I'm a newbie here and have a question
- Thread starter pacersfan09
- Start date
ABSOLUTELY!
but is it really only a difference of $40? does that include filtration? a stand? the additional gravel/decorations?
my honest recommendation since you're fortunate (and prepared) enough to learn before you make the mistakes that most of the rest of us did as newbs...
is to do a fishless cycle on the largest aquarium set up you can afford. then after that's done, just get a couple of the types of fish that you listed.. in the numbers you've decided on. This gives you the chance to learn about and experience these particular fish on their own, then after you're comfortable with them, add another group of another type of fish, and learn/experience them before you add more.
i think one of the worst difficulties (besides not reading/planning ahead, which you're quite obviously doing, way to go!!) is that people just go overboard and get overwhelmed. if you have a ton of different fish in your tank, there could be things going on all over the place and you're not going to know what's what.
by getting them one group at a time, you learn how they're supposed to behave, and what to expect, before moving on to the next group. by not filling your tank up with fish to begin with, this also gives you a little more room for error!
but is it really only a difference of $40? does that include filtration? a stand? the additional gravel/decorations?
my honest recommendation since you're fortunate (and prepared) enough to learn before you make the mistakes that most of the rest of us did as newbs...
is to do a fishless cycle on the largest aquarium set up you can afford. then after that's done, just get a couple of the types of fish that you listed.. in the numbers you've decided on. This gives you the chance to learn about and experience these particular fish on their own, then after you're comfortable with them, add another group of another type of fish, and learn/experience them before you add more.
i think one of the worst difficulties (besides not reading/planning ahead, which you're quite obviously doing, way to go!!) is that people just go overboard and get overwhelmed. if you have a ton of different fish in your tank, there could be things going on all over the place and you're not going to know what's what.
by getting them one group at a time, you learn how they're supposed to behave, and what to expect, before moving on to the next group. by not filling your tank up with fish to begin with, this also gives you a little more room for error!
alright i think ill go bigger because if the tank is bigger than i can have more fish
for a 55g what should i have ?
maybe 2 different species top water fish like guppy and danio
2 different midwater like 1 gourami and some barbs
and 2 bottoem dwellers like 1 clown loach gets to be 6 in. my book says and a clown pleco?
i want a well balanced aqaurium on top mid and bottom any suggestions for 55g?
First off, don't trust the info you read in a book. Usually it's fine, but sometimes it can get corrupted (Stocking plans, fish sizes are the most common I find).
Secondly, Petsmarts have a reputation for being really bad. The ones I've seen are worse than I thought they'd be. Hopefully you have one of the better ones, but I'd suggest getting fish somewhere else.
Now, this one is really important. You have to 'cycle' your tank before you stock it. There are 2 ways: Fishless (easy) and Fishy (cruel and hard). Before I get on to those, I will tell you how the cycle goes.
At first, you will just get readings of ammonia and nitrite, prefferably over .5 ppm (usually higher, which can be achieved by 'feeding' the tank more). After it's been like this for a while (it can take days for it to have readings), nitrates will start to show. This might take a few weeks. Once the ammonia and nitrites have gone down quite low (far down below .5 ppm) or even disappeared, do a large water change. Test and change until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5-15 nitrate. Fish can typically take up to 40 nitrate, but it's unhealthy for them. Now, get a few of the small fish you'll stock, and wait a week or 2. Get some more, repeat until you have a full tank (this usually happens 3-4 times).
You can either use Fishless, which lets you 'feed' the tank, or Fishy, which is putting a hardy fish in and letting it's gills be ruined and shortening it's life, and letting it crap instead of feeding. To keep the fish alive, you'll be testing once to twice daily and changing the water every day or 2. Financially, Fishless is better as well.
Now, a few random tips:
-Treat your water with Prime or Stresscoat (Prime above all others). They are dechlorinaters and provide helpful slime for your fishes skin.
-Check with the members here before you buy any plants, fish, or invertebrates. You may be buying a monster fish.
-Make sure you have all the equipment. Net(s), Filter(s), heater, gravel, tank, hood, lights, etc.
-Do NOT get UGFs (under gravel filters). Black gunk will come out of it and foul your tank eventually, and I don't find them very effective.
-Don't buy less than 6 schooling fish, and 4+ social/grouping fish.
-Don't buy an over-large fish hoping it will stay small. It will either get big and (probably) murder everything else, or it will get stunted and die a bad death.
As for your list, I'll put the bad ones in red, the maybe ones in blue (yellow is too light), and the goodies in green.
Guppies - Good begginer fish, keep at a ratio of 1 male for every 2/3 females, they breed like crazy but usually tankmates and parents eat them. Very hardy, cheap, grow to (males) 1.5" and (females) 1.5-2".
Danios - Good begginer fish, need schools of 6+. Very active, somewhat easy to breed but need a specialised tank to do it. Extremely cheap, tough as nails, and only get to 2" max.
Platies - Good bigginer fish, very similar to the guppy in characteristics. Livebearing and a crazy breeder (like the guppy), they come in many, many color forms (like the guppy). Hardy, cheap, grow to 2-2.5".
Rosy Barbs - These are fairly hardy semi-begginers fish, but they need schools of 6+ and get 4" long, and arn't all that cheap. Can be nippy. Not for your tank.
Gouramis - Depends on what kind of gourami you want. If you want plenty of other fish, sparkling, honey, and dwarf (although they are currently quite frail from inbreeding) are nice. Pearls get pretty big. Three spots (AKA blue, gold, etc.) are pretty agressive and get 4-6". Sparklings get 1.5", honeys 2", and dwarves 2-2.5".
Clown Loaches - Fairly hardy, moderate care levels, IMO. Need schools of 4+, but love to dogpile with more, they get 12-16" and need tanks of 180g+.
Clown Plecos - I'm not sure on this, because I've heard of clowns and royals and others all getting huge, and only one kind only gets a few inches. Anyway, most kinds get 12"+ and are 30$+, so I'd skip them, IMO. They're also crap factories.
Angelfish - These are very pretty fish, but get large (6" long, very tall) and, IMO, need tanks of at least 40g, although some people say a 30g is enough. You could only have 1, because the alternative is 4 (way, WAY too many for a tank under 55g). Delicate as youngsters, fairly hardy as large adults, anything less than 4 will have a week one to be picked on, unless a single one or a breeding pair (sometimes 1 will still kill the other).
Secondly, Petsmarts have a reputation for being really bad. The ones I've seen are worse than I thought they'd be. Hopefully you have one of the better ones, but I'd suggest getting fish somewhere else.
Now, this one is really important. You have to 'cycle' your tank before you stock it. There are 2 ways: Fishless (easy) and Fishy (cruel and hard). Before I get on to those, I will tell you how the cycle goes.
At first, you will just get readings of ammonia and nitrite, prefferably over .5 ppm (usually higher, which can be achieved by 'feeding' the tank more). After it's been like this for a while (it can take days for it to have readings), nitrates will start to show. This might take a few weeks. Once the ammonia and nitrites have gone down quite low (far down below .5 ppm) or even disappeared, do a large water change. Test and change until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5-15 nitrate. Fish can typically take up to 40 nitrate, but it's unhealthy for them. Now, get a few of the small fish you'll stock, and wait a week or 2. Get some more, repeat until you have a full tank (this usually happens 3-4 times).
You can either use Fishless, which lets you 'feed' the tank, or Fishy, which is putting a hardy fish in and letting it's gills be ruined and shortening it's life, and letting it crap instead of feeding. To keep the fish alive, you'll be testing once to twice daily and changing the water every day or 2. Financially, Fishless is better as well.
Now, a few random tips:
-Treat your water with Prime or Stresscoat (Prime above all others). They are dechlorinaters and provide helpful slime for your fishes skin.
-Check with the members here before you buy any plants, fish, or invertebrates. You may be buying a monster fish.
-Make sure you have all the equipment. Net(s), Filter(s), heater, gravel, tank, hood, lights, etc.
-Do NOT get UGFs (under gravel filters). Black gunk will come out of it and foul your tank eventually, and I don't find them very effective.
-Don't buy less than 6 schooling fish, and 4+ social/grouping fish.
-Don't buy an over-large fish hoping it will stay small. It will either get big and (probably) murder everything else, or it will get stunted and die a bad death.
As for your list, I'll put the bad ones in red, the maybe ones in blue (yellow is too light), and the goodies in green.
Guppies - Good begginer fish, keep at a ratio of 1 male for every 2/3 females, they breed like crazy but usually tankmates and parents eat them. Very hardy, cheap, grow to (males) 1.5" and (females) 1.5-2".
Danios - Good begginer fish, need schools of 6+. Very active, somewhat easy to breed but need a specialised tank to do it. Extremely cheap, tough as nails, and only get to 2" max.
Platies - Good bigginer fish, very similar to the guppy in characteristics. Livebearing and a crazy breeder (like the guppy), they come in many, many color forms (like the guppy). Hardy, cheap, grow to 2-2.5".
Rosy Barbs - These are fairly hardy semi-begginers fish, but they need schools of 6+ and get 4" long, and arn't all that cheap. Can be nippy. Not for your tank.
Gouramis - Depends on what kind of gourami you want. If you want plenty of other fish, sparkling, honey, and dwarf (although they are currently quite frail from inbreeding) are nice. Pearls get pretty big. Three spots (AKA blue, gold, etc.) are pretty agressive and get 4-6". Sparklings get 1.5", honeys 2", and dwarves 2-2.5".
Clown Loaches - Fairly hardy, moderate care levels, IMO. Need schools of 4+, but love to dogpile with more, they get 12-16" and need tanks of 180g+.
Clown Plecos - I'm not sure on this, because I've heard of clowns and royals and others all getting huge, and only one kind only gets a few inches. Anyway, most kinds get 12"+ and are 30$+, so I'd skip them, IMO. They're also crap factories.
Angelfish - These are very pretty fish, but get large (6" long, very tall) and, IMO, need tanks of at least 40g, although some people say a 30g is enough. You could only have 1, because the alternative is 4 (way, WAY too many for a tank under 55g). Delicate as youngsters, fairly hardy as large adults, anything less than 4 will have a week one to be picked on, unless a single one or a breeding pair (sometimes 1 will still kill the other).
im almost done with the book i bought and it had a link to this site so i came here and im going to buy the 55g starter kit so it should come with the stuff you listed and i am going to buy extra stuff like a bottom filter, gravel vacuum and stick with non live plants. i think its a good a idea to only buy like 2 kinds of fish to start of with like guppies ( should i get male and female as begginer fry would be cool?) and some zebra danios
Maybe get some corys (8) for the bottom otherwise it will be pretty empty. So 8 guppies, 8 zebra danios, 8 corys...sounds like a good beginner's tank. I'd not go with an UG filter if that's what you meant by bottom. IMO they are crap. I have one and it's a pain. Go HOB or canister if you can afford it.
the book i bought was called "Your happy Healthy Pet: Freshwater Aquarium" by Gregory Skomal and if you say clown loaches and plecos get really big lol the book says 3- 6 in. is that correct lol?
so i should just got HOB filter (whats that?)
and a gravel vacuum to clean the detritus and other stuff instead of a ug filter
Clown loaches get 12" minimum, 16" max. 180g+ tank for those guys. I wouldn't trust that book at ALL if they're giving info that crappy. You might be able to get your money back for it if it's really that bad, lol, you have a set of encyclepedias (sp.) on AC
Here's a few peaceful fish you could try that I haven't mentioned in the before post:
Lemon/Neon/Cardinal/Black Neon tetras: Schools of 6+, 8-10 better, peaceful, easy to take care of, typically 1.5" for all of them.
German Blue/Bolivian Rams: Pairs (male and female), peaceful, bolivians hardy, german blues a bit less, both 3-3.5" max.
Rasboras: Schools of 6+, peaceful, hardy, generally 1.5" (can range from 1" to 2").
Kuhli Loaches: Groups of 4+, 6+ better, will hide if it doesn't have enough friends, hiding spots, or is scared. Very pretty, fairly hardy, peaceful, 3-4".
Cories: All of these are peaceful, all love company (will sometimes die without it), groups of 4+, 6+ better, pretty hardy, peaceful-est things alive, Pygmy/Micro/Dwarf: 1", Panda: 2", Peppered/Albino/Bronze: 2-3". There are many others, typically 2-2.5".
Mollies: Fairly peaceful, 2 females per male, very hardy, 3-4" for the common ones, 4-6" for sailfins.
Swordtails: Peaceful, 2 females to every male, males 2.5-3" (I think) and females 3-4" (I think), hardy.
