Fishy Tank

soo, i'm going to set up a new fish tank soon, or fix mine up. I am getting 2 50 (or 55, i dont remember) gal. tanks today, and can definatley put some more cool stuff in there than i can in a 20 L.

I know this question has been kind of answered before, but does somebody have a list of good freshwater fish? I'm not sure if i want to mess with saltwater for my first real tank, although i have sceen some awesome saltwater fish. Which do you all prefer? prso and cons?

Some nice fish are neon tetras. You can keep tons of em together and they last a fairly long time. I've also kept those teeny weeny catfish with tetras before. Those are both nice little fish to have. :) I'm not huge into aquariums, so I don't know a whole lot about fish.

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Originally Posted by Sausage

Some nice fish are neon tetras. You can keep tons of em together and they last a fairly long time. I've also kept those teeny weeny catfish with tetras before. Those are both nice little fish to have. :) I'm not huge into aquariums, so I don't know a whole lot about fish.

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Yeah, i have heard about those too. I think i'm going to go to my local aquarium shop....i need to know what fish are compatable with what too.


What i really want in my tank:

Colorful fish
a type of frog
pleco


actually, in my dream tank i would have an eel and a stingray, but i have a feeling thats not going to happen in a 55 gal

I've kept African Clawed frogs several times. They're so funny! I'm pretty sure they're fresh water.... not sure though. I had one that lived for 8 years once! :eek:

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Originally Posted by Sausage

I've kept African Clawed frogs several times. They're so funny! I'm pretty sure they're fresh water.... not sure though. I had one that lived for 8 years once! :eek:

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yup they are freshwater. I have 2 now. Do you know how big they get?

Not very. Mine(I've had 3) have all been males, and only got about 4 inches long.

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Originally Posted by Amy05

yup they are freshwater. I have 2 now. Do you know how big they get?

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African clawed frogs can get pretty big, ive seen some that were huge. African dwarf frogs on the other hand stay small, we have 2 that are pretty old and they are only about an inch long. Weve got them in a tank with 3 Zebras danios and 3 purple tetras.

Fancy goldfish rock. Tey are so easy to keep, require no heater in their tank in a normal-temprature room, and are full of character. They are relatively "messy", as they put off a lot of ammonia; I would start off with one or two small ones, not overloading the tank before ready.
Two 55gtanks.. I would make one a fancy goldfish tank (I would recommed telescope eyes and maybe a few ryukin; orandas get an annoying fungal growth in their wens (headgrowth) and can be discouraging to a beginner.
It basically depends on what you're into. If you like a lot of bright vivid color, goldfish are hard to beat. If you're more into tropical exotic colors (blues, purples, etc) then maybe a tetra/molly/sword tank, but to me those fish have less character than GFs. Another tropical I love is the platy; I just got one with some awesome blue coloration.. along with honey gourami and a few swords, it is a nice combination! 55-gallon tanks are, to me, the ideal sized tank; not too big or too small. You could make a super community tank in there.. I would definately start out with one or two fish and gradually add more..
I have five ACFrogs, and my bargest female is about 6 inches snout to butt. She is a big girl!

I currently have 2 african dwarf frogs. they are babys, so they are really tiny. i can barely even see them in the tank. I like the more exotic colors, purples, blues, i loove clown fish, and those kinds of things (im pretty dang sure clowns are salt water though). I'll have to take a trip to my local fish shop...see what they have.

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Originally Posted by Amy05

I currently have 2 african dwarf frogs. they are babys, so they are really tiny. i can barely even see them in the tank. I like the more exotic colors, purples, blues, i loove clown fish, and those kinds of things (im pretty dang sure clowns are salt water though). I'll have to take a trip to my local fish shop...see what they have.

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Ohhh. OK.. Dwarf frogs do not get that big! Sorry to scare you; they won't exceed two inches or so, stretched out. :)
Purples.. blues.. the platy is a great little fish for those colors.. so are some of the brighter swordtails. There are also guppies, but I am not really that sure if they are able to be kept communally or if they need a species-specific tank.. you can get clown loaches that have similar colors to clownfish.. not as bright though; there are other swordtails and platies that have that awesome bright orange too.

thanks! I am not really into guppies. I like bigger exotic fish...like the kind you would imagine seeing while your going diving in hawaii, ya know?

Hmm.. I have kept African cichlids before; I always thought of them as the closest thing to saltwater in terms of color and fish size/appearance.. I had them for years, but auctioned them off a few years ago to switch over to a goldfish tank.. Lake Malawi cichlids are awesome. Yellow Labs are ok, but they are more timid and generally not OK to mix with other types.. your blue zebras and rusties, are good.. it is fun to buy them as tiny babies and watch them grow!
There is a special gravel that should be bought for these; you need hard water for them, they actually thrive from it. This was great for our house, since our well water is harder than rocks, heh.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

Hmm.. I have kept African cichlids before;

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LOL I read that at first glance as "African Chitlits" :8:
Cichlids are pretty, though. I haven't owned any.

it sounds like you are more interested in a salt water tank. a nice salt water size is no less than 55 gallons... and the bigger the better as you need a lot of live rock in order to keep it healthy and honestly in a nano tank (a small tank) the rock tends to overwhelm the tank and because of the smaller size... it doesn't thrive as well as a larger tank.

salt water is really expensive. especially if you go for really good lighting. regardless if you have lots of money to spend... i'm sure you'll enjoy the tank.

you could make a nice cichlid tank in a 55 gallon...

of course there's australian rainbow fish which have great colour and you can get some really interesting fish if you are willing to pay a little more for them. i picked up a really nice orange and chocolate brown bicher today for my 210 gallon tank. a really nice addition.

the most important aspect of keeping a tank is to buy fish for all the different levels of your tank. a tank is boring if all your fish are sitting on the bottom. ;)

my advice... go to the local fish store... write down the names of the fish you like and do a search for them on the internet. get to know their water parameters, their food requirements and what type of a tank they like (planted, fast moving water, slow moving, rocky etc), the pH they require... and then choose what you want. you can't put fish together who require different pH values... they'll die.

and... have fun!