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Anyone have a fish tank?

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Baz

Baz

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My neighbour just gave me a 10-gal tank with all the fixings, gravel, filter, fake plastic trees, heater, obligatory ornamental junk etc.
Anyway, I've never kept fish before, have no clue how to do it. I just know 1" of fish per gallon and I guess I need tropical.
This is nothing serious, my three year old wants fish for her birthday.
Anyway, bearing in mind she's not going to be cleaning it and maintaining it, what kind of fish should I get, and how many of what breed would be the best for a small eco-system to thrive and be happy.
I do expect many trips for funerals to the bathroom, so I obviously don't want a $200 Oscar, yet at the same time, goldfish are boring.
Thanks All for suggestions!
 
get some Betta and it won't be boring

Seriously though Barry ask your neighbour what he had in it
 
Thanks Nial!
Hours spent searching yesterday, this one didn't come up, but it's all I'll ever need!
 
As a veterinarian and having had a few classes in fish med, I would recommend you get to work setting up your bio filter asap! If you don't and put in fish you'll be making trips to the bathroom in about 3 weeks!

Paul
 
Another forum with useful info:

https://www.myfishtank.net/

Start off with a few hardy fish, like zebra danios. That lets the good bacteria get started to break down the fish waste, and after a couple months you can increase the number of fish. Too many fish and no established bacteria = dead fish. Change about 20% of the water once a month, or maybe every 2 weeks when the tank is less than 2 months old. Use a good water treatment before adding any to the tank, because any chlorine in the water will kill the fish and the bacteria. A ten gallon is great for beginners; big enough to be stable and not so big that it's hard to manage.
 
I've got a few now and at one point had 6 tanks running at the same time with all different sorts of fish. For starters Paul brings up a good point. Get your tank all set up and running and let it sit for about a week to start getting it ready for fish.

Next I would go to some thing like a "Petland discouts" or equal and get cheap fish. You can still get pretty ones but you can sometime find deals like 2 or 3 for $2. This will at least establish some bacteria you need in the tank also if they die it's not as big a finalcial loss. Guppies, tetra, painted glass finsh, Danio's are all hardy and get along well. Get a small book on tropical fish or see the site above for detailed info. I could go on for hours. If you have specific q's you can PM me and I'll see what I can do. Jeani is also a Vet and maintins our 55 gallon we have set up for the winter with the pond fish.
 
Guppies, always start kids with em. Lots of floating grass and you will have em comming out your ears.
 
Steve_S has/had a fish tank... He's even posted a food fish saga on his site: https://mgnuts.com/uberfish/

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
 
Thanks all, I did figure from the websites posted (great info) that cycling the tank ready for fishies is key as mentioned for bacteria.
Should be an interesting foray, nothing serious, should be a good education in nature for a very curious 3 year old.
Ubercam is down /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif
 
Ignore the 1" of fish per gallon. How many fish you can keep in a tank depends on many factors including type of fish, type of filtration, shape of tank, decorations and what kind of maintenance you are willing to do.

Always start with only a couple fish. The more fish you add, the more waste they produce. This waste turns to ammonia which will harm and eventually kill your fish. Very sad for a child! As a tank ages, it goes through a bacterial "cycle". The ammonia feeds a certain bacteria which converts it to nitrates, a relatively harmless substance to fish. At first, there will be a lot of waste and no bacteria to convert it, therefore you will see a spike in ammonia. Too many fish at the start can produce a spike in ammonia so high that it kills everything. Buy a bottle of "Cycle" or any other product designed to help cycle your tank safely and quickly. It usually takes a few doses over a 2-week period.

Just like in nature, the ecosystem of your tank must find a balance between the ammonia being produces and the amount of bacteria living in the tank to convert it. Introduce too many fish at once, even in an established aquarium, and the level ammonia will be too great.

Give the tank a chance to cycle for a week or two, then slowly add more fish, one or two at a time. In a 10-gallon tank I recommend one at a time. The fewer fish, the more stable the ecosystem will be and the less maintenance it will require.

Keep in mind that the nitrates produced are harmless in small quantities but over time they will build up to harmful levels. Your filter must be cleaned and the water must be partially changed periodically. Do NOT change all the water because you will be replacing good stable water full of healthy bacteria with water lacking anything useful. In this case the tank must cycle all over again.

Also keep in mind that as water evaporates and you replace it, you are adding to the junk that comes from the faucet in your house. Reason is that only the water itself evaporates, not the minerals and other impurities. So each time you top it up, this is not the same as a water change. In fact it is doing harm to the system by adding more "stuff" that the fish don't need. This is why I use distilled water for top up in small tanks. You can also use water from a reverse osmosis filter, and this is definitely the healthiest type to use for water changes.
 
A very excellent source for all kinds of information on the subject is Tropical Fish Hobbyist. Do a search for TFH Publications. You will find ANYTHING you need about the hobby there!! PS I would start with a few guppys and maybe some neon tetras as they are "disposable", entertaining and can be had quite inexpensively in quantities!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
 
After losing fish over the years (4H kids) we went to gold fish and small coe (sp). They are colorful and hardy. There are many colors and shapes. we can go on a short vacation and not worry. I heard once fish only grow in size if there is enough food. the gold fish did not seem to need a really stable temp and could tolerate cooler water. Just my 2 cents.
 
I used to own a pet store. I would recommend starting with just a few fish, The natural (good) bacteria in these fish will start the acclimation process of the water so that more fish can be introduced. i would start with Platies. They are hardy, colorful and breed quite a bit which is fun for the kids to watch the little ones grow. Tetras and Rasboras can be introduced next. Get them in groups because they like to school. Make sure you partial your tank evey several weeks - never change all the water at once. Danios and Barbs, (I like Cherry Barbs) are good starters also. They are also schoolers, so you don't just want one.
 
bugimike said:
A very excellent source for all kinds of information on the subject is Tropical Fish Hobbyist. Do a search for TFH Publications. You will find ANYTHING you need about the hobby there!! PS I would start with a few guppys and maybe some neon tetras as they are "disposable", entertaining and can be had quite inexpensively in quantities!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
Click to expand...

My brother is a TFH rep.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]I heard once fish only grow in size if there is enough food.[/QUOTE]

That''s an old wives tale which unfortunately is still common belief. The other (and more common) variation is that a fish will only grow to the size of it's environment.

In reality, a large fish in a small aquarium will typically stop growing when it reaches a certain size because of health problems. A cramped environment leads to stress, which leads to slowed growth. The water also becomes more polluted as the fish outgrows the ecosystem which causes more stress and health problems.

The end result is that the fish dies, and the owner is even more convinced that a fish will only grow as large as the tank allows. What the owner doesn't know is that the fish would have lived 20 additional years if kept in a proper environment!

I suppose feeding a fish less will slow growth, but malnutrition will slow the growth of any animal, or even a human. That doesn't make it a good idea! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
Baz said:
goldfish are boring.
Click to expand...

Obviously you have not yet had the pleasure of visiting an aquarium shop in Chinatown yet! More types of exciting goldfish than you could ever dream up! And then there are the exotic fish. If you visit NY, San Fransisco or any other place with a real Chinatown look for an aquarium shop.
 
sideache said:
bugimike said:
A very excellent source for all kinds of information on the subject is Tropical Fish Hobbyist. Do a search for TFH Publications. You will find ANYTHING you need about the hobby there!! PS I would start with a few guppys and maybe some neon tetras as they are "disposable", entertaining and can be had quite inexpensively in quantities!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif
Click to expand...

My brother is a TFH rep.
Click to expand...

/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif I did cartoon work for their TFH magazine publication years ago!! Are they still in Farmingdale, N.J.?
 
Used to have 9 saltwater tanks in South Florida. Would dive for my own fish using a slurp gun (a plexiglass tube with a plunger handle that sucked up fish when near them). A very satisfying and relaxing hobby.
Rick
 
Thanks for all the tips guys!
2 days and no floaters. Water is good and stable, fishies seem happy (3x Zebra Danios, 3x Neon Tetras).
Most of all, my little girl is happy.
 
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