Fish Tanks

[SS Silv]

I have been thinking a lot lately about getting a fish tank. I have never owned one and have no idea what I might be getting my self into. I am also looking for an apartment and I heard that some places won't let you have a fish tank Anyone had any problems with this?

 

I am unsure about getting either a freshwater or saltwater? Drako where you at buddy? I know you have experience with this.

 

Feedback is appreciated from anyone whom has any experience with fish tanks

 

Thanks

Edited November 29, 2006 by SS Silv (see edit history)

[tonman316]

i had one it was a 45 gallon. It was nice to look at but a pain in the ass to clean with alot of fish in it.

[AnAmerican Revolution]

if you want a fish tank i got one that i will be parting with soone has filter and everything all you do is pay shipping or some and get the stupid thing it even has a nice stand that goes along with it its a 3 layer glas tank so it is heavy. If you want it its yours

[foxySS]

Some people will have different opinions on this, but I say go with Saltwater. The fish are much cooler to look at, have more of a personality and tend to be more aggressive. It can be a pain to clean but as long as the nitrite/nitrate levels are kept pretty stable then it will stay clean for a long time. (The more fish the quicker it will get dirty.) Algae is the only other thing you have to clean from time to time. I have a 55 gallon (not setup right now) and am looking to get a bigger one eventually. It is a blast once you get it all setup though!

[2006SilverSS]

Right now I have two tanks, both are freshwater. I have never tried to do saltwater but I have heard that they are A LOT of work, and the fish can be pretty expensive. I've got to say that out of the several types of fish that I have had, I like cichlids the best. Here are a couple links to pics of my tanks.

 

Link 1

 

Link 2

 

These pics are of my 50 gallon tank, I'll try to get some updated pics of my smaller tank.

[r8rs4lf]

185 gallon acrylic freshwater tank here. It is a PITA to keep up, but it always blows peoples minds when they come into my house. I'm a freshwater person myself. Saltwater is cool, but I think freshwater fish are cooler looking. Also people who walk by can see it through the window. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them for you.

[KJT13]

if you want a fish tank i got one that i will be parting with soone has filter and everything all you do is pay shipping or some and get the stupid thing it even has a nice stand that goes along with it its a 3 layer glas tank so it is heavy.  If you want it its yours

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

"get the stupid thing"

 

nice sales pitch. you might have just talked him out of it. i thought about one awhile back. you would think, fish, how hard could that be? cleaning the tank is just more effort than i wanna deal with. that and keeping the fish alive.

[05blackss86]

If you do a saltwater aquarium correctly, there is very little maintenance. I have two well established saltwater tanks, a 75 gallon FOWLR (fish only with live rock) and a 12 gallon mini reef (corals and such), that basically only require food and the addition of water because of evaporation. By adding what aquarists call "live rock" (rock collected from the ocean reefs that is full of algae and other micro-organisms) to your tank, you basically create and self sustaining biological system that requires very little attention depending on how serious you get into the hobby. The only downside to saltwater is the $ aspect. Most nice looking fish are around $30-$50 dollar range and can be quite frustrating when you find one dead at the bottom of the tank. To set up a decent 55 gallon saltwater tank assuming you buy all new equiptment will probably cost you $1000-$1500 by the time everything is up and running. PM if you have anymore questions, ill be happy to answer them.

[drako]

As far as maintenance with saltwater i dont got much. I just top it off with fresh water and every once in a while i take out half the water and replace it with new saltwater and fresh water to give it new minerals. cleaning the tank....eh you have a little scrubber called a mag float that is a magnet and you just swipe it a few times over the class to get rid of algea growth. it all depends on what you want silvy. With saltwater you can either go big or small. However the bigger you go the more fish you can have. so it all depends on if you want a small tank with some coral (or just rock either way you need live rock for all of them) or a large tank with coral and fish or just fish. once you decide if you want big or small then we will go in depth on your optiions. for instance, you can want a 50 gallon, with reef fish like tangs (think dorey from finding nemo) a few coral fish some shrimp, crabs etc. but you cant put a harlequin tusk in there ( they are nice as hell) because when he grows up hes gonna start chomping on everything. since these animals are part of a real ecosystem you have to match each one with its ecosystem. as far as maintence your equipment like your filters, your live rock, the live sand etc will keep the levels of bad stuff in check. as long as you dont oevrfill the damn thing with livestock youll be a.o.k.

[ItsJac]

Well I can only coment only fresh water tanks...I currently have a 46 gal Bow front with only has a 5 inch oscar ad a 9 inch pleco... I have very low maintance in the tank. Once every two weeks change about 5 gallons and replace the filters... ITs not really bad at all. The other tank is a 5 gallon ecplise that hold a puffer fish... I have minor maint, Water filters thats about it... In my opinion if you can afford it look into the bowfront tanks, There different and make a difference.OR the ecplise style for smaller tank All complete...

[rivierakid55]

i have a 64 gallon corner bowfront freshwater right now. i havent heard of apartments not letting in fish tanks but i could be wrong there. i do think that saltwater fish have a better variety but are more expensive to buy/care for. the reason i like the corner bow front is it fits nicely into a corner which when i had a small apartment worked great.

 

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h109_70corner.htm

 

this is a similar setup to mine although different size. i like that it doesnt take up much space.

[foxySS]

Or, you can just be like I always did and just not tell the apartment management.

[SS Silv]

Thanks for the replies. A local guy just opened up a saltwater fish store and has a lot of nice stuff and knows a lot about the hobby. I am excited to get started. I am going to make sure I am well educated about the hobby before I start buying. That would be awesome if the rest of you guys would post pics of your tanks.

 

Thanks.

Edited November 30, 2006 by SS Silv (see edit history)

[drako]

Thanks for the replies. A local guy just opened up a saltwater fish store and has a lot of nice stuff and knows a lot about the hobby. I am excited to get started. I am going to make sure I am well educated about the hobby before I start buying. That would be awesome if the rest of you guys would post pics of your tanks.

 

Thanks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats the best thing you can do, there are a ton of websites. The more you know before you jump- in the better. It saves you a ton of time money, and lives of the rare fishy fishies

[cwest94]

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/h109_70corner.htm

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Elmers Aquarium is 15mins from my house (depending on traffic). I go there all the time for all my fish stuff, the staff there know just about anything there is regarding fish.

 

But back on subject, I have fresh water fish and think they are great. I've had a 50 gal tank now for about 7yrs and have had fish the past 12yrs. My current fish just turned 2yrs old two weeks ago, I call them my kids

 

Just took these right now, they are Severum Cichlid's

 

They have such a nice personality to them, its funny seeing how excited they get when I walk up to them. I'll be hurt if anything were to happen to one or both of them.