I am going to start an aquarium soon..?

Question

ok i want to start an aquarium soon. money is a little tight to get the really nice stuff, so i want a real expert to answer me and tell me what they have and what might work. ty

ok so i am thinking of getting a 30 gallon tank. my first Q is how much do those tanks cost? i want 3 different fish type - yellowtail damselfish, spotted cardinalfish, bicolor blenny; which leads me to 2 Q's - what type of decorations and needed things should i get for the tank? also what food? and being i am getting only those 3 kinds of fish and i have a 30 gallon tank, how many of each should i get that will still leave room for health and happiness? ty for good answers :)

1 more Q, what gadgets or whatever will need to bought? like ill need a filter, heater, but what else? i just need really a list of every item you would have to set up, clean, and maintain a nice tank.

oh and btw i am not really interested in breeding these fish, so i could not care less about that.

Answer 1

Well I'm not sure of the prices of tanks as it can vary. Here is a list of what I have at home...

Tank
Tank Stand
Filter
Heater
Substrate (sand)
Saltwater
Water Ager
Thermostat
Testers for pH, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, Saltwater
Log book
Fish net
Light (Halogen and Blue)
Magnetic cleaner (for the glass)
pegs (for introducing the fish to your tank)
Background for your tank
You'll probably need a syphen (can't spell!) so you can empty water and sand from the tank.
You can also add Live Rock to make the tank look more interesting.

The food you get should usually be the same as what the pet store was feeding them. As they are already stressed from moving home, changing their diet might stress them to the point of getting white spot.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Well I have 3 tanks myself. I love fish! It is a great idea to start with a large tank like that. The larger the better, because you have more "room" for mistakes, as far as water PH goes. The rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon of water. Only goldfish require two gallons per inch because they are messy. You don't want to overstock, the more fish you have the harder it is to maintain the aquarium. Set your tank up with a few decorations, and run the tank for about 5 days min. to get the levels right. Add the hardiest fish first, only two at a time. This builds up the waters natural bacteria and you'll be less likely to loose any fish. Two weeks later add two more and so on. It will probably run you about 200-300 depending on your setup. Good Luck!

Answer 3

The fish tank will be the cheapest part of the whole setup. They run for about $50-60 for just the tank and no accessories. If your planning on saltwater, I'd suggest you do a lot of research online as well as reading a few books. Many people will tell you it is very hard, but that shouldn't mean that you can't do it.

Here's a start for some research: http://faq.thekrib.com/sbegin-setup.html

Answer 4

a thirty gallon is good to start with, i dont know if you have a walmart near by but they have a 30 gallon with a hood and light and heater, it also comes with a filter it runs about $75 which is cheap. But if you are going to have saltwater fish that filter wont work. I would reccomend a fluval 204 for that size tank. they dont sell them at the walmart store but you can order one online. the one huge thing about saltwater tanks is they have to cycle for about 4-6 weeks before you can put fish in. So there is a test kit you have to buy to check the levels of ammonia,nitrite,nitrate and ph. it sounds complicated but once you get the hang of it its not too bad. as for decorations, nothing spray painted should go in the tank. you can use live sand or crushed coral for the bottom of the tank. there is live rock you can buy for decoration and it helps cycle the water. that runs about $4-$6 per lb. you can buy like fake corals and stuff like that but they are actually pretty pricey, so i would stick with live rock. If you have a local saltwater store near by i would suggest going there and asking them question too, they should be able to help a lot. damselfish are usually aggressive and they do better in odd numbers, they are also good starter fish since they are the cheapest. but the other 2 i have not had....yet. for food i give mine brine shrimp and they love it they also like krill which is better for them. another gadget you can buy is a powerhead, it creates a current in the water thats good for the fish, you could probably get away with one but 2 would be better. if you go to www.fosterandsmith.com they have a ton of stuff and info. for the water i dont know if you planned on making your own which is time consuming and expensive, if you do you need to buy a reverse ossmosis filter and a bucket of salt and keep the salinity around 1.020, which also means you need to buy a hydrometer it tells you how much salt is in the water, i however buy mine at the fish store i go to, its like $1 a gallon and saves me a lot of aggrevation. as you can see there is a lot to know about a saltwater tank i hope i didnt confuse you too much if you have any other questions i would be glad to help. but definatly check out that website it will help.

Answer 5

That's quite a list you need. I normally suggest you start off by getting a book and I'll suggest that now. A book will really help you not to make mistakes that would cost you more than the book, so in the long run it's a savings. Until you can get a book to help you along, here's a web site that will help you get your list together and understand a tank.

http://www.firsttankguide.net/

Hope that helps

MM

Answer 6

1 inch per gallon is a horrible rule, try to make the length of ur tank at least 3x the length of the full grown fish, and the width and height at least 1x of your full grown fish so it has room to grow and turn.

Answer 7

Info on the species you are interested in:
(will show tank size/conditions, compatability charts etc.)
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=85
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=134
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=66