Well, as of tomorrow, I'm going to end up coming to a decision on my pink convict tank. It's a 30 gallon with tahaition moon sand, some rockwork. It's a decent tank, I guess, but with my 55 gallon, job, girlfriend, etc, it's getting less and less attention. I can't keep the fish anymore, and I've had ads in print and on the internet for a while. Tomorrow they are going to be culled, and the tank is going to get cleaned and dried out, all that jazz.
What some who are reading my be wondering, how did I come to this descision?
Well, the first part had to do with my dislike of putting tanks on the second floor of our house, which has no water running up to it. Sure, 5 gallons isn't much the first time you lift it, but try filling two 30 gallon tanks, and three 10 gallons. And not to mention water changes, which were more frequent because it's quite dry upstairs here.
I'm now down to two 10 gallons and the 30. The 10's dont have stands, so they are easier to store. The 30 however will probably just get put into the corner. I simply cant keep up with two fish tanks that have two different filters and water/food needs that are very varied.
I'm mostly typing this all out to give some advice to those thinking about buying more than one tank.
Here's some tips I've learned:
1. Never put the tanks terribly far away from one another. Putting them on the other side of the room or a room away is fine, but don't seperate them by floors. Besides the logistics of water changes and maintenance, people who are interested in your tanks should be able to see them without having to wander around your house to find them.
2. Evaluate your current tank duties and practice good time management. This is escpecially true if you are varying the types of fish in your tank. You will have quite a different experience if you go from keeping goldfish to keeping Oscars or just about any cichlid. Go over how much time and money you spend on upkeep for your single tank.
3. Be consistant in everything. Depending on what type of 2nd tank you wish to get, you may want to look at getting a similar tank to the one you already have. If you have a large tank and are looking (and willing, see step 2) to get a second one, think about getting one the same size or close to it. Try to get the same size/type of filter (again, this depends on what you decide) so that buying filters is more simple, and can cut any learning curve you may not have wanted to go through with a new filter.
3.a Also be consistant with you tests, water changes, lighting, and feeding. Try to develop a good rhythem for feeding your fish during the day.
Okay, so that's the tips for now. Thanks for reading this far down. Any typos or unreadable sentances are my fault because I'm horridly tired. Comments are welcome. If you have more than one tank (I'm sure many of you do) post your tips and tell us what it's like to have two or more.
What some who are reading my be wondering, how did I come to this descision?
Well, the first part had to do with my dislike of putting tanks on the second floor of our house, which has no water running up to it. Sure, 5 gallons isn't much the first time you lift it, but try filling two 30 gallon tanks, and three 10 gallons. And not to mention water changes, which were more frequent because it's quite dry upstairs here.
I'm now down to two 10 gallons and the 30. The 10's dont have stands, so they are easier to store. The 30 however will probably just get put into the corner. I simply cant keep up with two fish tanks that have two different filters and water/food needs that are very varied.
I'm mostly typing this all out to give some advice to those thinking about buying more than one tank.
Here's some tips I've learned:
1. Never put the tanks terribly far away from one another. Putting them on the other side of the room or a room away is fine, but don't seperate them by floors. Besides the logistics of water changes and maintenance, people who are interested in your tanks should be able to see them without having to wander around your house to find them.
2. Evaluate your current tank duties and practice good time management. This is escpecially true if you are varying the types of fish in your tank. You will have quite a different experience if you go from keeping goldfish to keeping Oscars or just about any cichlid. Go over how much time and money you spend on upkeep for your single tank.
3. Be consistant in everything. Depending on what type of 2nd tank you wish to get, you may want to look at getting a similar tank to the one you already have. If you have a large tank and are looking (and willing, see step 2) to get a second one, think about getting one the same size or close to it. Try to get the same size/type of filter (again, this depends on what you decide) so that buying filters is more simple, and can cut any learning curve you may not have wanted to go through with a new filter.
3.a Also be consistant with you tests, water changes, lighting, and feeding. Try to develop a good rhythem for feeding your fish during the day.
Okay, so that's the tips for now. Thanks for reading this far down. Any typos or unreadable sentances are my fault because I'm horridly tired. Comments are welcome. If you have more than one tank (I'm sure many of you do) post your tips and tell us what it's like to have two or more.
