So my roommates and I want to start an aquarium...

[Wes Mantooth]

In our apartment.

I was thinking somewhere from a 30-50 gallon tank, freshwater, with live plants and various fish.

Anyone else on ILF have an aquarium that could give me some advice as to all the supplies I'll need, what kind of fish will be most compatible with other kinds, etc.?

I've been reading some guides online but I'd love to hear from some ILFers.

[jfrey]

Sea Monkeys. Millions of Sea Monkeys.

[Caesar]

My wife keeps a couple tanks going. As long as you go with freshwater tanks, it should be easily manageable. Make sure you stay on top of the pH levels in your water and choose fish that all prefer that pH. Don't start with expensive fish, and make sure you don't get overly aggressive fish. Always get a Plecostomus to help eat the algae off the sides of the tank.

[McSpunckle]

I used to do it. Mostly tropical fish... 'cause they're neato.

Freshwater is pretty easy. Just check the pH and temperature and don't leave the light on constantly. Oh, and fish need food. If they don't get food, they die.

[Caesar]

And if you give them too much food, they die.

[Wes Mantooth]

As far as fish, I was thinking some catfish to clean up the bottom of the tank maybe some betas a small freshwater shark and whatever else I decide.

I just need to find a store around here with some cool fish and all the required supplies.

[culturejam]

Freshwater is BY FAR the cheaper option. It's not as cool as saltwater, but my god the cost difference is staggering. You can go with a more esoteric freshwater setup, like trying to emulate the high pH brackish water of Lake Malawi, but even that is just a few dollars more to setup and maintain.

I've had an aquarium going continuously since about 2003. Mostly I've kept cichlids, which is a world unto itself (like forums just for those types of fish). My personal favorite is the Jack Dempsey, but I am also strongly partial to the Africans as well (from lakes Malawi and Tanganyika). They are the most beautiful of the freshwater fish, I think.

You may be best served in going with a traditional rectangle 55-gallong tank for a couple reasons: 1) the fish keeping hobby is somewhat standardized around this size/shape, so there are a lot of options and add-ons available. 2) The bigger the tank, the more stable the water chemistry is. 55g is big enough to be stable but not so big that it takes up half a room.

[devnulljp]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uvt83YWWWY[/youtube]

[Jero]

Sea Monkeys. Millions of Sea Monkeys.

No dude, triops. Wayyy cooler.

[Blackened Soul]

Sea Monkeys. Millions of Sea Monkeys.

!

[Wes Mantooth]

Right now I'm looking at getting various species of catfish, including some sucker cats to clean stuff up. My roommate also wants a freshwater Indian Dwarf Pufferfish and I was going to throw some Tiger Barbs and some Mosquito fish in for good measure.

If this sounds just stupid let me know, I'm totally new to this.

[Blackened Soul]

Not stupid, no, but what I am hearing is you are too good for goldfish I love goldfish, I'd have them now if I actually didn't have to take care or them.

[culturejam]

You might want to make sure that all those species of fish can coexist, both in terms of temperament and also water chemistry.

Puffer fish usually require a bit more care and attention than typical tropical fish. And they have sort of picky diets as well. But they are really cool, and it's worth the effort. If I were you, I'd start with the idea of the puffer and then build the rest of the tank around that as the core.


One other thing I would add is that you should buy your aquarium and all the gear to set up at least a week or two before you plan to add fish. Get everything running nice and have the water totally "cycled" before fish go in there. You can use household ammonia to start the biological cycle manually. There is no need to introduce "sacrificial" goldfish to get the cycle going.

[jfrey]

Sea Monkeys. Millions of Sea Monkeys.

No dude, triops. Wayyy cooler.

You mean terrifying. I had Triops when I was a kid. One of them went rogue and killed all the others and ate them. I don't mean it killed and ate like 1 or 2. No. ALL OF THEM. DOZENS. Those things are only supposed to get to be like a couple centimeters long. This thing was a fucking monster. It was huge.

[Wes Mantooth]

You might want to make sure that all those species of fish can coexist, both in terms of temperament and also water chemistry.

Puffer fish usually require a bit more care and attention than typical tropical fish. And they have sort of picky diets as well. But they are really cool, and it's worth the effort. If I were you, I'd start with the idea of the puffer and then build the rest of the tank around that as the core.


One other thing I would add is that you should buy your aquarium and all the gear to set up at least a week or two before you plan to add fish. Get everything running nice and have the water totally "cycled" before fish go in there. You can use household ammonia to start the biological cycle manually. There is no need to introduce "sacrificial" goldfish to get the cycle going.

This sounds like a good idea, the Dwarf Puffer actually works because according to the rules of my apartment on campus, tanks can only be 10 gallons, but we are going to do 20 because no one will care enough