Any advice for a new tank?

[Reese299]

I'm sure this thread will go on for a while with endless suggestions, but I'd love to hear them.

Here's my story... I've had fish tanks for 20+ years starting with my brothers tank that he left at our house while he was in the Air Force. He had 2 tanks with (forgive the spellings) Bolo sharks, silver catfish, blue graumies, angel fish, plecostamous, cory cats, zebras, sword tails and some others I don't recall... Some highlights are the bolo sharks were kept in a large spaghetti pot while the tanks were being set up and they jumped out, along with the graumies into the butter dish on the counter! When it was all over, we were left with a 29 gallon tank with 2 plecos, 2 graumies and a rainbow shark. We went away on vacation for 4 days, I put a weekend feeder in it and was afraid they'd get cold (note that I was about 10) and turned up the heater. Needless to say, we came home to some nearly boiled fish with a tank temperature at about 95 degrees...

I got out of the 'fish thing' for a while and decided to get one when I went to college and got a 10 gallon tank with chineese algae eater, 2 angel fish, 2 zebras. The tank wentwell but was hard to clean in a dorm room... The algae eater managed to jump out and dry up on the heater, but the angel fish got HUGE. One survived the 2-semesters living on guppies bought at the local pet store! and made the 2 1/2 hour trip in a tupperware container back home to my brothers house where he had a gi-normous tank (150 gallons?) in a tacky home-made frame where it grew to about 7-8 inches from top of the top fin to bottom of the bottom fin, not counting the feelers - HUGE! I went to Disney world later on and saw the angel fish in the aquarium there and they were less than hald that size in there!

After college, I got an apartment and a 20 gallon tank with graumies and a pleco and an African Frog, who proceeded to jum out of the tank ALL THE TIME! I lowered the water level in the tank about 5 inches to prevent him from getting out - didn't help! I came home form work one day, called my girlfriend (now wife!) and was talking to her while checking the tank and noticed it was missing, it had jumped out of the tank, across the room, down the hall and was in the middle of the front room all sticky and covered in hair and dirt. I picked him up, put him in the tank and he was fine!

Jump ahead about 4 years to being marrier and in a house with 2 kids. My daughter wanted a fish tank so we got a 10 gallon guppy tanka dn raised guppies for a while, when that went sour and it did! I got a free 10 gallon octogon tank from my boss at towkr and set it up with 2 angel fish and a silver cat fish and an algae eater - that lasted well but the fish were outgrowing the tank! My daughter got a free gold fish at the local fair and we put them in a fish bowl, and they lived and grey and we put them in the 10 gallong tank the guppier used to be in. They kept growing and so we got a 20 gallon tank - they kept growing and skanking up the water... Then, I saw a 55 gallon fish tank on clearance at Walmart with a stand ($120 for the both!) and I bought them and set them up with the standard back filter, undergravel filter, bubble wall, heater, brown/natural gravel, real plants and the angel fish, catfish and algae eater and some newbies were put in the big tank. Disease struck and with a lack of funds oin the weekend it happened, I was not able to keep it in check and we lost all the fish in a short time. I celanig it out as best I could and set it up for the goldfish - not realizing how filthy they really are! 2 or 3 years later (to last week) they were about 6-7 inches long each (two of them). I went 'back home' for a long weekend after Christmas and came back to find the two large goldfish had died in the amonia-spiked water (can I be happy about that?)

Now, with the Christmas bonus, I'm looking at going at it the right way or more to the point a better way. I want a canister filter for under the tank and an undergravel fiilter with real plants and so on.

This is where the advice comes in. I've considered my self a pseudo-expert on fish for a long time but deep down I know I'm not even close! I'd appreciate any advice on what type of plants and what fish to get in the new setup. Angel fish (striped, not white or marble ) are a favorite and a must for me.

If anyone is still with me after all of this any suggestions are welcome.


Things I'm looking for for my $250 dollar limit and would appreciate suggestions on are:

canister filter
gravel/substrate type for good plant growth
how much gravle/substrate
fish to accompany Angel fish and quantaties
types of plants toget and when to get them
water treatment suggestions for city water
undergravel filter (do I need one/should I have one with a canister filter?)

Thanks for listening!

Reese299

 

[Fishyfanatic]

If you are wanting live plants, ditch the undergravel filter. Actually, even if you use fake plants, ditch it anyway. A canister filter is all you will need.

The canister you choose is realy up to you. I am partial to the Cascade line. Fluval, Filstar, Eheim, they are all excellent brands. It's a personal preference.

For planted questions, post in the Planted Forum. We have many plant guru's over there that can answer any question you could possibly think of. The lighting that you have will determine what kind of plants you can keep.

Your fish selection is pretty large. Most community fish will work with Angels. Some are natural food sources (neon tetras for example) so post before you buy. Check online for some that you are interested in and post what strikes your fancy. After you figure out what you want, then we can work with quantities.

To treat your water, a simple dechlorinator like Prime is all you will need. Do you have a master test kit or are you using strips?

 

[Reese299]

strips...

I have seen tanks that don't use under grave filters and I was curious about that... that will save some cash and electricity

I'll ask your advice on the gravel - how much should I get/use and what type? I'll ask in the Plant forum as well - I read somewhere that certain materials are better for plants...

As for testing, as I don't even have all the material yet, I don't even have a test kit - I have some strips I used before, but they are WAY outdated. Any recommendations on test stips or kits and what I should test for an how often?

Thanks for the great info and advice!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I use pool filter sand in my 55 gal planted tank. It's cheap, looks natural, and very easy to aquascape. You can buy it at pretty much any pool supply store. It's heavier than sand you'll find at the lfs so you won't have as many (if any) issues with sand getting into the filter.

For a test kit, check out the AP Freshwater Master Test Kit. Ditch the strips, they are unreliable. Moisture gets in the tube and they post false results. Plus, they are a heck of a lot more expensive. I did a price comparison one time and the Master Test Kit was something like 2 cents per test whereas the strips were 75 cents. Thats a rough estimate, it's been so long since I've done the comparison. You can find the test kit at PetsMart. Select the test kit you want from the drop down menu (Freshwater Master Kit), print off the page, and take it to PetsMart for price match.