Choosing an aquarium advice

A hundred and fifty-nine bucks for a 29 gallon starter kit?
Please tell me that comes with a stand for that price! They're $109.99 at my store...no stand though.

*Edit*
Crap...I need to get some sleep...I didn't see the 'C' after those dollar amounts you posted. :duh:
If the size difference of 4 gallons for the same price is not an issue, consider the equipment and how good it is, any warranty you might get and how easy it is to get things like filter cartridges and other things you will be replacing frequently. With the tank from Wal-Mart you will only be able to get filter cartridges there and nowhere else.

Hello, welcome to the board. If you are not in any hurry to get started, try looking around locally for a used aquarium. Perhaps the best deal I ever found was an 80 gallon aquarium with hood/lights and a background that I paid $40 for. Another option rather than buying a kit is to buy the aquarium locally, then go to some online stores to get the equipment. Generally it is much cheaper to buy online than in stores. If you or someone you know (such as a carpenter) is skillful at wood working, you can make your own stand much cheaper than buying a premade one.

The best beginner fish out of the ones you mentioned would be a betta IMO. A male betta in a 5 gallon aquarium with a 25 watt heater, some silk or live plants (hardy species to start out with such as java fern), and a thin layer of gravel would be great. Many people will recommend a small filter with a betta, but I like not having a filter and letting the beneficial bacteria on the gravel and live plants do the filtering.

You should read up on cycling an aquarium also if you have not done so yet.

No, not Canadian dollars, I'm all tired and frazzled and didn't see that before posting. Sorry.
Don't plan on keeping angels in that size tank for more than a few months because they will outgrow it. The others you said you want to put in there will prolly be ok together if you watch the betta and make sure he isn't roughing up the guppies.

I've heard it isn't a good idea to keep betta with guppies....they are very similar to each other in coloring and fancy fins....the bettas think they're other bettas. But...I haven't ever tried to mix them myself, so who knows...just watch closely ...

159 for a 29G? I got my 55G set-up at Walmart for 149, then paid 200 for a wooden stand. That is very high. The Walmart tank has worked fine for me, I've only had to replace the heater. As long as you just want community fish that don't tax your filter, they work fine. The lighting is also a basic set-up, I grow low light plants with 35 watts of light--java moss, java fern, red melon sword, and some type of wendti. I have other swords that sort of limp along but I replace them if needed. Eventually I want to upgrade to better lighting but for now it works great.

If money is no object and you know exactly what you want, then by all means buy piece by piece. But I think a set-up from Walmart is a great beginning to the hobby that won't break the bank. You can always upgrade later when you know what you want.

I'd also consider getting a 55 if you can swing it and have the space. Not much more expensive, more room for fish, and just as easy (if my opinion easier) to maintain.

Jackie

I spent $130CANADAIN! on my 20g starter kit. Probably the dumbest thing I ever did. I ended up getting an all new filter, hood and lights. I would first decide on plants or not because that it what made me change everything in my tank. Also don't get the WalMart kit. It sucks! The stuff in there is very cheep. I suggest buying from your LFS like BigAls.

Kasakato said:

I spent $130CANADAIN! on my 20g starter kit. Probably the dumbest thing I ever did. I ended up getting an all new filter, hood and lights. I would first decide on plants or not because that it what made me change everything in my tank. Also don't get the WalMart kit. It sucks! The stuff in there is very cheep. I suggest buying from your LFS like BigAls.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I spent the same. I got the one from Big Al's with the Penguin BioWheel filter, Dual Temp submersible heater and a big bunch of other goodies (In addition to what Marineland put in the kit, Big Al's actually adds quite a bit of nice stuff, like some decorations, and a full-size bottle of flake food, along with larger water conditioner samples). Since I'm probably not going to have live plants any time soon, this set up will work nicely for me for a while. If I switch to having live plants, I will have to upgrade the light hood, since this one only gives me 0.5 watts per gallon.

What is the wattage on the hood for the Waterhome? My understanding is that you need at least 2 watts per gallon to keep a variety of plants. A low light tank is really limited, and even more so if the tank is deep.