Anyone own aquariums?

[LindaL]

I have always wanted a fish aquarium (not just a gold fish bowl...lol), but don't really know too much about them...upkeep, cleaning, etc. I just bought a used 10 gallon one (yes, I started small...lol) with all the "stuff" off cragislist and want some tips before I buy the fish!

Thanks!

 

[TheCaseFamily00]

We have garden ponds with fish and wanted to bring them in over winter to enjoy them. We just kinda winged it and unfortunately lost 2

. I would add only a few fish at a time and be careful not to over feed,I think that's what we did wrong. We were used to big garden ponds verses a tank. Good luck

 

[Matt73]

I used to have a 10 gallon. Once a month (or is it every 2 months), you should drain it and rinse the gravel in strainers (put the fish in bowls, obviously). Change the filters etc. Fill the tank, condition the water. Let the fish get accustomed again in plastic bags. Ummm. That's about it. It's more work than people think. I never could keep Black Molly's; they always got that white fungus, so I stopped getting them. Just make sure the temp. is right and keep alert for fungus and disease and keep on top of it (meds.). I loved my fancy guppies, tetras, etc. I had a few bouts of illness and lost some fish along the way. But my "sucker" lasted throughout it all and grew to be a big fat SHARK! LOL. Now I want a tank again...

 

[miniwhinny]

Depends what you're wanting to keep.

Here's my two

10 gallon

stock lighting

2 inches of live sand

15lbs of live rock

various soft corals - mushrooms, sanctithomae, pulsing zenia.

Heater

koralia 1 powerhead

female yellow stripe maroon clownfish

green striped goby

29 gallon

30" 150wHQI 14,000k Sunpod

AC110 converted into fuge

2 x Koralia 1's.

Titanium heater

30 gallons of live rock

1 inch of live sand.

Frogspawn coral

Mushroom corals

Candy cane corals

2 x Maxima clams

1 x Crocea clam

1 sixline wrasse and a

Bonded pair of Picasso clownfish

 

[LowriseMinis]

AquariaCentral is a great resource: http://www.aquariacentral.com/

You'll want to read up on cycling your tank and proper stocking, especially with a smaller tank. Good luck!

 

[mininik]

I second Lowrise's advice. Since I have found keeping a tank running correctly to be way too difficult, I keep feeder guppies and a little aquatic frog in bowls. The guppies are cheap, cute, though not very colorful, hardy and are good at making more of themselves. They could all coexist together in a 10 gal. tank for sure, no airation or filtering required.

Other good bowl fish include Zebra Danios, Paradise Fish, Platy Variatus, and Salt and Pepper Cory.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

We have a few aquariums. We have a 125 gal community tank, a 72 gal bowfront saltwater/reef tank, and a 55 gal bowfront, goldfish tank. We also have the floor canister type filters on all of them, so we hardly ever have to do anything as far as the tank goes. Just change the pads on the filters. And I have to remember to keep the coral reef light on...lol... I started out with small tanks too, but I thought they were alot harder to maintain properly then the large tanks. It seemed like no matter what I did with the 20 gal and under size my water was never crystal clear. What kind of filtering system did yours come with? Most this size either use bio-wheels or the plastic corner filters. I never had any luck with the corner filters. You will also need to make sure your pump is putting out enough air. Pumps d oget weak after a time. Food is another thing you will have to watch, alot of food will cloud water. All the fish are actually my hubby's hobby....I just seem to be the one to feed them.

I wouldnt know a thing about the saltwater and frag the corals.

I like easy, so the goldfish tank is mine. There huge, (and they grow fast) and all differant unusual types in it. I will see if I can get some pics of them today. Have fun with your new found hobby. Tanks are fun to watch,and can be interesting.

 

[h2t99]

I have a 55 gal and right now I have a couple of algae eaters, 2 goldfish and a african clawed frog. The frog we have had for 4 yrs and she eats anything small enough to put in her mouth

, she is big and her mouth is even bigger

So she ate 2 of the goldfish we got, they were the size of silver dollars!!! We put a couple of snails in our tank (frog does not like the taste of snail

)and our tank has never been so clean, every nook and cranny is clean!! Even the plastic tree stump ornament we have is Clean!! I no longer have to clean anything. Start out with a couple of fancy goldfish for color and defiantely put a snail or 2 in there to keep it clean. Enjoy!!!

Heidi

 

[HGFarm]

I have a 55 gal. Seaclear community tank. Used to have Discus but just have community fish now.

Make sure you put in a few inexpensive fish to get your good bacteria in the tank started and working before buying a bunch of fish and putting them in there, or you will lose them til the bacteria gets balanced.

I have a vaccuum for mine and the algae eater keeps down the algae. The one I have stays small- about 4" long, so it doesnt outgrow the tank and I just hate those big ugly plecostomus that get so big. The little one does a great job. I also have a catfish that helps keep the bottom of the tank clean of the food, etc.. that might get that far.

I have a Fluval filter, and a couple of air stones in the bottom too. I gave up on live plants because of the snail problem I kept having. I keep the tank at about 77 or 78 degrees.

Right now I have Congo Tetras, an Australian Rainbow and a couple of rasberry tetras, the little catfish and the little algae eater. Tank is kinda empty- thinking about selling it...

 

[LindaL]

The tank came with an airpump and a side filter. I have no idea how these things work yet as I haven't had time to read thru the instructions (they are new in box). I will at least at 1st start with some fancy goldfish (I like the Black Moars and Fantails). Where do you get snails for the tank?

I may in the future upgrade to a bigger tank, but my house is SMALL and I don't have room for anything bigger than a 10 gallon where I am living now...lol

 

[h2t99]

We actually got our snails from a creek here in Tn

!! We were hiking and my daughter was begging to be able to bring a couple home!!

!! The only thing with snails is make sure your water is not at the very top, they will crawl out!!

Heidi

 

[LowriseMinis]

A ten gallon is pretty small for goldfish. You could maybe swing one in there, if you bought a second filter.

My favorite setup for a ten gallon tank is a male betta with some peaceful bottom dwelling fish (I LOVE kuhli loaches for this) and maybe some mid-level swimmers-some kind of tetra.