Looking for advice about Fish Aquariums

[Electro]

My fiancee wants a fish aquarium in our house. Looking for 50+ gallon tank. She has not decided whether or not she wants a freshwater or saltwater tank yet. Any recommendations on what to get? I'm sure there are "top" aquarium brands and certain types of items that are better than the other. Just looking for some information to be honest. If anyone knows any great deals out there or something post here as well .

Thanks BG.

[Andarvi]

The tank is the last thing you need to worry about. Choosing between fresh and salt water is the main issue at hand, and its a huge difference. If you want lower maintenance, go fresh. Salt water fish tanks can be a full time job, especially the larger ones. You need to do maintenance on them multiple times a week, the fish are more expensive, hell everything about them is more expensive. The benefit is that the fish are a lot cooler.

If you aren't ready to commit that much time, money, and energy, go freshwater. The fish are more boring but they are easier to maintain.

[Ksandra]

The tank is the last thing you need to worry about. Choosing between fresh and salt water is the main issue at hand, and its a huge difference. If you want lower maintenance, go fresh. Salt water fish tanks can be a full time job, especially the larger ones. You need to do maintenance on them multiple times a week, the fish are more expensive, hell everything about them is more expensive. The benefit is that the fish are a lot cooler.

^ this says it all. With salt water fish you have to constantly check the ph balance of the water and add/take away as needed or the fish will die. They look nicer, but fresh water is so much easier to maintain. So, it's mostly based on how much time your willing to devote taking care of the fish.

[zoobernut]

If you have a question about what to get then DO NOT get saltwater. Saltwater is for aquarium enthusiasts that have a lot of experience with fish in general. There are tons of things to worry about. I suggest keeping a fresh water tropical tank first getting to know how to control that tank then once you have experience with fish tanks then move to salt water.

Granted salt water fish for the most part look cooler but don't be fooled if you take the time to find some of the more exotic less common fresh water fish you can get some extremely ornate beautiful fish.

[Mizango]

The tank is the last thing you need to worry about. Choosing between fresh and salt water is the main issue at hand, and its a huge difference. If you want lower maintenance, go fresh. Salt water fish tanks can be a full time job, especially the larger ones. You need to do maintenance on them multiple times a week, the fish are more expensive, hell everything about them is more expensive. The benefit is that the fish are a lot cooler.

If you aren't ready to commit that much time, money, and energy, go freshwater. The fish are more boring but they are easier to maintain.

Absolutely right. I had a 60 gallon fresh water and had a 80 gallon salt water tank at one time and both were awesome and had them for many years but my job made me travel more and more and well I had to get rid of them, but take Andarv's advice, he hit it right on the head.

[Chun Liroy]

I'm curious about saltwater tanks in general. Over winter break I had told my dad that I would help him set up the 80 Gal fish tank that is laying around. I understand the issue of maintenance and what to take care of, but I'm curious as to what fish to get. Are there any species that we should shy away from because they are too aggressive or two species that don't particularly get along with each other. And are there any species that are nearly a necessity because they help control some of the tank parameters (Something similar to algae eaters). He also said he definitely wants a type of shark, so any info about that would be really appreciated.

[Byrd]

It's probably low on the concern list, but if you move a lot, the size of the tank is something to keep in mind as well. 50 gallons is pretty big, even mostly empty of water, and you (or your friends) won't particularly enjoy moving it time and time again.

[Mizango]

I'm curious about saltwater tanks in general. Over winter break I had told my dad that I would help him set up the 80 Gal fish tank that is laying around. I understand the issue of maintenance and what to take care of, but I'm curious as to what fish to get. Are there any species that we should shy away from because they are too aggressive or two species that don't particularly get along with each other. And are there any species that are nearly a necessity because they help control some of the tank parameters (Something similar to algae eaters). He also said he definitely wants a type of shark, so any info about that would be really appreciated.

Can't really go wrong for the most part but what I did was get things like Coral, anemones, Butterfly fish are awesome and beautiful, Anthias, Clownfish, and colorful Angelfish. We even had eels and the tiny crabs in ours. You pretty much know what you are getting when you buy it because most dangerous shit or aggressive shit is either banned or prohibited from owning iirc.

I have several varieties and had no in-fighting whatsoever. The eels would occasionally try to eat the crabs but oh well, such is life. If you have the time and patience then its definitely worth it.

[Shade]

50gallons? Cool. The nice thing about big tanks is that the larger they are, the more time you have to fix things if they go wrong.

I don't know how much she already knows about caring for aquarium fish, but I would suggest doing research to decide what she wants to get into. You can ask for advice at your local pet store, but usually they're not always entirely accurate, and their advice tends to be slanted towards getting you to buy more stuff. So it helps to look things up on your own and have a knowledge base going in.

Planted aquariums are hella neat, and I recommend going with that over the ye olde plastic plants + fake treasure chest route. Its more work, or maybe, a different kind of work, but its kind of fun in a "garden in a water box" sorta way. They also make for a healthier environment. I have a little 6gallon myself, with some hardy plants, a betta, and a few other fish.

Of course, if you go bigger....

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...ykins/tank.jpg
How badass is that? These guys are kind of like the BG of fish tanks, I suppose, though.

Main site: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/
Some starter guides:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...parts-1-a.html
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articl...ges/index.html

[Mizango]

Here is a link I found for you SR incase you want details on fish and they temperaments.

http://www.aquariumfish.net/informat...water_fish.htm

[Chun Liroy]

Only shitty part is that once I set it up, wouldn't get to enjoy it for long considering I leave for FL on Jan 9th XD, but there i can see them while snorkeling Also, since we live in NJ, it gets quite cold here, so obviously we'd use a heater, but should we take any precautions about putting it near windows? My dad wants to put it near the front window of our house, pretty big and doesn't open, but has two smaller windows on either end. My Marine Bio teacher told us a story about a time where everything died (he happened to be from NJ lul) in his saltwater tank because he left it near an open window, so any weight to that?

[Mizango]

Don't know enough about Dirty Jers to speak on that lol. Ours was not near a window and it was fine for many years.

[Shade]

You should try not to put tanks near windows or heat / air vents, because the temperature is in flux in those areas. Sometimes fish can be sensitive, and it's better if their environment stays at a constant temp.

[Cephius]

Get turtles instead! They're low maintenance, and you can actually you know, hold them and stuff. They're pretty cool.

[Chun Liroy]

Get turtles instead! They're low maintenance, and you can actually you know, hold them and stuff. They're pretty cool.

Have a box turtle and he's rather boring My HS had/has a shitton of terrapins though and they are pretty neat, but he's dead set on a saltwater fish tank lol as is my iguana, cept for when it tail whips my dogs rofl.

[Amelya]

Mmmmk my .2 cents...

If you're going to try for 50+ gallons, I'd spend the extra money and get a 75 at least. The additional width will greatly expand your options on what type of fish you can keep comfortably in the tank. You won't regret it.

Before you decide to buy any fish, I would definitely recommend doing a lot of research online, too many people go to shitty petco or wherever and end up with totally incompatible fish or ones that will get HUGE (looking at you common plecos/oscars/pacus/bala sharks etc). Plan the tank out before you go fish shopping. I personally prefer big fish with personality (wet pet), but to each their own. I also have like...one fish per 75 gallon tank because they'll kill anything in with them. XD

You can order fish online too, shipping is awful, but you can get almost anything. Aquabid.com is like ebay for fish. I've ordered most of my fish through here, but most of mine are from Thailand/Taiwan.

Don't buy your filters/heaters/powerheads etc. at petco/petsmart, save yourself a ton of money and go to petsolutions.com or www.bigalsonline.com.

My concern about putting it in front of the window is algae growth. You will get a lot of it in a bright sunny window. If it needs to go there I would paint the back of the tank black and maybe the sides too, depending. I live in Wisconsin and have one of mine by a window and the temperature doesn't fluctuate enough to notice.

And yeah, I would not recommend salt for a beginner.

[Electro]

After texting her and telling her she was doing a freshwater aquarium because I dont look forward to spending tons of money she says "OK, now you get the pleasure of helping me find fish and that she has an extra 1k to blow" lol.

So I suppose we are gonna go with a freshwater tank. We have plenty of room and will not move. I just purchased a new house. This is going to be one of the focal points in the sitting room (which we use quite often).

If we did an aquatic garden, how long should we try and make the garden stable before adding fish?

Edit: To Amelya,

Yeah I understand with the whole window type thing. The room has a window but it is across the room. It won't be in direct sunlight. I know this sounds kinda "lol" but she wants "colorful fish with energy" or so she says.

[Chun Liroy]

I think the window part was aimed at me lol. But yeah, in terms of upkeep, do you think if I told him what to do once gone, it would be simple enough for him to keep up with, like is the hardest part getting it set up and stabilized or is it even harder to maintain? He's kind of a nut when it comes to animals and maintaining his stuff (pool, my iguana, dogs etc), so I think he should be fine as long as its simple enough like mostly checking pH, adding salt when needed, water changes, feeding and cleaning, anything else that I don't know about?

[zoobernut]

If you do the aquatic garden make sure you get fish that don't eat plants. I had a great couple of big healthy plants going and my wife bought a couple of silver dollars and they ate all my plants now we just have plastic in with them. Made me sad but oh well.

[Quixon]

Okey Dokey.


My Reef tank consumes my life..... so let me lay it down for you lol.


Do you have a lot of disposable income?
Do you have experience keeping freshwater fish?
Are you prepared to constantly check on and maintenance the tank and equipment therein?


If you answered yes to all of the above you can CONSIDER salt water.



Don't get me wrong, there is nothing more relaxing than watching a salt water reef you created on your own..... . but god damn is it hard. I've got a 180 Gallon Reef right now, and a 90 Gallon freshwater tank.


I'm actually leaving from work now. Give me a couple hours and I'll be back with a ton more info for you.


If anyone has any other specific questions ask here or PM me.