You wanted a pet real bad you thought about a dog. Then you reconsidered. Dogs poop and pee and go to the bathroom in your house. They consume massive amount of dog food. Plus the shots and vet trips, no one wants to deal with those. And that goes for cats to. Well maybe a fish would be nice. They dont cost much, I wouldnt need to do anything, and it would get <insert wife, kids> to stop nagging me about it. So you go out and buy the coolest looking fish, plop him into the water of a brand new tank and within a couple days, he dies and you go off on your wife or kids saying it was just a stupid fish and they cant stop crying is pathetic.
Well STOP RIGHT NOW
Fish are a lot harder to take care of than many people think. Which is why I am posting this guide to help people determine if fish can be good for them, or not at all. I will hopefully go over the basics of everything and try to inform everyone about fish keeping, maintenance, vet trips, or anything else that is commonly overlooked.
Do You Have What It Takes:
-Plenty of room for a fish tank and stand. Many people do not think about this when they see a pretty fish in the store, they buy it and a tank and get the fish. You must plan out where you can put it.
-Plenty of money? Fish cost a lot more thna people think, you must be financially stable and have enough income to keep your fish swimming and happy
-Plenty of Time? Water changes can be very time consuming, cleaning tanks and providing the fish daily meals often get forgotten.
Well If you said yes to those 3 basic questions, we will move into more indepth studies of our fish.
Location, location, location
You should put a tank in a location where people will be able to see and enjoy your fish. You shouldnt put it in the corner of the house where no one will see it, and where you will often forget to perform maintenance and neglet your fish.
Do you have any pets/small childeren? Often times other pets and childeren can cause an aquarium to meet its demise and come crashing down into the ground spilling water, chemicals, glass, and expensive fish.
Do you have a stand to put the aquarium on? You must remember that water weights about 8.8 lb a gallon. I say about 10 with gravel and the tank itself. Most book shelfs, and other devices are not meant to support 100 pounds of weight(a 10 gallon tank). You must have a special stand for the aquarium or the knowledge to make one for it sturdy enough.
Can the room you place the tank in remain "in the dark" to prevent algae from growing rapidly? This is up in the air, so to speak. Some people say a little algae is good for the tank. Some say that they keep the blinds closed permanently. It all depends on what types of plants you want, real or plastic. So you need to do some reasearch on what is best for you. I believe a tank should be well lit, but not sunlight. I strongly agree you should keep the sun out of the equation and stick to flourescent lighting(see farther down on light)
-Lighting
This is a very nice thing to have. Most aquarium hoods come with lighting of some sort. They make viewing your fish(especially in winter) much more pleasant and actually makes the tank look much brighter, obviously. The way my tanks are set up, I use pre-existing lighting to light them up. One flourescent tube light(under counter type) and a incandescent reading bulb mounted on the wall above two other tank Flourescent is much better IMHO. It gives a nice white glow, as incandencent gives off a yellow sickly glow. Flourescent is usually cheaper and lasts longer. LED is also a "on the rise" lighting. They are fairly cheap for what you get. They almost last forever. You do not have to worry about breaking a filament and losing the light. They have lots of lights so its okay if one breaks. They have very low power consumption. Finally they give off very little heat(IDK if thats good or bad yet). Metal Halides are a must for any saltwater tank keeper wanting corals. I do not have any experience with them, only reading bits and peices. Which is why I do not have them included.
Well if you can house your tank within all of these parameters, you are looking good.
Father Time
The time that fish keeping requires is a lot compared to what you may be used to. Here are a list of things you should keep in mind when thinking about adopting a fish.
First and Foremost you must Cycle your tank(preferably without fishies involved, Check out this thread for fishless cycling Fishless Cycle. This process can take many many weeks to preform. Patience is a virtue and allows you to break up the spending of your hard earned money over a period of time instead of one solid investment. Which you will still need but just not as much.
Fish require weekly water changes. That means you must have the time to vacuum out your tank and fill it back up again. You usually only do about 25% of the water at a time, but thats an hour or two a week just for keeping your tank relativly clean.
Fully cleaning your tank. I do this about once every other month where I completely empty a tank and clean the plants, decorations, tank, tank cover, filter, and the fishes need baths too(oh just kidding). The substrate needs washing out throughouly too.
Can you feed your fish every day usually at the same time? Feeding your fish 6 days a week, every day is a very good way to keep them healthy. Yes I said 6 days a week. You should usually skip one day of the week. This doesnt mean you can feed it when you rememeber, and if you dont remember, it doesnt matter. Fish need structure
Trips to the LFS(Local Fish Store/Live Fish Store). This requires a lot of time too. You would be suprised how much time you spend driving to and from the LFS to get supplies. I have gone to walmart twice today and once yesterday getting supplies for my fish tanks.
Time to clean up messes that occasionally happen when you spill water or if the worst happens and a tank breaks? You must not have a tight schedule. This is debateable, but you should save some time every day to take care of you pretties.
Time to fill water jugs up for water changes like me? I spend a lot of time filling up water so it can age and adjust to a more ideal temp for the fishies. It would supprise you how long it takes to fill up 10 gallons of water for a partial water change on a 50 gallon. And with 4, 10 gallon tanks I change about 25 gallons of water a week. That all takes time!
So you've got the time to take care of fish, do you have the finances?
Fish Cost Money
Fish can start to cost a LOT of money. It is usually safe to say that starting a tank is easily 100 dollar investment for a 10 gallon. They are a heavy starting investment. And continue to cost money.
All my fish supplies between a 55 G tank, 4X 10 gallon tanks is as followed:
-4x 50 watt heaters (15$ a peice)
-2x 1-3 whisper filters (12$ a peice)
-1 2-10 Whipser Filter(15$)
-1 5-15 Filter aqua Tech (12$)
-5x med plant packs (7$ a peice)
-1x Large plant pack (18$)
-18x substrate (4$ a peice)
-5x thermometers (3$ a peice)
-5x Small decor (12$ a peice)
-1x Large decor (20$)
Total: 331 Dollars
Thats all for whats just in my tank to help maintain safe environments for fish.
The Fish Themselves can cost a substantial amount of cash. Between every fish I have had...11 female bettas, 2 male bettas, 2 black fin sharks, 6 ghost shrimp, and a pletco I have spent 88 dollars plus a tiger oscar
Fish Meds and everything else they require dumping into the water:
Start right/water conditioners (10$ a bottle)
Water Salt (2$ a carton that treats 100 gal approx)
Mixed diet for fish (5$ a container)
-3 different foods for Bettas
-3 different types for my Chilclid
Medicines can cost 8$ a container
THE MAIN ESSENTIALS
Tank(10 gallon costs 15 dollars here)
Aquarium Hood( 23$ for a aquarium hood)
Filter (15 plus an addition 10$ every month for cartiges)
Substrate (1$/1lb and 1lb/1gal)
Plants Plastic (7$ per 4 which is a nice amount)
Aqarium Decoration (12$ a peice and one usually looks nice)
Water conditioner (depends on size, 10 dollars for 16 FLOZ)
Fish (Depends on your fish. Betta are around 5 but can go up to 15. Oscars can cost 15, tetras are 3 or 4)
Stand (25-50 for a 10 gallon tank depending on what you want fancy or not)
Balanced diet (15$)
Nets (I perfer to have a lot of different sized one(I have a deep and a shallower tank and I doint like having fish smell on me all the time 3-4$ a peice and it prevents you from spreading potential disease)
*heater (15$)
Well STOP RIGHT NOW
Fish are a lot harder to take care of than many people think. Which is why I am posting this guide to help people determine if fish can be good for them, or not at all. I will hopefully go over the basics of everything and try to inform everyone about fish keeping, maintenance, vet trips, or anything else that is commonly overlooked.
Do You Have What It Takes:
-Plenty of room for a fish tank and stand. Many people do not think about this when they see a pretty fish in the store, they buy it and a tank and get the fish. You must plan out where you can put it.
-Plenty of money? Fish cost a lot more thna people think, you must be financially stable and have enough income to keep your fish swimming and happy
-Plenty of Time? Water changes can be very time consuming, cleaning tanks and providing the fish daily meals often get forgotten.
Well If you said yes to those 3 basic questions, we will move into more indepth studies of our fish.
Location, location, location
You should put a tank in a location where people will be able to see and enjoy your fish. You shouldnt put it in the corner of the house where no one will see it, and where you will often forget to perform maintenance and neglet your fish.
Do you have any pets/small childeren? Often times other pets and childeren can cause an aquarium to meet its demise and come crashing down into the ground spilling water, chemicals, glass, and expensive fish.
Do you have a stand to put the aquarium on? You must remember that water weights about 8.8 lb a gallon. I say about 10 with gravel and the tank itself. Most book shelfs, and other devices are not meant to support 100 pounds of weight(a 10 gallon tank). You must have a special stand for the aquarium or the knowledge to make one for it sturdy enough.
Can the room you place the tank in remain "in the dark" to prevent algae from growing rapidly? This is up in the air, so to speak. Some people say a little algae is good for the tank. Some say that they keep the blinds closed permanently. It all depends on what types of plants you want, real or plastic. So you need to do some reasearch on what is best for you. I believe a tank should be well lit, but not sunlight. I strongly agree you should keep the sun out of the equation and stick to flourescent lighting(see farther down on light)
-Lighting
This is a very nice thing to have. Most aquarium hoods come with lighting of some sort. They make viewing your fish(especially in winter) much more pleasant and actually makes the tank look much brighter, obviously. The way my tanks are set up, I use pre-existing lighting to light them up. One flourescent tube light(under counter type) and a incandescent reading bulb mounted on the wall above two other tank Flourescent is much better IMHO. It gives a nice white glow, as incandencent gives off a yellow sickly glow. Flourescent is usually cheaper and lasts longer. LED is also a "on the rise" lighting. They are fairly cheap for what you get. They almost last forever. You do not have to worry about breaking a filament and losing the light. They have lots of lights so its okay if one breaks. They have very low power consumption. Finally they give off very little heat(IDK if thats good or bad yet). Metal Halides are a must for any saltwater tank keeper wanting corals. I do not have any experience with them, only reading bits and peices. Which is why I do not have them included.
Well if you can house your tank within all of these parameters, you are looking good.
Father Time
The time that fish keeping requires is a lot compared to what you may be used to. Here are a list of things you should keep in mind when thinking about adopting a fish.
First and Foremost you must Cycle your tank(preferably without fishies involved, Check out this thread for fishless cycling Fishless Cycle. This process can take many many weeks to preform. Patience is a virtue and allows you to break up the spending of your hard earned money over a period of time instead of one solid investment. Which you will still need but just not as much.
Fish require weekly water changes. That means you must have the time to vacuum out your tank and fill it back up again. You usually only do about 25% of the water at a time, but thats an hour or two a week just for keeping your tank relativly clean.
Fully cleaning your tank. I do this about once every other month where I completely empty a tank and clean the plants, decorations, tank, tank cover, filter, and the fishes need baths too(oh just kidding). The substrate needs washing out throughouly too.
Can you feed your fish every day usually at the same time? Feeding your fish 6 days a week, every day is a very good way to keep them healthy. Yes I said 6 days a week. You should usually skip one day of the week. This doesnt mean you can feed it when you rememeber, and if you dont remember, it doesnt matter. Fish need structure
Trips to the LFS(Local Fish Store/Live Fish Store). This requires a lot of time too. You would be suprised how much time you spend driving to and from the LFS to get supplies. I have gone to walmart twice today and once yesterday getting supplies for my fish tanks.
Time to clean up messes that occasionally happen when you spill water or if the worst happens and a tank breaks? You must not have a tight schedule. This is debateable, but you should save some time every day to take care of you pretties.
Time to fill water jugs up for water changes like me? I spend a lot of time filling up water so it can age and adjust to a more ideal temp for the fishies. It would supprise you how long it takes to fill up 10 gallons of water for a partial water change on a 50 gallon. And with 4, 10 gallon tanks I change about 25 gallons of water a week. That all takes time!
So you've got the time to take care of fish, do you have the finances?
Fish Cost Money
Fish can start to cost a LOT of money. It is usually safe to say that starting a tank is easily 100 dollar investment for a 10 gallon. They are a heavy starting investment. And continue to cost money.
All my fish supplies between a 55 G tank, 4X 10 gallon tanks is as followed:
-4x 50 watt heaters (15$ a peice)
-2x 1-3 whisper filters (12$ a peice)
-1 2-10 Whipser Filter(15$)
-1 5-15 Filter aqua Tech (12$)
-5x med plant packs (7$ a peice)
-1x Large plant pack (18$)
-18x substrate (4$ a peice)
-5x thermometers (3$ a peice)
-5x Small decor (12$ a peice)
-1x Large decor (20$)
Total: 331 Dollars
Thats all for whats just in my tank to help maintain safe environments for fish.
The Fish Themselves can cost a substantial amount of cash. Between every fish I have had...11 female bettas, 2 male bettas, 2 black fin sharks, 6 ghost shrimp, and a pletco I have spent 88 dollars plus a tiger oscar
Fish Meds and everything else they require dumping into the water:
Start right/water conditioners (10$ a bottle)
Water Salt (2$ a carton that treats 100 gal approx)
Mixed diet for fish (5$ a container)
-3 different foods for Bettas
-3 different types for my Chilclid
Medicines can cost 8$ a container
THE MAIN ESSENTIALS
Tank(10 gallon costs 15 dollars here)
Aquarium Hood( 23$ for a aquarium hood)
Filter (15 plus an addition 10$ every month for cartiges)
Substrate (1$/1lb and 1lb/1gal)
Plants Plastic (7$ per 4 which is a nice amount)
Aqarium Decoration (12$ a peice and one usually looks nice)
Water conditioner (depends on size, 10 dollars for 16 FLOZ)
Fish (Depends on your fish. Betta are around 5 but can go up to 15. Oscars can cost 15, tetras are 3 or 4)
Stand (25-50 for a 10 gallon tank depending on what you want fancy or not)
Balanced diet (15$)
Nets (I perfer to have a lot of different sized one(I have a deep and a shallower tank and I doint like having fish smell on me all the time 3-4$ a peice and it prevents you from spreading potential disease)
*heater (15$)
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