:welcome: Just a reminder up if you go with option 3 ammonia to cycle tank make sure the ammonia has no perfumes, surfactants or other additives. And don't forget a good water conditioner such as prime.
Newbie Needs Reality Check - Buying First Tank (Acrylic)
- Thread starter Naught
- Start date
Hi there,
you may also want to join a local fish keeping community and buy a sponge/get a bucket of cycled water/and old filter pad/etc from someone to help cycle =) I heard they need to be within a 30 minute drive if you're borrowing germs
With cycling fish, I personally would be traumatized if the first fishie that I bought home died from the stress, and I'm (technically) a "grown up", so...just saying, your kids may fall in love with Mr Cycles.
On the other hand fish death may be inevitable even with the best of care =P And it might be a good introductory point for life discussions too....
you may also want to join a local fish keeping community and buy a sponge/get a bucket of cycled water/and old filter pad/etc from someone to help cycle =) I heard they need to be within a 30 minute drive if you're borrowing germs
With cycling fish, I personally would be traumatized if the first fishie that I bought home died from the stress, and I'm (technically) a "grown up", so...just saying, your kids may fall in love with Mr Cycles.
On the other hand fish death may be inevitable even with the best of care =P And it might be a good introductory point for life discussions too....
Thanks.
I've warned my 5 year old that we are new at this, and the fish may die. I won't use option #1 for cycling, so hopefully that'll increase our odds.
We talk back and forth:
"What happens if the fish get too hot or too cold?".. they die
"What happens if we overfeed them?" ... they die
"What happens if we underfeed them?" ... they die
"what happens if Daddy gets the chemicals wrong? ... they die
etc.
At this point, I think she'll be amazed if we actually keep one alive for more than a day!:dance2:
I've warned my 5 year old that we are new at this, and the fish may die. I won't use option #1 for cycling, so hopefully that'll increase our odds.
We talk back and forth:
"What happens if the fish get too hot or too cold?".. they die
"What happens if we overfeed them?" ... they die
"What happens if we underfeed them?" ... they die
"what happens if Daddy gets the chemicals wrong? ... they die
etc.
At this point, I think she'll be amazed if we actually keep one alive for more than a day!:dance2:
LoL you're an awesome dad =)
I'm sure your fish will do fine, you've done way way way more homework than most beginning fish keepers =D remember to put up pictures as you put it all together!
I'm sure your fish will do fine, you've done way way way more homework than most beginning fish keepers =D remember to put up pictures as you put it all together!
I would post here and ask for media from established tanks from someone local to you. Go to the swap and stop section and put up a WTB -established media and your location, see if anyone within a couple miles of you will let you come pick some up. Its soooo much easier.
Bacteria colonies will survive MUCH longer than 1/2 hour. Just put in a bag so it doesn't dry out- its actually better if its not submerged in standing water.
I would also suggest getting a python (or DIY one at home depot- they sell faucet adapters and hose, probably ~ $15-$20 if price is an issue, just make sure you have the right parts to attach to your faucet)
With kids, I would def get some sort of top or cover. All kinds of stuff will end up in that tank. Kids like to "help". They like to help "feed" the fish, I've seen everything from fruity pebbles to m&ms. They like to help "decorate". They like to "share their toys" with the fish. My bosses 4 year old actually put his blackberry in the tank one day- I have no idea what her reasoning was.... but I am sure she had one.
As for safety- a tank is heavy and not easy to knock over or break. I have two 80 lb pitbulls who go tear-assing through the house chasing each other and playing. Many times they have knocked me right off my feet, but they have yet to knock over or damage a tank- though they have knocked into the 90 hard enough to slosh water out of the top (SCARRRRY). If the kids like to play baseball in the house- that's a different story....
Bacteria colonies will survive MUCH longer than 1/2 hour. Just put in a bag so it doesn't dry out- its actually better if its not submerged in standing water.
I would also suggest getting a python (or DIY one at home depot- they sell faucet adapters and hose, probably ~ $15-$20 if price is an issue, just make sure you have the right parts to attach to your faucet)
With kids, I would def get some sort of top or cover. All kinds of stuff will end up in that tank. Kids like to "help". They like to help "feed" the fish, I've seen everything from fruity pebbles to m&ms. They like to help "decorate". They like to "share their toys" with the fish. My bosses 4 year old actually put his blackberry in the tank one day- I have no idea what her reasoning was.... but I am sure she had one.
As for safety- a tank is heavy and not easy to knock over or break. I have two 80 lb pitbulls who go tear-assing through the house chasing each other and playing. Many times they have knocked me right off my feet, but they have yet to knock over or damage a tank- though they have knocked into the 90 hard enough to slosh water out of the top (SCARRRRY). If the kids like to play baseball in the house- that's a different story....
I have a 30 long in our living room and have a 3 and 6 yr old boys and 2 large dogs and they have yet to come close to knocking it over..We have even had rubber balls bounced off the glass,and toy arrows with those suction cups shot at it lol ..So far were doing good with it,tanks are pretty tough..So have fun and hope you really get enjoyment outta the new venture..
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I agree that you should get some established media, I would recommend you ask an LFS first, they're likely to let you (at least mine does) and it will probably be faster than looking around.
You want to be careful picking up media from the LFS... You never know what else might be in it as far as pathogens. Would def try to get from a fellow hobbiest with a clean healthy tanks first.
Also, if you seed the filter with established media, don't forget that bacteria needs to eat- it should go in at or near the same time as the fish.
Also, if you seed the filter with established media, don't forget that bacteria needs to eat- it should go in at or near the same time as the fish.
Thanks everyone!
Gravel
This got me thinking, and my latest research tangent went in the direction of gravel.
Santa had bought my kids a 14 gallon glass tank for Christmas, with the plan to put it on an old TV stand. Once I started researching things, I decided to scrap it all and do it right from scratch. The TV stand wasn't safe, and a 14 gallon tank just did not have enough presence to look good in the living room. So I never actually had any fish yet, but I did mention in my original post I had a net!
I also have 25 pounds of blue gravel (see link below), a 50 watt heater, a back of tank filter for a 15 gallon tank, some 7 plastic plants and 2 small caves, and some food/chemicals.
http://www.petco.com/product/107325/PETCO-Blue-Jean-Mix-Aquarium-Gravel.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
As I read more, it seems blue gravel is universally hated by serious hobbyists, even though it fills shelves in the fishstore. I guess it's all the newbies like me buying it.
So my question is if this just a style preference, or are there functional reasons as well? I am not trying to replicate nature (if I were, I wouldn't mix fish from different parts of the world and I'd let the fish eat each other). My kids liked the gaudy glow-in-the-dark plastic plants and fluorescent caves. I have to admit I did too.
So some specific questions:
1. Will the low light plants mentioned above in this thread survive in this gravel (will any plant)?
2. I read bottom dwelling cory catfish could hurt themselves on some gravels... would this be one of them?
I only have $14 invested in the gravel and I know it is very hard to change later...but I kinda liked it.
Stand
The stand is already shipped and should be here Wednesday! That was much faster than they promised.
I noticed the carpet where I planned to place it has a seam where the padding meets... the carpet is continuous but I can feel the padding is not. At first I was disappointed the stand did not continously touch the floor, but now it seems a good thing... I can straddle the seam. Once I get the stand, if it is not level still, I can move it to all on one side of the seam, but that would not be my prefered location for aesthetic reasons.
Lighting
It was very hard to get info on the acrylic aquariums, It seems SeaClear does not have good lighting. See the pictures and comments halfway down:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...935-46-bowfront-goldfish-grazing-project.html
I'll wait and see how mine looks, and if I will try plants or not.
Gravel
This got me thinking, and my latest research tangent went in the direction of gravel.
Santa had bought my kids a 14 gallon glass tank for Christmas, with the plan to put it on an old TV stand. Once I started researching things, I decided to scrap it all and do it right from scratch. The TV stand wasn't safe, and a 14 gallon tank just did not have enough presence to look good in the living room. So I never actually had any fish yet, but I did mention in my original post I had a net!
I also have 25 pounds of blue gravel (see link below), a 50 watt heater, a back of tank filter for a 15 gallon tank, some 7 plastic plants and 2 small caves, and some food/chemicals.
http://www.petco.com/product/107325/PETCO-Blue-Jean-Mix-Aquarium-Gravel.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
As I read more, it seems blue gravel is universally hated by serious hobbyists, even though it fills shelves in the fishstore. I guess it's all the newbies like me buying it.
So my question is if this just a style preference, or are there functional reasons as well? I am not trying to replicate nature (if I were, I wouldn't mix fish from different parts of the world and I'd let the fish eat each other). My kids liked the gaudy glow-in-the-dark plastic plants and fluorescent caves. I have to admit I did too.
So some specific questions:
1. Will the low light plants mentioned above in this thread survive in this gravel (will any plant)?
2. I read bottom dwelling cory catfish could hurt themselves on some gravels... would this be one of them?
I only have $14 invested in the gravel and I know it is very hard to change later...but I kinda liked it.
Stand
The stand is already shipped and should be here Wednesday! That was much faster than they promised.
I noticed the carpet where I planned to place it has a seam where the padding meets... the carpet is continuous but I can feel the padding is not. At first I was disappointed the stand did not continously touch the floor, but now it seems a good thing... I can straddle the seam. Once I get the stand, if it is not level still, I can move it to all on one side of the seam, but that would not be my prefered location for aesthetic reasons.
Lighting
It was very hard to get info on the acrylic aquariums, It seems SeaClear does not have good lighting. See the pictures and comments halfway down:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...935-46-bowfront-goldfish-grazing-project.html
I'll wait and see how mine looks, and if I will try plants or not.
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1. Those plants will be fine in the gravel you mentioned.
2. Cory Cats should be fine, they hurt themselves on sharp gravels, from the picture it doesn't look like it's too sharp in my opinion.
3. If you like blue gravel/glow in the dark decor and it works for you no reason not to use it. I agree though that eventually you'll probably wish you had gone for something else.
4. For lighting, if you go for the plants mentioned you shouldn't really have a problem with lighting, almost any light will work. You could try some CFLs.
2. Cory Cats should be fine, they hurt themselves on sharp gravels, from the picture it doesn't look like it's too sharp in my opinion.
3. If you like blue gravel/glow in the dark decor and it works for you no reason not to use it. I agree though that eventually you'll probably wish you had gone for something else.
4. For lighting, if you go for the plants mentioned you shouldn't really have a problem with lighting, almost any light will work. You could try some CFLs.
