What would you do if you were given a large aquarium?

Question

What would you do if you were given a large aquarium? How would you set up the display? Substrate? Plants? Rocks? Driftwood? Fish? None of the above? All of the above? Assume a 6' long aquarium and feel free to answer with multiple suggestions being as specific or general as you would like. Thanks.

Answer 1

I think I would use it to keep an example of the ecosystem in a waterbody (therefore both plants and animals).

Answer 2

As I have de-aquariumed several times I would immediately find it a new home.

But, if you want to keep it and have something in it first clean it well, then put it on the deck or some other clean and level place, and fill it with water to see if it leaks. Once you've determined if it leaks you can decide what to do with it.

Fish aquariums are expensive to set up and maintain, so if all you have is the tank portion, be prepared to spend hundreds to set up a nice fishtank. They also take a fair amount of time to maintain, expect to spend several hours a month fussing with an fresh aqauarium of that size and double that amount of time if you go salt (I don't like salt, it's messier and much more work, much more expensive and not something a fish novice should try). My preference has always been fresh tanks with lots of plants and relatively few fish, once they are balanced they don't need as much maintenance.

Reptiles are less expensive to set up a tank for, but have specific temperature and food requirements. I never did reptiles because for me they are not very interesting as pets.

You could also do a simple terrarium with just plants, these are easier than tanks with animals or fish and less guilt if you have a failure. Terrariums were very popular in the 70s, not so popular these days and a surprising amount of work due to the need to keep the plants within bounds.

IF I was to decide to do another aquarium, I would do fresh water tank with lots of plants and relatively few fish, being sure all the fish were non-agressives. It's no fun when one fish predates all the others. With that size tank you could actually have two or three small schools of different types of community fish - very relaxing and interesting to watch. You'd start by setting up the tank, I highly recommend the out of tank filters, you'd need a really big one or multiples - undergravel filters need much more maintenance and you have to go through the tank to do it. I'd use rocks and driftwood (get the wood from a pet store or read up on how to make wood fish safe) and lots and lots of plants. Then you put just a few boring old feeder goldfish in and leave the whole thing for a couple months to let the bacteria colonies get established and balanced - do not rush this step!!! Then you can slowly start adding your fish.
Good luck.

Answer 3

before adding anything, fill the aquarium with water and watch for a day or so to make sure there are no leaks. Then, go to your local pet superstore and check our their displays to get some ideas. The associates can also help you choose what's best for the type of fish you pick out, whether they need more plants for oxygen, etc.

Answer 4

Goldfish and Discus is a bad theory. Discus might desire to be stored at around 30C, and want close to appropriate water circumstances. Thats unlikely to take place with ineffective one million/2 cooked goldfish floating in the tank. Goldfish want cooler water, around ordinary room temp of 20C is right. the two fish require sturdy filteration and a huge tank, yet attempting to combination them is going to bypass incorrect in maximum of approaches. in case you dont have experience maintaining fish then I advise you carry on with the goldfish, merely becasue they're lots hardiers than discus. yet once you're unlikely with a 30gal+ tank, dont get them, get a smaller species. sturdy success Ian

Answer 5

First of all clean it but only with water never with soap or any other chemical

1. Fill it up with water and let it sit for a day to see if it has any leaks

If it has no leaks you are ready to rock

I don't know if you have got anything else with your tank, but if you are planning on keeping tropical fish here are some things you will need:
* A Power Filter pump
* A Heater
* A Thermometer
* Gravel
* Freshwater plants
* If you want some other decoration Items approved for fish tanks
* "Aqua Safe" is a Conditioner that gets the water ready for your fish
* "Quick Dip" is a water test strip kit
* "Amonia Test Kit" after you have added your fish
* Ph Test kit

2. Put the gravel in after you have washed it thorough

3. Fill up your tank with water (preferrable freshwater put not purified), put your powerfilter and heater in, (set your heater between 76-82)

4. Put "Aqua Safe" in as directed

5. Watch your temperature and test your water

6. With Aqua Safe your tank gets cycled very quickly and you could put in some fish already after 3-5 days (I put fish in my tank after 3 days and not one of them had died)

7. After you put your fish in, you need to check your amonia levels. If you need to adjust it you can use ammo lock as shown here
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441776795&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302030068&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023693&bmUID=1182018996664&itemNo=34&In=Fish&N=2030068&Ne=2

8. I usually put about every other week "Easy Balance" in my tank, that cuts out the waterchanges
I haven't done a water change in 6 months on my tank, I only fill up the water once a month, put in "Water Clarifier" if the water is cloudy, and I don't overfeed my fish

9. Don't put your tank near sunlight

10. I turn on the light for 12 hours a day and turn it off at night (a timer is helpful to do the job for you)

11. My tank is clean and clear and my fish are happy and healthy

Fish I would put in that tank:
* 2-3 Plecostasmus
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3F_adv_prop%3Dimage%26fr%3Dks-ans%26va%3Dplecostomus%26sz%3Dall&w=640&h=480&imgurl=www.old-forge-tropicals.co.uk%2Ftank%2Fsucker.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.old-forge-tropicals.co.uk%2Fmytank%2FPlecostomus.htm&size=80.4kB&name=sucker.jpg&p=plecostomus&type=jpeg&no=2&tt=8,680&oid=e0ffda658446f19a&ei=ISO-8859-1
* 2male guppy's and 4-6 females
* 4-6 neon tetras (they are schooling fish)
* any kind of platy (like dwarf platies)
* 1 male mollie and 2 females
These are all semiaggressive fish and get along with each other

Hope that helped you out
Good luck

Answer 6

Id put gravel in and lots of live plants and addy some big fish

STOP SAYING HE CAN PUT 6 FISH IN IT, its not 6inch ITS 6 FOOT

Answer 7

i would have gravel black and green and a couple of plants not floating and id put some decorations hiding places like rocks and sunken ships and stuff like that and i would put a Oscar in it and a couple other sharks

Answer 8

You should but about 5 to6 fish in it and then some rocks and a lot of decorations and make sure they're bright.

Answer 9

put gravel in it, water and some fish, and heaters and filters if you get tropical fish

Answer 10

I would put my 4 turtles in it..lol