New member with a few questions

I have used Big Al's , Doctors Foster and Smith and Aquarium Guys. You can search around here and find regular topics discussing on-line stores. Big Al's has a low-price guarantee, and is usually cheapest, although I still use the others when Big Al's doesn't have what I want, or I need something for the Beagle, in which case, combining the order at Drs. Foster and Smith is the economical way to go.

The best advice I can give to a potential aquarist is to get Boruchowitz's A Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums and read it through before you do anything else. It is easy to read through, yet pretty complete, and gives good stocking schemes to choose from so you know that you're not overstocked or mixing incompatible species. On the web, I've found The First Tank Guide to be invaluable although some people have taken exception to details of information on specific species. For the most part, this site discusses equipment choices and has very little on choosing fish.

EDIT: I don't know that all plants are necessarily hard to maintain, but for starting out a new tank, I think they add an unnecessary complexity. I'd suggest getting it going with the fish, stabilize your husbandry practices and tank chemistry for a few months, and then research plants.

http://www.bigalsonline.com/
This place is really popular for buying equipment.

I'm also pretty new to this. I'll be getting my first tank (46Gallon) probably Thursday or so and am thrilled! I had a kiddie tank about 10 years ago but didn't do anything real serious (didn't know anything about it really since I was to young).

Make sure to read through the cycling article. I'm still trying to get a handle on it but will do a fishless cycle I think.

As far as plants go, I'd say go for it but do the research first as there are some lighting requirements. Some low-light plants you don't have to do CO2 injection or fertilizing. However, the more I read about keepign plants the more I want to do it all the way. I think the reward of having the natural planted look is worth the effort.

www.aquahobby.com really helped me as they have a big list of fish species with readers comments so you can see what others have experienced with any given fish.

as far as live plants, I just started with a java fern. I would say it is one of th better plants to start out with because it requires very little as far as tending and maintenance.


Good Luck.

If you think you'll go with live plants, be sure to get a good substrate for them. Starting with the java fern is a good suggestions.

If you go with fake, you might want to use silk. They generally look more realistic than plastic. Big als and foster and smith both have some nice ones :thm:

If you want live plants get some that are easy and almost industructable.

Java Fern - Slow grower and requires low light, Pretty hard to kill unless you're literally TRYING to kill it.

Hornwort - Pretty hardy and just floats at the top, gives fry nice spaces to hide in and also releases chemicals that doesn't let algae grow too well. Requires little light

Duck Weed - (Caution on this one, you will NEVER beable to get rid of it once you introduce it to your tank its like immortal)

Liveaquaria.com has some very good pages on fish care. Once you find the type of fish you want, just Scroll down and it will tell you if it is easy or hard to take care of and all the special requirements that you need to help it thrive, you can also get the fish delivered right to your door.