Newbie.....HELP!!

[Scottish_Ash]

Hi all

I have been thinking about getting a fish tank but..... I came accross this forum and read a few of the posts and its not as easy as what I thought it was.

I've become confused by reading about 'cyciling' and a few others.

Can anyone please offer a total confused guy some advice please

Thanks

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Check out the "stickys" they appear to be threads with useful information. Do a search for cycling as there are lots of detailed threads and posts on the subject. Very generally you cannot just throw water and fish in a tank without killing a lot of fish. Cycling is conditioning the water so that fish can live in it and be healthy. It can take several weeks. Some folks have developed a cycling regimen using chemicals to condition the water and I think they break it down into two subcategories; cycling with fish or fishless cycling. Others use methods to condition water without chemicals, but seem to be in the minority or at least less vocal. It is a complicated hobby and will require a lot of time and effort to do well. The down side to doing it poorly is the death of the fish.

 

[Shroomerz420]

A word of advice before you get started...

If you don't have patience now...you will DEFINITELY have it by the time your done setting everything up.


Oh yeah..

And if you want a fish tank NOW...like right NOW...you are in for a whole lot of headaches and will most likely give up real soon. I didn't purchase my first fish until about 3 months after I bought my tank. Then it took 3 more months to get to where I'm at now. I'm not even half way done. Stocking slowly sucks, is boring and will drive you mad, but is more rewarding in the end. Less deaths and more time to get to know and study your new occupants. Plus you'll get the opportunity to better plan out your stocking scheme. If you buy all your fish at once and dump them in, where's the fun in that?


Take your time. Read. Read some more. Then when your done, go read some more for the hell of it. Then go to the LFS and look at fish. Just look. Don't buy. Think of what fish you would like to keep and then go research the crap out of em. If you know the scientific names of the fish you wish to keep and can identify them by seeing them. You are off to a good start. You should and will want to enjoy every aspect of this hobby, not just watching the fish. Most people are only concerned with the end result and could care less about everything in between. I actually had more fun planning out my tank and setting everything up than I did purchasing the fish.

Then you will want to plan out the design of your tank before you buy a single thing. Take what they say at the LFS with grain of salt. Do your own research and make your own choices. Fish keeping is an interesting hobby in that everyone has their own opinions about everything, yet there is very little factual information on anything. What works for me probably won't work for you and vice versa.

It is an amazingly rewarding hobby and I hope you decide to stick with it though. *thumbsups


If you read all that and take it to heart, you will definitely thank me. I wish someone would have told it to me straight before I got started, but I found out the hard way. It took me about 5 years after failing horribly the first time to give it another try. This time I followed the above advice and it turned out amazing. I learned a hell of a lot though and hopefully I can help some of you avoid the same mistakes.

Now what are you waiting for? GO READ THEM BOOKS! *GOLDFISH*

 

[nanu156]

well my first question is how much space do you have and how much do you have to spend?

My second question is what would you like to keep?

Read the newbie sticky it gives a break down of the cycle process, it is just annoying not difficult.

Larger tanks are easier to maintain and harder to mess up they also give you more fish options.

Smaller tanks are much less expensive but can be touchy when it comes to striking the balence.

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/fre...aving-money-do-your-self-getting-started.html

check out that thread for some money saving tips.

I think it requires some planning but honestly if you avoid the 3 big mistakes its not that hard

1. don't jump the gun, do a fishless cycle wait for it to finish

2. Don't buy the wrong fish (google each fish, check its max size and housing requirements as in suitable tank makes, tank size etc)

Some good starters are platties, guppies, tetras & corries there are a ton more of great starter fish but these are the first that come to my mind

3. Don't buy too many fish, have a realistic expectation of what will fit in your tank, keep in mind that a decent rule of thumb is 1" of full grown fish/critter per gallon. 10 gallons means 6-10 fish. 5 gallons means 3-5 fish. Less then five you get a betta

it really isn't that hard to get up and running, lots of the tough stuff we deal with here has to do with folks buying a tank, filling it up with water and swooping a net randomly through the tanks at the fish store to pick fish with out giving any thought to if it will work they do this all over the same day and a week later have dead fish.

 

[IThinkTherefore]

aqadvisor.com is a great place to check which fish you can keep in the tank, although it's still better to ask us

Here is a great cycling article:

Cycling Your Aquarium, Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle: Start Cycling Aquarium Guide