Questions on setting up a 30 gal

I actually don't run air any of my tanks. I have HoB or Hang on Back filters that create pleanty of surface agitation. Unless you're filter requires it, I would see if the 10gal model puts out enough air for what you want. If you're using an aquatech 20-40 you'll get pleanty of disolved oxygen from the water spilling down from the filter. Now, if you were running an under gravel filter system that counted on that air dragging water with it....yes more is better.

If I were going to use an air pump on my tanks it would be for a "bubble wall" or to run one of the active-air decorations that my kids love. Little one would do the trick. You could always use the $20 to buy a second aquaclear 20-40. In my opinion would be a better use of the money.
 
I have another question. There are two places in town that sell fish, but I wouldn't want to buy from either. One is Walmart and they aren't one of those good Walmarts as far as the fish go. In fact, we were there yesterday and I noticed that not only did nearly every tank have at least one dead fish, some had half a dead fish. Which, of course, means it's been there a while :( The other store is a locally owned pet store, but the tanks are always kind of scummy and cloudy. And I've seen dead fish in their tanks on more then one occasion.

There is a town about an hour drive from here that has a PetSmart and a PetCo, but you don't always know what you are getting from there. Otherwise, there is a wonderful(!) fish place near Minneapolis, but that's a little over two hours away.

Would that be too far to drive if we asked for larger bags, brought blankets to keep them stable and warm, kept the car warm and went straight home from there?

I know that ordering fish online is also an option, but we'd prefer to see them and pick them out ourselves.
 
Bring a cooler to put the bags in with the blankets.As long as the heat in your car works,the drive should not hurt them at all.I would also ask them to double bag them,as well as using large bags.
 
I can do that. We have a large-ish cooler that would be plenty big enough for the fish bags and a blanket. Thanks!
 
I agree that you'd be fine. I've bought fish in CT and driven them back to MA before with no problems. Worth it for better stock.
 
As for your LFS... cloudy tanks are not necessarily bad... Algea-filled water isn't bad for the fish, just makes 'em harder to "look at".
If he's breeding them... for sale... and the tanks are heavily stocked... I wouldn't be concerned about a dead fish floating in a crowded tank... hard to avoid that in those conditions. (Now, if it's out of hand with dead fish in every tank, or lots of them... that's a different story.)
If it's a small LFS you really have to cut them a little slack... it's a low-margin business and they may not be able to afford to hire more help... It can get hard to keep up with everything enough to keep it "pretty"... that doesn't necessarily mean it's not "healthy" though.
 
As for the LFS, it's more then that. I don't think they pay much attention to the animals, really. I've seen fish with pop-eye in the tanks (not labeled "not for sale" or "being observed") and fin rot.

The rodent cages always seem to have runny poo (a sign of illness) and they always have kittens right at the peak of cuteness (a sign they might use kitten mills). They also seem to hire a lot of teenagers who care more about flirting with each other then running the store.

I normally like to give money to the local small business owners, but when purchasing a live animal, I want to make sure it came from somewhere it was taken care of. :) You do make a good point though, not pretty doesn't equal unhealthy and, on the opposite end, pretty doesn't equal healthy.
 
If your plan is for live plants I would upgrade your lights. For the plants you mentioned, I think you would want about 2 watts per gallon. Maybe a Compact Flourescent light at about 60 watts.
 
I agree with willsher.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom