Back into the hobby ...

J

jaylin

Don't ask if you don't want to know
Aug 14, 2005
519
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Denver-ish Colorado.
Hi ... I'm new to this forum and after a 5 year break I'm getting back into the fishies! Yay!

My big delimma is deciding on what kinds of fish to stock. I haven't purchased the tank yet, but I'm considering getting a 20 gal hex for the challenge of stocking at all levels (pro's/con's on the hex??) If I don't go hex, I'll probably get a standard 20 gal to start.

Anyway, I've poked through this forum and found some good information. I'd like to hear what people would suggest for a "getting back into it" set up. Some guidelines would be that I love having an active tank. I plan to do live plants and I think inverts are cool.

Does anyone have any advice for me??

Thanks!
 
Generally speaking, a longer tank is better than a taller one - longer tanks offer more surface area and room for swimming. You can still do some varied level stocking with a standard 20g. If you are going planted, you might want a colorful, small group of tetras for the mid-level- maybe a few hatchet fish for the top (not as easy to find these days, but very cool) and a small group of cories for the bottom. I'm not experienced with fresh water inverts, so you need to check compatability issues in that regard. Whatever you decide, welcome back and have fun!!!

ps. Hatchets jump..have a good hood on the tank! :sim:
 
I'm about in the same place. I took a decade hiatus but then adopted a friends tank. I have a 20 gallon with a Blood Red Parrot & a Pleco. I thought they look great but I'm now having to upgrade to a larger tank. I now have a 65gallon, so I'm making some of the same decisions now as you.

I guess you have to make some broad decisions first. Salt, fresh, brackish or Rift lake seems to be the first big choices. This will limit what you can get in the future since it is difficult to convert from one type of aquarium to another without getting rid of fish. As much as I'm interested in Rift lakes, my two fish can't do that. Nor am I interested in having multiple tanks in my tiny Brooklyn apartment.

Figure out where you stand on natural fish vs unnatural bred fish (a hot debate on aquarium sites). After adopting my Blood Red Parrot I read up on him to discover that at one time there were picket lines outside of pet shops that sold these. They called it a Frankenstein fish.

Then there's several schools of aquarium design that can help guide you with fish selection. Japanese, dutch, biotope, natural. Again, I would love to do a Biotope but a Blood Red Parrot has no place in a biotope.

My point is there's several preferences I've developed since I've become more informed that I can't do working with the fish I already own. I've become very attached to my two fish so I want to continue spoiling them but that means it may be several years before I can do my first Rift lake Biotope. You on the other hand can start from scratch, a very exciting place but learn the difficulty levels between each type.
 
Just a personal opinion, but I had a 35g hex and I really didn't care for it. The fish were not very active b/c they didn't have much room to swim back and forth, and it just didn't look very big due to the shape.
 
Ok, it seems the hex is out.


Mathchris, I'm very interested in the schools of aquarium design that you mentioned. Do you have any good links you could recommend? (I think a biotope sounds cool too. Maybe I'm onto something here.)
 
aquabotanic.com Is my favorite site devoted to the Japanese school which takes centuries of Japanese art & landscaping & applies it to the aquarium.

I have more links, I'll write again when I have them in front of me. Try Googleing "dutch planted aquarium design" n the meantime.
 
Yeah, 20 long sounds like the way to go. Check goodwill and ebay before you buy. I lost a 20 long complete setup for 31 bucks. Ive bought two tanks at goodwill, 29 gallon complete for 15 bucks, and a 30 gallon complete with stand for 65 bucks. If you are paitent, there are good deals out there.
 
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