & gravel and one goldfish is getting rather amerous with one of the other 2. The Loach and Pleco (I think, might be a different breed of Loach) are happy cleaning the gravel and glass, and Mr. Snail is enjoying it's new home.

Out of curiosity, have any fish told you that they're not happy? :mrgreen:
 
not after anything big or fancy...
Do your research! Just because they're not big in the store doesn't mean they'll stay that way.

2cvbloke said:
Out of curiosity, have any fish told you that they're not happy? :mrgreen:

The experienced keepers can read the fish and know, I think. And even if you can't, the formula for it is not hard. Space + clean water + good food. They're easy to please. At least in theory :)

I did some conversions, and (if the conv. are accurate) 39.99 for this tank is like $74 USD. I'll admit I'm a little ignorant of exchange rates and all that, but I don't think I'd get this tank even at $39.99 USD.
I understand your budget constraints, but you CAN afford to do it right the first time, and this tank is not the way to do it, in my opinion. If you haven't already gotten this tank, there are other options you could look into. A 10 gal tank by itself (not a kit) is like $8 in a chain store. A 20 gal or 20 long is in the $20-$30 range, but I've seen them lower than that on sale. These sizes will give you way more options, not only because they have a larger capacity, but also because they are horizontal and not vertically oriented, which means more surface area, which means more gas exchange, which means more fish are possible.
A hood/light is maybe $15 depending on size and lighting, and I bet you could find a filter for the same (maybe not the best one, but enough to start with). You could definately get at least a 10 g for less than the tank you're considering. You can still afford a heater too! And gravel and decorations and fish and food, etc. I think you'd be much more satisfied going this route and face far fewer disappointments.

Any objections to bettas? You could have a pretty male, or a group of females. They do pretty well without a heater (but even better with one).
However, I bet if the room stays warm enough you could get by without a heater. I'll admit I don't often use heaters unless I'm trying to get something to spawn or treating a disease. But I'm much farther south than you are, and my smallest tank is a 10g.

Remember, it's always cheaper in the long run to get it right the first time! Of course, if you're not getting into this as a hobby and just want the tank as a novelty, well, its a lot of work and money for a just a novelty, lol.
 
There is the other constraint, room, I can't have a large wide tank, there just isn't the room, or the place to make room, the only place I could have a big tank is where my hamster is, but he's happy where he is and isn't going anywhere. There is my cellar, but that's dark and damp, and I want to see my fish on a daily basis and want them on display.

Also, tank prices aren't as low over here as they are in the US, I've looked at tanks before now (looking for an extra space for my hamster you see) and they are ridiculously overpriced for a few sheets of toughened glass stuck together with silicone sealant, and the hexagonal one is the cheapest I can find here, and it's blue (my favourite colour)!!! I'm not saying that you all don't know anything, because you obviously do, but the tank my mum has is absolutely faultless, had an iffy start (one fish died shortly after being added, but that my have been due to stress) but the 5 fish and 1 snail all seem to be doing ok in there, they're friendly fish that come up to the side to greet people, they swim about happily, they eat normally, so I really don't see what is wrong with getting myself the same tank for £30 less than they are at my local petshop...
 
Lol, space is an issue for every one of us here too. If we want a new tank, and we don't have room, we make the room. I got rid of a couch to put in a new tank ;) But its certainly understandable if you're not crazy like me, lol. I just always thought the bigger tank you get the more fun it would be, because with every bigger size, you get more and more options.

But like I said, bettas would be a way to go. Or you could probably have a few rasboras; some species stay pretty tiny. Or a dwarf puffer? Those guys are really cute and I know they're little. They need some salt, I think. I'm not real sure. Those african dwarf frogs are pretty neat, as are some shrimps. Just decide what you want before you go and stick with it.
 
Not sure where you (mosaic) are, but my house here in the UK is teeeeeeny weeeeny!!! I can't fit a couch in yet let alone get rid of one to replace it with a tank!!!! :lol:

Also, to make space for some furniture I was given I had to move all of my computers upstairs (5 in total you see, with 4 monitors), but have made room for a tank of the size I'm after and still have room for my hamster.... :mrgreen:

As for Pufferfish and frogs, erm, no thanks!!! I just want some nice entertaining fish...
 
Females bettas are a great idea. You can get a few different colours. They will establish a pack just as wolves do with an alpha girl and others. They also are quite "friendly" and will learn to follow your fingers and beg for food. They have much less bioload than goldfish so they will thrive in even a small tank.
 
DepotFish said:
Females bettas are a great idea. You can get a few different colours. They will establish a pack just as wolves do with an alpha girl and others. They also are quite "friendly" and will learn to follow your fingers and beg for food. They have much less bioload than goldfish so they will thrive in even a small tank.

Erm, any pics of these Bettas? I suppose I could get them, but I have to have a Weather loach.... :mrgreen:
 
Few things.
The 'cycling lark', as you put it :), can be found below as a link with explanation.
Fishless Cycle
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15

Nitrogen Cycle
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/article_view.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21

Another Nitrogen Cycle
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle_2.htm
Short summary would be, "If you dont do it, your fish will die / become diseased. Either way, it'll cost you more £££ not cycling."

Another thought. A larger tank is easier to maintain than a small one. Reason being is that changes in the water chemistry happen a lot slower. For example, if a fish poops in the water of a 150 ltr tank then its one bit of poop vs 150 ltrs. If it poops in a 10 ltr tank, then its... you get the picture :)

For pictures of fish. Go to Google, click on IMAGE and then search under the fish name. Thats the way I do it anyway.

Oh and for the record...
My Lemon Tetras tell me how they are feeling every day :)
 
2cvbloke said:
Also, to make space for some furniture I was given I had to move all of my computers upstairs (5 in total you see, with 4 monitors)
Now there's your problem! Too many comps! Heh, you have to make priorities, my friend!
 
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