Keeping tropical fish?

Question

My son has decided he wants to keep fish
Only want tank about 2ft 6"- 3ft to start and wants little sharks or fighting fish ect!
I have no clue at cost or how to keep, what would a new tank ect cost at these sizes and best place for second hand, how much start up cost from new?

Answer 1

2-3 ft is a great starting size -- 20-40 gallons is better to start with them something smaller.

you can check on craigslist.org for people selling their old aquariums and pick up some good deals if you are patient. people list new things daily. i learned to search both "aquarium" and "fish tank" and you will get different results.

also check ebay -- you can set the listings to view the closest first so you don't have to pay for shipping.

siamese fighting fish make great community fish. you can keep one male or a whole aquarium full of females in a community tank.

sharks generally grow too large to keep in a 40 gallon aquarium. that is something you want to take in consideration when buying fish. you don't want to buy anything for a medium sized tank that is going to grow more than 6". i usually recommend making a trip to the store and seeing what you like and then go home and research to see if its something you can put in your tank and then go back and buy.

Answer 2

If you are on a tight budget, look for a tank in the local paper. You might even find one that already has fish! If you have plenty of money to buy it new, go to a local fish store and ask to speak with the manager. Get to know the manager, and they will take care of you if the store is any good. The biggest mistake newbies make is to start up a new tank, add about $25 worth of new fish and then watch them all die. Remeber to start with 2 or 3 fish, wait about a month, have your water tested, and then only add more fish if your water comes back good. If there are problems with the water quality, fix the problem before adding new fish. I can't give you an estimated cost because you can spend as little as $50 and as much as $500 on a tank the size you mentioned. Oh yeah, buy a siphon, get the store manager to teach you how to use it, and then actually use it a couple times a month. Take my advice and you will have a much better time with your son's new hobby. By the way, my parents got me a 29 gal tank when I was 4, and now I work in the industry. It really is a great hobby, and there are thousands of resources on the web.

Answer 3

You could be sentencing them little buggers to death...

You need to beable to maintain the water temperature, a small tank is hard to regulate the temperature as the body of water is small. You need to have an emergency contingent if the thermostat fails or for any reason your home becomes a libility to the survival to them and also you have the cost, they may not seem that expensive at first but I know some fish can cost a couple of hundred a go. You have to be careful to not buy preditors as they may end up chomping through your stock.

Sharks... It depends on what junior has planned for Kitty and Tortie and the other pets!

Also you need to think about what your going to do when Jaws gets too big for the tank, they need to have enough room and a tank your size is going to be too small.

I think you better reason with your son and his choice and why a shark is a bad idea and how it can be crule as some species of shark have to be in constant movement inorder to breath, if not enough room, they suffocate.

Answer 4

Tell your son to do some research of his own and have him explain to you what he learned, that way, you will know that he knows what fish can live together without killing each other. Advise him not to start with freshwater sharks because they get large and aggressive (it is very discouraging to find a shark eating your favorite fish : () Try starting with Yo-yo Loaches, Dwarf Gouramis, Tetras, Danios, Mollys, Platys, Guppies, or some other easy-to-keep fish... You may want him to get a Yahoo Answers account so he can ask his own questions if he gets confused... You could probably buy an entire tank setup at a garage sale for less than $80... search around and find the best price. If you get it second hand (which I recommend), ask the current owner if you can watch it be filled with water so you can check for leaks. If they don't show you that is is leak free, don't buy it! That only applies to used tanks. Good luck!

Nosoop4u

Answer 5

For a tank that small you can't get any sharks, but you could get a siamese fighting fish aka a betta fish. Just don't put two together or they'll fight. Fish that go good with betta fish are cory catfish and neon tetras. I have both species with my betta in my 10 gallon aquarium. You'll also need a filter, heater, air pump, and thermometer. Make sure to cycle your tank before adding the fish. Also you'll want to add your fish in 1 set at a time. For instance if you have 3 cory cats and 6 neon tetras, you'll add 3 cory cats 1 week, 3 neons the next, and the rest of the neons the 3rd week. That will help the fish and aquarium to accliate to their conditions. Hope I helpe!

Answer 6

Tropical fish keeping is usually expensive, if fish are kept properly, but fish-keeping is one of my favourite hobbies. Find a local fish shop and they will probably tell you most of the needed information to start it up. 'Mini sharks' are fairly challenging to keep and same with bettas or fighting fish. I'd recommend starting with either mollies or Platies as these are much hardier to new tank conditions, and with these species there will soon be many babies. I would think that everything to start it up would be atleast £100. Sorry I can't help more i'm only 11 miself.

Answer 7

Start up costs are quite expensive even if you go second hand but maintenace costs later on aren't very much.
I spent about £150 - £200 at first on the tank, gravel, stones, plants, net, food, gravel hoover, tank stand, background picture, bucket, water containers, fish and chemicals to add to the raw water.
My tank is 70L tropical fish tank so if you are going to keep coldwater fish it may be a bit cheaper on electricity and chemicals.

Answer 8

i used to have tropical fish and to start with it is expencive

a new tank small costs about 50 to 60 then you need the heater 20 then you need all the stones and rocks or something for the fish to hide in they generaly cost a lot different in different places then its the fish

the best ones to get for a first timer are mollies, guppies and neons

these fish are low matinance but if you dont get a cat fish that cleans the tank then your going have to clean the tank at least once a week and change the water at least once every 2 weeks

Answer 9

The FreeAds! Never go to great expense when starting out......buy from another who has either upgraded or decided fish were not for them. Be very careful about the type of fish you decide upon, as fighting fish do not like living in communities, and sharks are not terribly sociable from my experience. They come out at meal times!

Answer 10

You can try buying a tank from your local newspaper.Buying filter heaters and light for the hood(top)is expensive for one buy.
The fish you mention are impractical for 1st time keepers.Think
of getting a tank for cold water fish.Don't have to be Goldfish and you won't need to spend as much.Try Video jug.Fishkeeping.