Need help deciding what kit to buy.

[campusk]

I have not had fish since the 10-gallon aquarium I had when I was 13 years old (15 years ago). I am now looking to do it again and am in the process of shopping for the aquarium.

So I went to Petco last night and found three starter kits I liked. I’m having a difficult time choosing which one to get. The weird thing is that the two lowest-priced ones are 29 gallons ($150 and $120), while the most expensive ($170 online, $200 in store) is the 25 gallon (seen here on the website (http://www.petco.com/product_info.asp?familyid=8307&sku=4743190127&tab=3&dept_id=1011&c1=1005&c2=1011&c3=&ct1=Aquariums+%26+Furniture&ct2=Kits&ct3=)).

I’m not sure how much help anyone can provide since I don’t have much of a description of any. The only difference I noticed seems to be in the filters. The 25-gal comes with the Eclipse 2 filtration and illumination system which is all contained in the hood. The two 29-gal kits come with a back-mounting filter (sorry if I’m bad on the terminology). I would assume that, given the price difference, the filter on the 25-gal is much better. If not, the 29-gal kits seem like a huge deal.

So what is more important to keep the fish happy – a good filter, or a longer tank? I appreciate any advice you can give.

[TKOS]

Well the Eclipse systems tend to be pricye, mostly because they are all self contained in a pretty unit. That is not to say they are bad. The question though that I would ask is what do you plan on having? If you want a basic fish tank with some gravel and decorations then any of those will do fine and I would probably go with the bigger one. But if plan on having some live plants then those kits tend to be inadequate. If it were me I would buy all of the pieces separate. Those kits are fine in understocked tanks, but most people overstock their tanks and the filtration is never sufficient.

Ideally look at the filter output and try to aim for a minimum of 5-6 times water movement per hour (gph versus size fo tank). Some people like 10 times water movement.

I like the hang on back filters as they are easy to maintain and get at.

[OrionGirl]

What fish do you want? Plants?

Given a choice between tanks, I will always pick the one with the most surface area. I like tanks that have more front to back depth than vertical height--easier to arrange, better surface exchange of gasses, easier to light. Since I have plants in all my tanks, that's a big deal for me. Taller tanks, like 29's and 55's, are harder to light adequately because of the vertical height, and it can be tough to work in them (picture the tank on a stand, and you're trying to reach the bottom while seeing what you're doing--it's fish yoga at it's worst.

If, however, you're wanting to get an oscar--a 29 is way too small, so none of them will work. For a community tank, either tank will be okay, as long as you stay within the limits. The larger volume of the 29 won't really allow you to have more fish than you can support in the 25.

[tomm10]

I'm not really a fan of the kits. I bought a 10g one for $50 at Petsmart and ended up buying a new filter for it anyway.

My advice would be to get a 29g for the cheapest price you can find. Then go out and buy the filter, heater, and hood (some tanks will come with the hood anyway) that you want.

Do you have any idea what you want to do with the aquarium? What types of fish? Live plants now or in the future?

The 25g is more expensive becuase of the built in hood filtration/lighting. IMO if you are getting a tank for a doctor's office or a classroom this is great but for someone who's using the tank as a gateway into the hobby, it won't really offer you as much flexibility to change lighting and filtration. That wouldn't matter if the price was the same but I don't thinkits worth the extra money.

Tom

[campusk]

Right now, all I know is that I want a freshwater tank. I want to start out basic, but I'd like to have the flexibility of eventually adding live plants when I feel comfortable maintaining them. I'd prefer to have small to medium-sized fish and I don't plan on getting any large-size fish.

Based on what you guys told me, I'm going to ditch my plans for the 25-gal. OrionGirl's points about surface area are things I did not even consider. I think I'll look for a deal in the classified ads for a tank, and then go to a store to buy the rest.

Your feedback has really helped. Thank you very much!

[tomm10]

Good plan. If you have the room for it, I may even suggest a bigger tank :D There are a lot of options in the 4' range. 40, 55, 75, 90 gallons.

In any event, if you plan on going with live plants at some point, don't spend a lot of money on your hood. If you have live plants, lighting will be an issue and you almost certainly won't want one othe standard plastic hood setups that come with most tanks. If you get a used tank it should come with a hood that has one fluorescent fixture in it. That will be fine for the time being.

there are plenty of options for filters, heaters, lights, substrate, etc so before you plunk down any real money, make sure you check here for the skinny on what you're planning to buy. It might save you a wait in the returns line :D

Good luck and welcome!

[gnahc79]

I got a 20gal starter kit from a lfs for about $80 a few weeks ago. I should have just got the tank and maybe the gravel at the lfs. Everything else...online! :) I had no idea the online places woud be 50% cheaper, less if you include shipping.

[TKOS]

If you are at all handy then you can save a lot of money by buying lighting equipment from a place like home depot and building a nice wooden box to store it in. That saves a lot of money and in the end can make you feel more attached to the tank rather than just having a standard plastic hood with tiny lighting. I might suggest buying a sliding glass top from the fish store. This is good as it will stop any of those jumping fish from easily escaping and they don't cost a whole lot.

Also when considering tanks from 29 gallons and up there is the consideration of hang on back filters versus canister filters. Again it depends on taste and what you want to do with your tank. For starters a good hang on back like Aqua Clear or Penguin are realitively cheap and quite durable, IME.

[zin]

IMO kits are a waste of money and most of them include sub-par equitment.

I would personally buy the tank from a lfs or a chain store(possibly cheaper), but for the equitment i would look at shopping at bigalsonline.com or drfostersmith.com

both are incredibly cheaper.

[JesseJ]

I think that your idea of checking the classifieds is a good one. I got my 50 gal and all it's equipment for $250 can. It was the tank, filters, heater, gravel, lighting, stand, plastic plants, and I even got about 70 pounds of different kinds of rocks for decoration. I would have spent about $800 to get that at a store and I wouldn't have gotten very much help with the setup. Have patience and read the classifieds first thing in the morning and pounce on any good looking deals.

[snakeskinner]

Last year I got back into aquarium fish after having a couple 10 gallon setups when I was younger. I found out how much easier things are if you do it right and just keep up with things like water changes and chemical testing. I was given a 55 gallon years ago and decided to equip it last year and have since added a 36 gallon and two 10 gallons to my apartment. Through my recent experiences, here's what I would suggest. First, go to every pet store in your area and figure out what kind of fish you would like to have and then read up on them. Find out what is compatible and how much care they require as well as how large they get and how big of a tank you're gonna need. At the same time, you can get an idea of who in your area you can deal with. See who has guarantees on their fish and ask questions so you can find out who to trust. If there is anyone you know with aquariums, find out where they get their stuff. After you know what kind of fish you want and how many, figure out how big of a tank you need and go from there with your tank hunting. Read as much as you can on this forum and any others you can find about setting things up, maintaining the system and info on the particular fish you like. Do as much research as you can before going to buy anything. Don't take one article as fact, specs vary faster than opinions from book to book to website to website. good luck, Kyle