Do you keep a freshwater aquarium?

Question

What species do you keep? How large of a tank do you have?

Answer 1

I lost mine in Katrina and have been in my rv ever since. Sure miss them!

I had 2 (55 gal) aquariums, both long. One was for angel fish (which spawned and produced babies) The other was for a variety of tetras, from the silver hatchets that live at the top of the tank, head and tail lights, neons and cardinals.

The third tank was a 29 gallon high. I used it exclusively for African Chiclids. It became my favorite tank because it was always soooo busy!!! I made a rock wall on the back of the tank, and bought lots of flat rock that I formed into a number of 'caves'.

They like a cave with an entrance and an exit. They stake out their claim then go about attracting a mate. Chiclids protect their territory and their young. They also like live food, and are voracious predators.

Don't put any timid fish (tetras) in there with them. They even ate my upsidedown catfish, and he was big! Best to keep ONLY chiclids. If they get too naughty, just take them out, re-arrange the tank, and everyone chills out.

One other thought for aquarium keeping, the bigger the tank, the easier it is to keep in balance. I always chunked the filters they furnish in the kits and bought myself an aqua clear with a higher filtering range than I needed. The Aqua clear (and there are others like it) will allow you to choose and bag your own media as per your needs. The more expensive charcoal, by far, works better and lasts longer (more exposed surface area). In the long run, it is much cheaper to buy bulk media and put in your own bags (which can be had for about 98 cents to 1.49)

If you want to see baby fish, feed frozen brine shrimp, very high protein. You can even buy a shrimp hatchery to put in your tank (they are about $20) and those are fun to watch. Doesn't take the fish long to figure out where the food is coming from!

I used to order quite a bit from this place in the way of equipment: http://www.bigalsonline.com/

Enjoy!

Answer 2

Currently I keep 42 freshwater aquariums at home and over 200 at work. My largest tanks at home are a pair of 950 gallons, but I also have a 1125 gallon pool for some freshwater stingrays. One of the 950s is a planted tank and the other is empty at the moment. I have to figure out what I want to do with it. Most of the tanks are much, much smaller though. I have a few 40 long tanks, 20 long tanks and 10 gallon as well as many 2.5 - 5 gallon tanks for small fish.

Currently I keep mostly bettas for breeding and showing, guppies for breeding and showing, some killifish and a breeding colony of chocolate gourami. In addition to the rays mentioned before, there are a few apistogramma and 3 pike cichlids as well and a few more odds and ends swimming around in there like various corys, a few bristlenose cats and a few oto cats. Just a general pile of different stuff right now lol

MM

Answer 3

If you are a potential first time aquarium owner (I assume you are from your question):

I'd recommend a medium sized tank, 20 gallons or more. The small so-called starter tanks (5 or 10 gallons) are actually much harder to keep up. Any mistake you make with the chemistry or water temperature is amplied because the volume of water is small (i.e. if your heater dies or you adjust it incorrectly, your water temperature will fluctuate really fast). Smaller tanks require more meticulous maintainence; less water = more crud more square inch. In short, a medium sized tank will let you keep quite a few fish, be easiest to maintain, and be a moderate investment.

I would suggest starting off with goldfish or zebra danos as starter fish. They are both very hardy and - although I hope you do not - if you lose them in the learning process, you haven't lost a great investment. You can add more fish as you go along. And yes, goldfish can mix just fine with almost any tropical fish except really aggressive fin nippers (goldfish will do fine in a heated tank, they just don't necessarily need it). Angel fish may be a good next step...they are fairly hardy as well and relatively inexpensive. You can get small ones (cheaper, last longer). Given adequate space, they will GROW.

Good luck!

PS: Whatever you do, don't buy your fish from a chain petstore. Those are almost always sick fish. Go to a specialized aquarium store. You may spend an extra dollar, but the healthy fish and good advice will be well worth it.

Answer 4

No,the lieve when the are hatched,and come back from the see,too breed and dye,here in Yukon,Canada,we have landlocked Salmon,thousand of years ago the Mountains collapsed,and the get locked in and could not go to see anymore,the are called Kokanee Salmon,the get to about 4 lbs,good to eat,I think the would live in a freshwater Aquarium.

Answer 5

hi, i have a 20 gallon tank i have -1 plecos ,2 three spot blue gourami, 6 silver dollars,8 tigar barbs,2 platys, 1mollie, 1 kissing gourami, 4 clown loaches( small right now) I do allot of partial water changes lol, oh i have a real small firemouth in this tank(will be moving him when he gets a little bigger, i had to place him there because my larger Jack Dempsey was after him in the cichlid tank) lol

Answer 6

We have a 10 gal for feeder guppies that I breed, a 20 gal with 5 or so gold fish, 1 plecos, 1 silver dollar, 1 zebra fish, 1 gourami, 1 tiger barb, a 20 gal with 2 blue gils and 2 plecos, and then a huge tank not sure of size with a 18" pleco, 3 bass, and 1 shark.

Answer 7

i own about 30 aquariums now, and hundreds of betta bowls.

most of my tanks are old, some have been up for 13 years from the start of my career.

i had the pleasure to work with species that most will never work with.

i currently work with bettas,
angelfish,
guppies,
wild N.A fish,
pondfish,
oddballs,
new orld cichlids,

the only thing that you wont find at my house are african cichlids. i use to keep frontosas but it wasnt for me.

Answer 8

I have a 10 gallon tank with Yo-yo Loaches, Kuhli Loaches, and Phantom Tetras.

Answer 9

I have a 55 gallon with 8 angles and 4 blue gourami, they do fine

Answer 10

i keep a variety of goldfish
mostly ranchus/lionheads and a tank of ryukin/fantail/veiltail
both tanks are 45 gallons each hoping to get a new 125 gallon soon