TONS of questions, share your wisdom and pics

[DesignerBP]

heres mine when i fist set it up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li8wBayfdtY

[anatess]

1. Fresh vs. Saltwater--What are the pros/cons, whether it be species possibilities, or general upkeep and costs

Saltwater is generally more expensive than freshwater set-ups. Saltwater tanks use more electricity. Saltwater tanks are also more "sensitive" than freshwater and require more initial set-up effort and may require more ongoing maintenance.

Saltwater systems, in my opinion, are a lot prettier than freshwater and there are a lot more options available.

It really depends on what "theme" you want in your home. There's a different "feel" to a saltwater system than a freshwater system - the same difference as going suba diving in a river versus scuba diving on an ocean reef, know what I mean?

2. How varying can your fish be? i.e., is it possible to have a good number of different species in a single aquarium?

Yes - for both saltwater and freshwater systems. But you will need to know what goes with what. For example, a seahorse don't go with any other fish. A beta will kill another beta. A cichlid don't go with a danio, etc.

3. What is a generally good sized aquarium? I would love something with a nice, furniture looking base, and have seen some for good prices with everything in the 55 gallon range. Is this a good size, or are the 100+ a better choice? I'm not in a monstrous house, and don't have unlimited funds, so by no means am I looking for an MTV Cribs aquarium. Does size limit species possibilities? Is there a "most popular" size, or most bang for your buck?

It depends on what kind of aquarium system you want to have. For example, a dwarf seahorse don't do well in tanks bigger than 10 gallons. A beta fish can live in a 1 gallon nano tank. They even have beta tanks that stick on a wall - I was thinking of putting 20 of these on the wall like a poster which would have been really great, but my husband nixed the idea.

You can maintain a 1 gallon nano just as easily as a 55 gallon community tank if you have a quality set-up. But, the smaller the tank, the more sensitive it is to imbalance. A bigger tank is a lot more "forgiving" - for example, if you forget to change the filter for months on end, or you fill the tank with not-so-ideal water, etc. A smaller tank will require instant intervention when something goes wrong.

So, for beginners, I would suggest a 29-gallon freshwater community tank. It is easy to set up, not too expensive and there are good options. Of course, the size limits the type of fish you can put in there - for example, you can only have 6 discus fish in a 29 gallon and nothing else (Discus is my favorite freshwater aquarium fish - they interact with people and would even eat out of your hand). Discus is really not a beginner fish - they have to have the right conditions to survive. But you have a lot of pretty community fish you can start off with in a 29 gallon - corys, barbs, danios, plecos, guppies, mollies, platties, etc. When you get more comfortable, you can move up to the cichlids (lots of pretty ones) and other more aggressive but prettier fish, and even go to a 6 discus school which is really awesome on a 29-gallon once you get the hang of it.

If you prefer saltwater, I would suggest to start with a 55 gallon or a 75 gallon. Anything lesser than a 55 gallon is too sensitive for a beginner. Also, I would suggest a fish-only saltwater tank - no live rock. Good beginner fish are damsels, blennies, gobbies, and even clownfish. After you get the hang of this, then you can move on to live rock, anemones, all the way up to a complete reef system in a 55 gallon.

4. What are average monthly costs and what are the general upkeep requirements?

After the initial set-up cost, maintenance is pretty cheap, especially if you go with freshwater set-up. My 29-gallon freshwater community tank is fairly cheap - $20 for the filter catridges and carbon and ammonia neutralizing crystals would last you a year. $50/year for fish food - you can feed fish flakes only for a lot less that is good for most community fish. Water conditioner is negligible, Electricity is negligible.

The important thing is to have a really good quality, appropriate size filter for your tank. In my 29 gallon, I have an Emperor 280 with biowheel filter. With this set-up, all I do is empty out the tank once a year for general cleaning. I rinse out the filter cartridge once a month, replace after 3 months. I rinse out the neutralizing media once a month, replace after a year. Vacuum the gravel once a month - sometimes I skip a month. I have plecos that eat the algae and catfish that eat gunk from the bottom. I don't need to scrub at all except for touch-ups and such (my kids sometimes leave oily fingerprints on the glass). Add conditioned (soft) water when the water level gets low, and that's pretty much it.

5. Where do you purchase your:
-Supplies
-Fish
-etc.

You can buy a complete 29 gallon freshwater beginner tank, including fish, at Petco/Petsmart/etc. For more specialized set-ups and any saltwater set-ups you will need to go to an aquarium specialty store.

For a 29-gallon freshwater tank you will need:
29 gallon aquarium
base
hood
light
filter (Emperor 280 with biowheel)
gravel
decor
fish

That's it. The following are optional but I always have them in my freshwater set-ups:
Air pump and air stone - the Emperor 280 provide enough oxygen to the tank but I always add an air pump on low setting. It is pretty, it powers some of the decor and it adds more oxygen.

Water conditioner - if you have a reverse osmosis filter for your tap water or if you have soft water, then you really don't need this.

Heater - if your house doesn't go lower than 65F you won't need this for most fish. There are fish that require a certain temperature to thrive. Also, if you want to breed, you will need exact temperatures as well.

A saltwater set-up requires a lot more stuff - sumps, skimmers, etc. etc.

6. Do fish allow you to vacation? i.e., can I go home for the weekend without coming back to a tank full of dead fish? How do you handle time away?

Definitely. They sell time-released fish food some go to 7 days.

7. How do you transport fish in case of a move?

You will need to empty out a 29-gallon for a move just like you are doing the once-a-year general cleaning. It is very heavy with the water in it. So, just like when I'm cleaning out the tank, I would put half of the water in buckets and put the fish in there. Get rid of the rest of the water. Don't put too many fish in one bucket. They need enough oxygen to thrive. You can put a fish in a plastic bag (that's how they sell it to you) but they can't stay in there for longer than 4 hours. Set up the tank in the new place, put the old tank water back into the tank and add conditioned water. Put fish back. Done.

8. Any other advice or opinions

GO FOR IT! It is very rewarding and can be addictive. Just remember, water and electricity do not go together...

9. SHOW OFF! I'd love to see your setups, I can't get enough of the beautiful aquariums people have and would love to see what everyone has!

Thanks for any help, you guys rock

My 29-gallon freshwater community tank. Yeah yeah, it's not the greatest looking one. It is super low maintenance though.


Easy saltwater set-up with live rock and corals. This is a nano, so it's not really a beginner one:


Good luck!

[anatess]

You mentioned turtle tanks... I guess you are refering to aquatic turtles. Land turtles are a different animal altogther. I owned a turtle growing up that we had in a pond in our backyard. I've really only started keeping turtles in a tank indoors recently.

Completely different thing from fish but can also be just as easy to maintain... still needs a really good filter.

Okay, so, the general rule of thumb for tank-size is 10 gallons for every inch of turtle shell. So, if you have a map turtle, then you would need a 40-50 gallon tank for just one of those filled almost to the top (you want space at the top for them to get out of the water and bask). Two of those and you'll need a 100 gallon tank. It is better to have a long tank than a tall tank on a turtle but the water level will have to be at least the length of the shell standing up and still applying the 10 gallons per inch guideline. Aquatic turtles love to swim so it will be happier when it has enough water depth for it to do so.

You will need full-spectrum UV lighting and a heat lamp for basking. So, you will also need ledges or ramps for the turtle to get out of the water and bask.

Now, there are tons of advice out there for how to keep a turtle. After all my research on it, I found this to work out for me. My turtle tank right now has crystal clear water and I haven't had to clean out the filters yet (I've had them for about a month).

I use an undergravel filter (UGF) without the air stones. Then I have a Magnum Pro canister filter (don't bother with a bio-wheel) that I rigged into the UGF so that the Magnum would suck the water from under the UGF, run it through the filter, then cycle clean water back into the top of the tank like a waterfall to provide oxygen. I put 3 inches of gravel on top of the UGF.

Now, very important - turtles will eat the gravel - so use big-size ones that they can't eat. It doesn't hurt them to eat gravel, but if they eat too much of it, they can get impacted.

Turtles produce a lot of waste. So, you will need the Magnum to have the capacity of at least 2 to 3 times the amount of water you have in the tank.

Okay, that's about as much experience I have with turtles. Remember, I've only been doing this for a month or so.

Here's a picture of my turtle set-up. This tank is waaaaay too small for the turtles living in it. These are "rescue" turtles and I'm still saving up for the appropriate size tank. But, this should give you an idea of how it could look like. This set-up is only good for baby turtles.

[Carlene16]

I have a 55 gallon saltwater tank that I started when I was 16 and VERY naive, I put a LOT of money into that tank but now two years later I have to say it was very much so worth it. I learned sooo much about how to keep saltwater fish the right way.

I would just have to say do your research. You can keep a very wide variety with saltwater fish, and IMHO they are much more beautiful than freshwater fish. You can keep crabs, snails, eels, hermit crabs, corals (my person favorite!), and many kinds of invertebrates.

You would need to monitor the water a lot more like nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphates and all that. It would probably require a protein skimmer and some kind of filter, not a hang-on filter. You would need to monitor how much salt is in the water also, too much or too little can kill your fish.
Another thing is that when you first start up your tank you need to "cycle" your tank, meaning let the nitrogen cycle happen. Otherwise I guarantee all the fish you put in it would die pretty quickly! Thats what I did when I first got my saltwater tank (being stupid and all)

I have never had a freshwater fish tank but saltwater is AMAZING
Now that it's been up and running for two years I don't spend any money on it monthly. I have all the supplies I need. But I'd estimate I put over $1000 dollars into it, just in sand, water, liverock, corals, fish, tank supplies, etc. It was well worth it

Here's a picture of my tank, nothing special but I love my fish!



Enjoy

[navygamer]

I breed Discus and Angelfish and have several other species of fish. However having an aquarium is about finding out what species you want most. Do a lot of research. Build your setup to house the species of choice and then do more research to find suitable tank mates. Many species do not have a suitable tank mate. As for turtles I don't have a lot of experice with them just tortoises. However I do have a baby yellow belly slider turtle that my neighbor found in her yard this summer that was just 3/4" long. He's 2 inches now and eats pelleted food and has never had live. Which should prevent him from attacking live fish. With that in mind I intend on building my first native fish cold water system once I get the permits to posess the fish I intend to keep ie bluegill, small mouth bass, bowfin and channel cats. Although I don't need the permit for the catfish. Probably going to set this up in a 30 gal long aquarium with either a gravel rockslide or a commercial turtle dock on one end.