i will have mine in about a month...just wondering who i can talk to about them here as i am new to it.
I used to have them. Here are a few tips: 1. Get a good filter that hangs over the side of the tank. 2. Don't put too many live plants in the tank. Plants sometimes carry diseases. 3. Fill the tank using bottled water if possible. Otherwise fill the tank using a fine mist spray nozzle to help get the chlorine and other gases out of the water. Let the tank sit with the filter running several days before adding the fish. 4. If you plan to have plants, put them in the tank a week or so prior to adding the fish. 5. Make sure the temperature of the water in the bag with the fish is the same as the water temp in the tank. Float the bag. 6. Don't crowd the tank. One very small fish (1 inch long) per gallon of water or one medium sized fish per 2 gallons. 7. Make sure the fish you get are compatible. Otherwise just get one type of fish (non-aggressive). 8. Try getting fish that are easy to keep, like guppies. After many years of keeping various fish, the ones that lasted longest were the little guppies and minnows. Only get quality pet-grade fish, not feeder fish. Goldfish may look cool, but they usually don't live long and can make the water dirty so they need more water. 9. Overfeeding causes the leftover uneaten food to rot and grows bacteria that consumes the oxygen in the water. Feed sparingly and frequently several times a day. 10. Use a good quality tank heater (if keeping tropical fish). Cheap ones can fail and kill your fish. This happened to me once- the heater suddenly went to full heat and I had boiled fish. Anyway, you might be more ambitious than this. I've seen people keep some pretty exotic fish and saltwater tanks. All the more power to you if you are like them, but I'd start out simple. Good luck.
I would love to have some. But I would hate to keep them in a small fish bowl (don't think i'll have room for a big aquarium). I just feel like 'poor little fish swimming around in circles.' Is it true that goldfish have a three second memory or something like that? If it's true, does that go for all fish?
Sweet_dream's post was pretty thorough, I have a little to add to it though: regarding point 1, not all filters that hang over the side of the tank are good. This goes for all types of filters though. Ones that hang over the side of the tank do take up less tank space, and are easy to maintain, but make sure the water intake pipe (where water gets sucked up) isn't near where the water comes out of the filter. Generally the water gets sucked up a pipe that hangs in the water directly under where the 'clean' water comes out of the filter, so you don't always get all the water in the tank passing through the filter. If that makes sense. It's true about point 2. It's a good idea to 'bleach soak' your plants when you get them. Dilute some bleach (ordinary household bleach) to one part bleach to 20 parts water in a bucket and let the plants soak in it for a 5 minutes or so. Then once that time is up, soak it in some fresh clean water for 20mins, or longer if you like. Then place it in your tank. However I didn't do that for most of my plants and the tank is fine - but found that many snails had hitched a ride on those plants and began to multiply and eat my plants Point 3 is a good one, and avoids you having to by dechlorinator. As you probably know, chlorine is used to treat water to make it safe to drink, but it isn't good in fish tanks. Another way to let the chlorine escape is let the water sit in a bucket for 24hours or so, preferably in somewhere sunny - then you can pop it into your tank. It's a good idea to buy only a couple fish in the beginning, and then add more fish over the following few weeks. It all seems a bit too much, and offputting, but it's not really, and it's so worth it
l have lots of fish... l love em heaps.. However l don't really enjoy maintaining the tank.. Was fun at first..
Well it's possible to have a nearly maintenance-free tank. After many years of fish keeping, I just got lazy and stopped getting new fish. The last survivors were the guppies and they kept having babies. Although I used to be vigilant about preventing the babies from getting eaten, I eventually just let the tank go by itself. After a while, the fish maintained a small population on their own and I noticed that they were eating algae and tiny snails so I just stopped feeding them- well almost. I would feed them maybe once a month. To my amazement they just kept on surviving for years that way. Sometimes months would go by and I would forget that I even had an aquarium. I would freak out thinking the fish were all dead but then I'd look and they'd still be alive, with new babies and all. The only thing I did was change the filter materials about every 6 months. I never changed the water or did anything else. People looking at my tank would always ask why the fish were so small and boring looking. I figured they must be small to survive on algae and snails.
haha interesting.....yeah i am going to try to get some bottom feeders so i dont have to clean as much hopefully....i used to clean a fish tank that had fighter fish in it at my grandmothers business and that was a pain
Don't put tropical fish and non-tropical fish in the same tank. They really don't get along, and they can't eat the same food, which is really hard because most fish eat whatever you put in the tank. Keep the tank clean- that's a given. Some fish need clean water more than others. But if the sides of the tank start turning green, you've left it way too long (done it). If the fish isn't tropical, make sure that before putting new water in the tank, put it in a container, keep it covered and leave it out over night. That way you make sure the water is room temperature and want be too warm or too cool for the fish. I don't know how to keep tropical fish. Catfish + most other fish = bad. Trust me on this one. But on their own, catfish are pretty good pets, even though they're more work than other fish. Get a small snail. They get along with most fish, and eats whatever grows on the sides of the tank.
I wanted to add something about goldfish. The first fish I ever had was a little goldfish I won at a carnival. I loved him so much and cried for a good two weeks after he died. His name was Billy. Since Billy's death, I had many more goldfish and they were all so cute and sweet. I would say that goldfish have a lot of personality and can be one of the greatest joys in life. To keep them, just give them lots of water, a good aerating filter, and lots of love. MORE FISH TIPS: 1. When adding a new fish, I recommend placing it into a second fish bowl as quarantine for several days to see if any diseases precipitate out before putting it in with the rest of the fish. 2. Do not put rocks or shells in the tank that you find in the backyard or at the beach. Use only the approved rocks and ornaments. Consult the aquarium books. Some rocks and all shells dissolve out substances into the water that can be harmful. 3. Gravel- you should have the proper amount of clean washed gravel in the tank, and slope the gravel so that it is higher in the rear and lower in the front of the tank. Use approved aquarium gravel only. 4. Tank cleaning- I found that the fish really hate having their water changed and sometimes they die from this. There is a siphon system with a large diameter tube on the end that lets you suck gravel into the tube and it gets the dirt out without having to drain the tank. It's like a vacuum cleaner for fish tank gravel. Pretty cool. I never used it, but it seems like a good idea. I usually get bottom feeders to keep the tank clean. Recommend Cory Doras. They are really cool fish and like to poke around the gravel in pairs or teams. 5. Places to hide- Fish like having hiding places. It makes them feel safe and secure thus reducing their stress levels. I recommend thickly foliaged plastic plants and ornaments or rocks with chambers and holes. Both main tanks and quarantine tanks should have them.
I have a cichlid tank. Great fish to keep just becareful not to mix the breeds, they are very aggressive & territorial. Beautiful fish though, just having a large tank does take a lot of up keep. I had a huge problem w/live plants so unless you get fish that won't mess w/them I would stick w/the plastic. My fish would break and tear them out of the ground, so most of them were left on the top of the tank or clogging the filter. Good luck!
ok...wow....there is a lot of random vague advice here.... i have 2 tanks: a community tank and an african cichlid tank. both are 55 gallons. i've done a lot of research, and learned a lot by trial and error. i also have a 20 gallon tank for the babies we manage to save. i've been keeping fish for a few years, and here's my two cents... QUOTE: #1 "Don't put too many live plants in the tank. Plants sometimes carry diseases." NO! LIVE PLANTS ARE GOOD FOR YOUR FISH. rinse all plants with tap water and it will kill any diseases, snails, etc. also be aware: fish carry diseases too, so be careful and only buy fish that look healthy. QUOTE # 2 "Fill the tank using bottled water if possible. " DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME/MONEY. all pet stores carry a WATER CONDITIONER. follow the instructions and add it to your bucket of water before adding new tap water. it will regulate the ph, kill the chlorine, etc. and it's easy. QUOTE # 3. "Catfish + most other fish = bad. " NOT TRUE!!!! the term "catfish" refers to hundreds of different species. there are dozens of species of "cories", aka "cory cats", real name: corydoras. they are cute and friendly and get along with all fish. they don't get very big, but you have to keep at least 3. they like to chill together. Plecos are also catfish. they're the ones that stick to the glass and eat your algae. i highly recommend one. he'll keep your tank clean, and they're very mild mannered. bristle nose plecos stay small, while some others get huge quick. rafael catfish are very cute, but they hide ALL day. you'll never see them.do your research, and you'll be fine. QUOTE #4. " Do not put rocks or shells in the tank that you find in the backyard or at the beach" well, i've heard this before, but i always use stuff from outside. it looks more natural. if it's huge, i run hot water over it in the tub for a while, if it's small enough, i boil it. some advice from me: if you're gonna have anything with "whiskers", like corydoras or botias, etc. use sand, not pebbles, or it will break their whiskers. i use play sand you get at Home Depot for $3. it's a 50 lb. bag. it's totally safe, cheap, and all my fish are healthy and happy and breeding like mad. also, if you want bottom feeders, look into botias or loaches (not clown loaches--they're mean and they get HUGE). they are fun, and have great little personalities, not to mention unique patterns. swordtails are very hardy livebearers, meaning if you get male and female, you'll have babies every month. most will get eaten unless you remove mama when she's pregnant. (same goes for guppies, but their lifespan is much shorter) stay away from anything in the cichlid family until you really know what you're doing. they're awesome fish for the advanced keeper, though. you will get much conflicting advice from all over. research online and take out books from your library. that's the best info there is. http://www.fishforums.com/forum/ is a good place too. ppl will answer your questions, and there's a lot of info there. feel free to PM or IM me anytime with questions. my bf and i are very knowledgeable on the subject. good luck and keep us posted. peace. LP
