How do I start a freshwater fish aquarium?

Question

I have a 20 gallon tank. I want to know what you need to set it up. Also I want to know what fish get along with each other. I don't want Tropical Fish. I want to have that one fish that you always see on the glass sucking the algae. What fish get along with that? Do you have a 20 gallon aquarium at home and if you do what fish do you have and what equipment do you have.

Answer 1

I have many fish tanks. 2 of which are 20 gallon tanks. but 1 is a saltwater tank.

the other is a Tropical Freshwater Tank. I have a Penguin filter with a bio wheel and a heater. The People at the pet store will be able to tell you what to get.
In the tank I have 1 rubbernose pleco(suckerfish) 5 different species of gouromis(very beautiful fish) 6 zebra danios, 5 guppies, 12 bloodfin tetras, 5 sharepea tetras, 6 rummy nose tetras(all these fish school and it looks really neat)
I did have 3 big gold fish in this tank but they were really big so I put them in our pond. I went and bought a little feeder goldfish to raise. His name is hawk. And I have many snails in this tank. I think that is everything.

I don't know if you thought that tropical ment saltwater but most freshwater fish are tropical fish,
Also a 20 gallon tank is big to only have a suckerfish in considering they don't count towards the maximum number of fish you may have in a tank. the rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of tank. I just quite adding fish once the tank looks like it will be to crowded if I add more. If you have any questions feel free to email me at [e-mail]

Answer 2

The "suckingfish" that you described is probubly a plecostomus, "plecos" for short and like many other people said, yes they are tropical but tropical isn't that expensive and if you dont want a tropical tank all you can get is goldfish.

the only extra thing you need for a tropical tank is a heater, which only costs around 18 USD. I have a 30 gallon tropical tank with a heater a filter and thats just about it for supplies accept for a light, rocks, plant and fish food. You can get a plecos and guppies platys and tetras to live together. Your tank can hold 1 inch of fish per 1 gallon
sooooo... 20 inches of fish.

Answer 3

First you figure out what you actually have. Then you set it up and do a fishless cycle to get it ready. You can google that. Next you add the fish no more than 2 or 3 at a time. If the tank is 5 gallons then you are really limited to only having a couple of fish. 20 gallons would allow you to have a nice set up with any of the livebearers. **

Answer 4

Hmm. We have a freshwater tank at my house (not sure what size) but I don't know exactly what equipment you need. As for the fish compatabilities, your best bet would be to go to a fish store (RMS Aquaculture is where we go) because they will be able to tell you what fish get along with each other. At our fish store, they put little smiley faces on the tanks to let you know if they are nice fish or not. Goldfish are always good, and we have some neon ones too. And silver dollar fish (I don't know the technical name).And the algae eaters are called plecos...beware though, they grow like crazy. Hoep this helps a little!!

Answer 5

The fish you described as being on the tank sucking at the algae is probably something like an Otocinclus. They are a tropical freshwater fish.

If you want one of them, you have to have a tropical fish tank setup.

If you have a fish tank already, does it have a heater and filter? If it does you could easily have a tropical tank. I wont say that they are easy! We only have Mollys, Oto's, Shrimp and Platys in ours at the moment but they are wonderful!!

Answer 6

The type of fish you refer to is known as a plecostomus. They are pretty neat, but get awefully big! He's also a warm water fish, so make sure that you have a heater and thermometer in your tank to make sure that he is nice and happy!

To start your tank, make sure that everything is clean before you put it all in. You're probably using tap water to fill your tank, so make sure to get a chemical to take out the chlorine and other chemicals that might be harmful to your fish. Get your heater and filter running, and run the tank for about a week before getting any fish. This allows the tank to get ready for your fish, and is highly recommended to help keep your fish from dying right away.

There are lots of fish that go well with a plecostomus. My favorite are the angelfish! See what your local pet store has, and let them help you figure out what kind of fish they have that would go good with your "scum sucker" However, tropical fish would be best. (Cold water fish such as goldfish live too cold for the water, and saltwater tanks are a whole different story)

After you buy a fish, keep it in the bag or container it comes in, and let it float in the tank in it's container for about half an hour to an hour. This will let the fish adjust to your tank. After that, you can open the bag up, and let him flow out on his own.

Answer 7

You mean a pleco? You could get them but they are tropical fish. You will need a heater, gravel, plants, a tank that has been cycled and a filtration system.

Answer 8

You need a Heater,filter,gravel ,decorations,gravel cleaner,fish net,something to remove chlorine from the water,fish food.I have two 20 gallon tanks one with cichlids and one with catfish but the cichlids are very aggressive and can't be kept with anything else.

Answer 9

a lot of the algae eating fish are tropical. Tropical fish basically mean that you will need to keep your tank and a warmer level. For example, goldfish are cold water fish. Guppies are tropical. due to this, gold fish and guppies are not always great together, cause goldfish like temperatures are 75, whereas guppies like temps around 77. if a goldfihs is in temps around 77, it cn cause internal problems and eventually lead to death.

Ill come back to the fish in a bit.

The tank:
you are going to want a good filter. Hagan aqua clear filters are good. I use them. They have these pellets that help to tramp good bacteria that you need to cycle your tank to prevent the build up of ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. these chemcials kill your fish. It also has a sponge, that helps to trap particles in the water, like excess food, as well as the good bacteria. and of course it has carbon

You are going to want some form of substrate, such as gravel. all pet sotres offer a wide variety of sizes and colors for the gravel. that is your call on what you like.

You may want plants aqnd decorations, and again, these things are a matter of opinion, however algae eaters also like to be hidden sometimes, especially during the day. most algae eaters are nocturnal.

Depending on the fish you get will depend on if you want a lot of like little caves and stuff.

You are alos going to want a thermometer to measure the temperature, a test kit (though you can bring water samples to pet stores and they can stest for you, however it is easier to test at home), possibly an air bubble maker thing, to put more oxygen in the tank (this is important if your temperature are above 77, as oxygen does not dissolve well in high temps), a gravel siphon (you use this to clean the tank and the gravel) and depending on where you live, a heater for the winter.

Now onto chemicals:
you may want to use aquarium salt. this help to reduce stress in fish, balances pH, and can help get rid of some parasites if needed. You also want to get some sort of ammnoia, nitrate and nitrite remover, like PRime from seachem, and a starter bacteria for the nitrogounes cycle (biological filter), such as seachem Stability. Depending on the fish, and the pH of the water you will be using, you may want to get something to either lower or raise the pH.

I think thats it for tank stuff. now onto fish

most algae eaters, can get quite big. I have a chinese algae eater, nad their size varies, but they dont get huge...the best thing is to talk to your fish store and find out how big the one you want will get.

Algae eaters are more bottom feeders, because of this they are not too aggressive, and most fish wont bother them,. Most other fish are mid to top dwellers. This means that they dont really hang out at the bottom too much, unless there is something wrong with them. Since they are not at the bottom, they normally wont bug the algae eater too much.

Based on that, you can prety much go with any fish you like. a good rule of thumb when youare starting out is allow one gallon per one inch of max. growth of the fish. For example, a guppie can get up to 4 inches, so allow around 3-4 gallons. Tetras are also nice, small fish, but tropical. However since they are small you can have more of them.

hope this helps...i dont think i forgot a whole lot. Also your petstore can help you pick out the things you need.

Answer 10

normally algea eaters are in tropical tanks. but ask around at the bigger pet shops because chance is that they have all kinds of animal and will no what goes with what.