Just saying hello. I am new and would like a little help.
- Thread starter Shaunna
- Start date
Welcome Shaunna!! Doing research is the best first step you could possibly take with setting up a tank so kudos on that.
Couple things: Check out this thread...its got a lot of great hints. http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19568
Do your best to do your own research on here, online etc and dont believe pet store employees about your fish or setting up your tank. Get the biggest tank you can to start with...20 or a 29 is perfect for a beginner, so much easier than a tiny little tank because its less frustrating, more fish choices and a little more forgiving than a small tank. Oh, and patience is worth it in the end!
Couple things: Check out this thread...its got a lot of great hints. http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19568
Do your best to do your own research on here, online etc and dont believe pet store employees about your fish or setting up your tank. Get the biggest tank you can to start with...20 or a 29 is perfect for a beginner, so much easier than a tiny little tank because its less frustrating, more fish choices and a little more forgiving than a small tank. Oh, and patience is worth it in the end!
Well, I have read several places the bigger is better. However, I really don't have a very large place to put it and I think I would prefer having just a small tank that doesn't take up a whole lot of space and doesn't make me feel like I have just upset my whole life over something I am not really all that familiar with. If that sounds mean I am sorry I am just trying to be as honest with myself as possible so as to not get my expectations too high. Although, like I said it is something I hope to spend the rest of my life doing I just don't want to burn myself out too quickly. Make sense? So, with that said... I would like to have maybe a 7 or 10 gallon tank. I would like to have something other than goldfish and bettas. I had a betta for about 2 years when I was younger, planning on getting another for a small bedside bowl. I saw on here where one guy has a firebelly newt in with his fish and a snail I believe. All in a 15 gallon I think. Too advanced for me? I know I am a beginner but I don not want mundane. There has to be something in between. Not that goldies or mollies are mundane. Thanks alot. Please tell me what you think.
heh well, of course its your tank and you'll pick whatever works best for you...but honestly a 20 is barely bigger in dimensions than a 10. I started with a 10, and its ok but it gets too small too fast. The reason people suggest bigger is because they wish someone would have told them that when THEY were starting out. Of course I'm just speaking for myself...but others have said the same and I'm sure you'll hear it more than once. A 15 is not a bad size at all.
On the newt + fish...not usually a good idea to mix the two. You can do some research, but they need such different conditions and you'll need to consider what kind of filter etc. Newts are great, but personally I wouldn't try to combine them with a fish.
Since you dont have the tank yet you might think about first researching and deciding what type(s) of fish you'd like to get and see available at local stores and then design the tank around them. If you want a school of Harlequin Rasboras and a bristlenose pleco and want to try a planted tank then maybe start with a 15 or a 20? If you really want a big school of white skirts and a school of threadfin rainbowfish you might consider a 29 or a 46+. (btw my 46 bowfront is my favorite tank
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On the newt + fish...not usually a good idea to mix the two. You can do some research, but they need such different conditions and you'll need to consider what kind of filter etc. Newts are great, but personally I wouldn't try to combine them with a fish.
Since you dont have the tank yet you might think about first researching and deciding what type(s) of fish you'd like to get and see available at local stores and then design the tank around them. If you want a school of Harlequin Rasboras and a bristlenose pleco and want to try a planted tank then maybe start with a 15 or a 20? If you really want a big school of white skirts and a school of threadfin rainbowfish you might consider a 29 or a 46+. (btw my 46 bowfront is my favorite tank
)Ok, basically, I have absolutely no idea what I want. I don't know what tank to get because I am not sure what fish to get. I would like to have something that is interesting, yet as I have said I am a beginner and do not know that much baout fish. I am wondering what would it take to have a clown fish? Is that too advanced for me? Is it possible to have a clown fish with another little creature and a small reef in a small tank? I just don't know. I am looking for some examples of things to start out with, I guess. And money is an issue. Hopefully that will be more helpful to all those who look here. Thanks alot
Hi Shaunna and welcome to the tank!
Regardless if you decide on just one fish or multiple fish, the bigger the tank, the less trouble you'll have. For example, if your water quality goes a little bad, you will have less time to react and fix it in a 10 gallon before it becomes fatal than a 20 gallon.
I'm a freshwater girl so I can't comment on the types of fish you want but I would recommend looking thru the profiles first and then posting specific questions you have.
Regardless if you decide on just one fish or multiple fish, the bigger the tank, the less trouble you'll have. For example, if your water quality goes a little bad, you will have less time to react and fix it in a 10 gallon before it becomes fatal than a 20 gallon.
I'm a freshwater girl so I can't comment on the types of fish you want but I would recommend looking thru the profiles first and then posting specific questions you have.
well a clown fish IS saltwater and if money is an issue, its very expensive to set up and maintain a saltwater system not something as a beginner I would want to get in to. Freshwater/tropical is the way to go for you so that will limit your list of fish to fresh/tropical fish. First you need to decide what SIZE tank you want, then plan out what fish you can get that can live within that size. So that is the first thing you need to decide. Price tanks and I know walmart sells them in various sizes that come complete with filter/heater...not sure about gravel. Once you have a list of tanks to choose from and cost wise what you can afford THEN you need to set it up, get water in it and let it cycle either with afew small "test" fish or you can let it cycle through a fishless cycle. You need to do some more reading from the stickys on this site that can help inform you which in turn will help you to make informed decisions on what direction you want to go. Good luck...if you have more questions, ask, Im sure there are others too that can help you along.