Starting my first tank

[PotRoastMan]

Hi everyone.

A friend has a 55 gal salt water reef, and that got me interested in this hobby. So I've started researching, and sounds like I should start out with fresh water. I'm leaning toward 29 gal 30x12x18. I have space to go bigger, but 29 seems a reasonable place to start.

I really like the looks of the planted tanks I see here, is it a good idea for a first timer or should I start with the basics and add live plants later?

I search the web and this seems to be a really good place for info but for some reason I can't search. I'm looking for more links, what are the best places for newbies? Also any good online stores would be helpful.

Thanks

[bunebop]

I would personally stick w/ fake, but real-looking, plants. lol from my personal experience, it has worked well. My boyfriend tried real plants from the beginning... and I stuck w/ fake in my tanks. To make it short... his tank is disgusting, overgrown w/ algae, infested w/ snails, and not even close to see through. Most of his plants also died and rotted and were sick already and just made the tank nice and disgusting in general. My tanks however have been very good. They look nice and the fish are healthy and happy etc.

One online store I like (which does not carry fish, but anything you could want for em) is www.bigalsonline.com Some people have warned me about it, but both my boyrfriend and I have ordered off of there and never had a problem and got our orders very quickly. If you want fish I usually look at www.liveaquaria.com, although I have personally never bought any fish off of the internet.

so, pretty much what my opinion is since your new I would start off w/ the 29 gallon FW tank and then add plants once it's more established and once you know it's doing well. Make sure you run a fishless amonia cycle, your fish will be much happier because of it. It's obviously up to you on the plants, but that is what I would personally do.

[RocketSeason]

Welcome to Aquarium Advice!

I have been in the hobby since childhood so let me pass on what I know.

No, do not start with a SW tank. Fresh water tanks are much easier and cheaper to take care of and there are plenty of beautiful and interesting fish to choose from.

a 29 gallon tank is perfect for beginers. Its large enough to be fairly stable and its cheap enough that you wont have wasted your money should you decide 2 months down the line that you do not enjoy it as much as you thought you would.

Plants are wonderful, but require extra equipment and attention for them to remain healthy for very long. I would go with silk plants for now and as you gain knowlage and experence, slowly start adding real plants.

As far as fish go, I love Zebra Danios, Rosey Barbs, Tiger Barbs, Cherry Barbs, Neons, Cory Cats, and Chineese Alge eaters. All are very hearty fish and good for beginnners. Be careful what you fish you mix with what. Some are not as friendly as others, post your list of favorite fish and we can tell you who will be a good choice and who wont'.

Another important thing to note is to be patient. The biggest mistake beginners make is to rush rush rush. after you setup your tank, let it cycle a week before adding fish. patience is the key to success.

Have fun!

[Menagerie]

[center:7d50466946] Welcome to AA, PotRoastMan! [/center:7d50466946]
I like your handle
29 gals is good to start with. That's what my fiance and I started with before upgrading to an 80 gal . There is a search feature on this site, but it's often hit and miss. Go to the Fish and Plant profiles forum to get some great info on various fish. Also in that forum is a thread about what basic fish sites people use. I like www.liveaquaria.com . As for purchasing on-line, there is another forum about retailers and people's views. To sum it up, many members use bigalsonline.come and/or fosterandsmith.com (I think I got those correct). If you are up to the challenge, ebay is a good place to look and save oddles of money.
I don't have planted tanks, but I do keep lots of fake plants. Look around the Planted Tank forum for ideas and you will find more info than you ever wanted!!

[MrsPeel]

I swear whenever I see your handle I'm going to get hungry!

I think you are on a great track with the 29. It gives you room to learn and expand if you so choose. As for planted tanks I think it is a personal preference. I think if you want to have a planted tank you should do some research on maintenance and if it is something you would like by all means go for it. There is this quick overview article from our articles section. And also there are websites like PlantedTank and PlantGeek for plant profiles.

As for fish do you have a pet store close by you can scan their stock? Why ot go their and look at what they have, jot down the fish you like and make a list and post it. From their you can figure out where you want to go and if they will fit in your specified tank.

If I want a quick look up on fish I usually go here for a quick look up.

And before I forget Welcome to Aquarium Advice

[PotRoastMan]

Thanks for your help so far!

To tell you the truth I have not even thought about what kind of fish yet. After peering into the reef I'm more interested in the plants and tiny animals than I am with the fish! I guess I need to figure that out. I like the idea of starting with silk and then slowly adding plants later.

Is the search feature broken? When I try it, it just goes to a blank white screen.

[MrsPeel]

It is working fine for me. The can you not search at all? Or can you not go back? Sometimes I can't go back and have to press refresh.

[cginflorida]

Hi PotRoastMan, welcome to AA.

29 gal is a good size for beginners (which I found out AFTER I bought a 10 gal for my first tank a couple years ago. ) I would stick with fake plants for now, it'll be much easier on you. After you get some experience and the routine down, then you could think about live plants.

For fishless cycling, there's a good article at http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html

For fish compatibility, I found this site: http://www.aquariumstuffers.com/comp...ion=freshwater

And another source for fish profiles is http://www.fishprofiles.com

Good luck with everything and have fun.

[Menagerie]

I just used the search feature and it was working.

[An t-iasg]

Welcome to AA, PotRoastMan!

Here's the correct link for the Drs. Foster Smith website: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...fm?Ne=4&N=2004 It's a great site; I shop there often and it's cheaper than my lfs most of the time.

Sometimes searching on any large forum is hit-and-miss, but I've usually had good results from this site's search feature. Try typing in your search words, and when you get the page of topics, highlight one with your mouse, and right-click on it. From the options listed, select "Open in new window" (second one down) and read the topic. When you're done, close it (red x at top right) and you'll be taken back to your original topic list that the search brought up. Hope that helps!

[fearlessfisch]

hi, pot roast man! it is a fun, fun hobby. i started with a 29 gallon, and it was great. now i have a 55 and i love it. i agree with silk plants and then adding real ones gradually...that's what i've done.

i've had good luck with big al's online as long as i checked with them up front that the item was in stock and ready to go. otherwise, you can wait for three weeks, finally call them to complain, and be told that they never had it in stock. drs. foster and smith have always delivered within a day or two for me. ebay is a great place to get deals.

i love colorful fish, so every community tank i've had has had a betta. it feels so good to let them out of those little cups in the fish stores, and they are such sociable fish. they are like dogs...they watch you and greet you when you come to the glass. a school of neon tetras is brilliant and colorful. it's fun to get livebearers like fancy guppies, mollies, or platy if you're interested in having baby fish. corycats are great for cleaning up and they have wonderful, playful personalities. i love angels and brightly colored gouramis, but you have to be careful about their tankmates. i love tiger barbs because they're quick and active, but my tank now doesn't have any, because i have a lot of fish with long, flowing fins who hide from the barbs.

everyone has their own favorites....i'd recommend scouting out some fish stores in your area and see what attracts your attention. then come back here and post a list of prospective fish. people here will help you figure out if they're compatible and help you head off any problems.

if you like plants and tiny animals, there are people here who add african dwarf frogs to their tanks. i think you have to be careful about the fish you mix them with, though.

[PotRoastMan]

Wow, thanks everyone for taking the time to give me some help. Now I've got plenty of articles to read and some good stores to poke around in.

I can search now too, I guess it depends on what I seach for. For example when I search for "first tank" it goes blank, however when I do "best filter" it works just fine. Weird...

[PotRoastMan]

Ok, I'm thinking 6-8 neons, a couple bottom feeders like plecos and maybe some shrimp? After the tank is established I want to add a couple discus. Would these guys live together (peacefully)?

[pkremer]

I LOVE plecos! I think they are great personally. In a 29 gallon, you would ideally want a variant pleco that doesn't get too large. Those common plecos you see at every LFS could almost touch both ends of a standard 29 as adults!

The only thing I would mention about the neons is that neon tetras aren't the hardiest fish. I have heard of them referred to as the "canaries" of a tank, meaning if anything goes wrong they will be the first to go. Not that you couldn't try them out, just letting you know!

Also, I don't know if discus fish would be a good choice. First of all, discus fish require very specific water parameters and are very very picky about them. Also, the ones I have seen at LFS's are kind of expensive, and for those reasons may not be a good fish to start out with. They also get large! I'm not sure if a 29 gallon would be large enough to house them.

I sure understand why you like them though! They are very striking to look at! I know there is an experienced discus keeper on this forum, maybe Menagerie can point you his way.

Paul