im thinkin of startin a fishtank would i be better with a cold water one or tropical?

Question

if i go with cold water fish can u put them in with tropical fish if i change my mind or would i need to get another tank ???????

Answer 1

someone said tropical is a salt water tank, this is wrong, salt water is tropical MARINE.
right, afraid this will be a little long winded but bear with me on this, it is important.
firstly do noy attemp a tropical or colwater marine tank, these fish need a great deal of care and attention and are a much more expensive hobby.
certain tropical will survive and thrive in a coldwater tank in the house...room temp is enough for them, cold water fish will survive in a tropical tank, although growth will be fast and it will shorten life span so best kept seperate.
advice wise, read all you can, decide on what fish you like the look of, there are so many different types of fish and most will not live in peace together.
for a learner i would go for something like a south american themed tank, for this you could include the tetras and corydoras (many types of each) and they will be all happy together.
avoid cichlids until you learn more, these come in sizes from a couple of inches to over a foot and demand different styles of tank, for instance, oscars look 'cute' as babies but soon grow into 8+ inches of tank destroying fish, they have wrecked many heaters and stick on internal thermometers are definately out....they like to eat them, or try to.
a larger tank is easier to keep than a smaller one, go for one not less than 3 foot.
the most important thing though is to read as much as you can until you are sure the fish you choose will live together.
the water must be kept clean, you will need regular partial water changes, you will need medication and need to be able to spot ailments in fish (white spot, dropsy, fin rot etc) you will need sterile equiptment.
a lot of people start off with the 'humble' guppy, swordtails and mollies, easy to keep and they are livebearers meaning they 'drop' live young rather than eggs...this can be fun at first but then your tank gets over run with them.
any fish small enough to fit in another fishes mouth is considered a meal.
sorry for the rant but you need to realise there is a lot more than just filling a tank with water and throwing a few random fish in..read up, start up and enjoy the hobby.

Answer 2

I'd go with Tropical, there are a lot more options and the care level isnt any more then a Cold water tank would be. If anything it would be easier. In a cold water tank your limited to goldfish, and some types of cray fish. thats no fun. Also Goldfish tend to give off tonsss of ammonia's. which will make your water extremely cloudy if you dont have a good filter on it. So stick with tropical. that would be my choice.

Answer 3

Tropical fish can not live long in a cold water tank. And cold water fish can not survive a heated tank. You have to go one way or the other or set up another tank.

Answer 4

I would say that you would be better off keeping a tropical tank. The only cost difference is getting a heater for your tropical that would not be needed for a coldwater tank and there is a greater variety of tropical fishes available in the hobby than coldwater fishes. If you cnaged your mind later you wouldn't need to do anything except remove the tropical fish and the heater to then have a coldwater tank ready for coldwater fishes.

MM

Answer 5

i dont really know of a "cold" water tank..unless your thinking of getting trout, which i doubt. now fish that dont really need tropical temps like goldfish are fine..it just depends on what you want.. i would think you wouldnt want to mix these as some tropical fish have different water requirements to consider other than tempeture.. like ph, hardness etc. but..if you have say..goldfish and you arent satisfied you could prob return them to the store and start with something different.. the only difference between what you call a cold water tank and tropicals is simply adding a heater..so you wouldnt need another tank.

Answer 6

It's best to keep them separated, cold water and tropical fish thrive in their environments but can die in others. Tropical tanks are not at all hard to maintain once you have the routine down and the proper supplies.

Answer 7

A tropical tank is salt water only fish that can live in salt water can go in that tank. If this is your first time having a fish tank start off with non salt water fish they are easier to take care of and then you can see how you do with that and get another tank for salt water if you want. I started off with Gupies they are cute little cheap fish but unless you have a big tank dont put a boy and girl togthere they breed like crazy. Good luck.

Answer 8

it really depends on your bank balance and how much time you are willing to put into researching everything.
cold water are relatively cheep and easy to look after, you only need a filter and air pump, but the fish are not as interesting
tropical tanks are expensive to set up, you need to make sure your nitrates are at the correct level so continuous monitoring is needed, it takes weeks and weeks to set up as you can only add a few fish at a time but the end result is much better.
the most expensive of all is marine tanks as you need a protein skimmer. but again the result can be amazing. it can take years to get it how you want it.
you can't put cold water fish in a tropical tank, they won't last long at all.
its a good idea not to start with anything to complex as with fish lots can go wrong in a very short space of time.

Answer 9

It all depends on which fish you like better. If you see a cold water fish you like go with that but if you see a tropical fish you like even more go with that.

Answer 10

Cold water are generally cheaper and easier to maintain
Troppy fish are slightly more exciting to look at but harder upkeep.

No you shouldnt keep them together, they need diffrent things.

They best thing you could do for more advice is either google the question or better yet wander into your local fish or pet shop and ask for there advice.

Good Luck!!