Can you suggest a good brand/model aquarium kit?

Question

I am planning to start an aquarium and thinking a betta male fish for a pet but I don't know if it is better for me to get an aquarium kit or start from scratch. And also is a 10 gallon tank good enough or should I go more than that but I don't want a huge tank for a beginner like me. I might add little tropical fishes in the future. SO it is best if the tank might serve me a double purpose. A tank that would be durable enough to last me years.

Let me know the website or the place I can get the tank you recommended.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Kits have the plus of being a bargain, but the minus of all too often including inferior products and items you really don't need. I would suggest you start from scratch.

One brand of tank is really about as good as the nest, no significant differences for your planned uses.

A Whisper power filter would be the best over all bet for filtration needs. It is a good filter at a fair price.

As far as miscellaneous supplies and equipment, such as a heater, thermometer, nets, hood, gravel, etc. they are fairly well in the same class as the aquarium. One brand is as good as the next for the most part. The one note: Don't buy the cheapest heater out there, but a mid grade and you will be fine.

While you can save a few dollars buying over the Internet, I would suggest you consider finding a good aquarium shop in your area. Please avoid the big chain stores as they usually don't offer the highest quality materials or fish and all too often hire based on availability instead of knowledge of the subject. Find a small mom and pop operation where the owner in in store. They care and are usually quite knowledgeable. I would suggest you make your initial purchases there and limit you fish purchases to that store at least at first. Their advice and knowledge will serve you well.

Possibly the most important thing you can buy is a good aquarium book. Even if you only plan on having the one tank and at this time only one fish, get the book and spend some time reading. Knowledge is the key to success in aquariums just as in so many other things.

Answer 2

I am starting up my own aquarium and before I purchased anything I went to the library to check out all the beginner aquarium books I could find, so I could learn everything I could about aquariums before I spent any money on them (to determine whether or not this hobby was for me). One piece of advice that was mentioned over and over in every book was "the bigger, the better." Buy the biggest aquarium you can afford and that you can fit wherever you plan to put it.
I would not recommend a 10 gal. if you plan to get more fish later on, tho your 10 gal. might make a really nice quarantine tank if you decide to go bigger later.
I am a beginner, just like you, and after reading all those books (most of which I turned around and bought on ebay), I decided to try my luck at a 55 gal. I currently have purchased my tank, stand, and filter, but since I have not put anything together yet, I cannot recommend anything right now, but after talking with an employee of Petsmart (who has a couple of aquariums himself), he recommended anything by Marineland, as a good choice, and filters by Bio Wheel. He also recommended a new brand of filter that was relatively new to the market, but I can't remember the brand name on it at this time.
Hope this was a little helpful.

Answer 3

Bigger is always better I say.

The more surface area (not volume) you have in a tank the more fish it can hold generally. More surface area = more oxygen (the surface is where the most oxygen is, airstones etc. will move the water around, moving the O2 rich water from the top to the bottom etc.)

You could definately get a 10 gallon tank for one betta (even smaller would do for that fish, in fact all fish in the gourami family can live in a small amount of water because they can take O2 directly from the air - they have gills and another air thingy called a "labyrinth" which lets them store air). In the wild these fish need to live in muddy puddles with little oxygen, so they can handle a small tank.

However, if you want to expand later, a bigger tank is a must. That said, you can always get a bigger tank later and use your old one as a hospital tank or something like that. It depends on your space and budget (and how serious you want to get). If you live in a place where space is rare (like an apartment). Get the biggest tank you can fit in the space you have. Then you can use it for years.

You mentioned you don't want a huge tank for a beginner like you. In some ways large tanks are easier. They give fish more space, more oxygen (as long as they are not overstocked) and more room for plants etc. to grow.

Now, kit or not:
This depends. Do you want to grow plants? If so, I wouldn't get a kit (kits usually don't have strong lights), I'd buy a tank and light and filter separate. In fact with plants you may not even need a filter, plants "eat" fish waste and chemically filter your water...though you may consider "mechanical filtration" - in my tank I use a small internal filter for mechanical filtration (removing dirt and other particals).

With plants you won't need activated carbon too.

So I'd say this:
1. Get a normal tank, as big as you can fit in the space you have.

2. Get some T5 lights for the top (more powerful than normal fluorescents).

3. Look at the link below to learn how to start a planted tank (do put some plants in your tank, and wood too, your fish - and eyes - will thank you for it).

Go for it.

Oh and if you live in cold place, get a heater (I live in Hong Kong - I don't use heaters as pumps etc. will produce enough warmth for my tank in the mild HK winter).

Oh and as Magicman said, get a book. Go to the library and check out as many books as you can, then go buy the one you like the best. :)

Answer 4

A 10 gallon is great for a betta, but may not house too many tropicals in the future. Any kit will do for a ten gallon, there isn't much difference in quality of small tanks and filters. Get a heater for the betta. Look up information on cycling a tank and get a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Answer 5

You should get the biggest tank you can afford if you are planning to get more then just a Betta(maybe a 20 or 30 gallon, rather then a 10); having more water in a tank will help keep things like temp. and pH more stable.

Answer 6

Petsmart or Petco sells a glass fish tank and an Eclipse brand hood that has a filter and light built in. All you would need is rocks and fish. It would probably run you around $150.

Answer 7

you can get a 10 gallon at walmart with a filter and light hood for 30 dollars. its a start. you will probably want to upgrade most of it. people usually end up going bigger and bigger. i am fascinated with smaller and smaller. i keep bettas in 2 1/2 gallon tanks with a light hood and no filter. the set up is 22.00 at petsmart. works for me and the bettas.

Answer 8

u can go to walmart, petco, petsmart and get a 55 galon tank the cost like $150. the got everything u need except fish....lol