Aquariums who has one?

Discussion in 'The Guru's Pub' started by ShadowMyth, Jun 19, 2010.

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  1. ShadowMyth

    ShadowMyth Ancient Guru

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    Ever since I was a kid I've wanted a aquarium. I've kept putting it off for various reasons but next week I'm going down to the store & see if I find one I like. I mainly want to put one in by bedroom since I've found them to be very soothing & it may just help me sleep a little better. Currently I'm looking at tanks around 55 gallons & already have a base that can handle that size & weight. My question is as a noob what should I be looking for? How demanding is the upkeep? Should I skip a saltwater setup for now until I have some experience? Though the internet is full of info I'd like to hear it from someone that has had first hand experience. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.
     
  2. ST19AG_WGreymon

    ST19AG_WGreymon Guest

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    I'm looking to own a salt water aquarium in the near future and stock with some exotics like sea horses and a nautilus.
     
  3. Hyvry1

    Hyvry1 Maha Guru

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    Keep the tank away from anything that vibrates and use a water filter. Don't change the water to often either. I find that keeps the fish living a long time. I have a simple fresh water goldfish and that has been alive for 8 years and is still going strong.
     
  4. F1refly

    F1refly Ancient Guru

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    saltwater can get very expensive and can mean a lot of upkeep and may be tough to get equally balanced. but here is a good site for info. i never did saltwater due to all the maintanence and expense it can be for a really good setup.
    http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/startinganaquarium/How_to_Start_a_Saltwater_Aquarium.htm

    I developed a nice little trick to get the shadow caustics effect in your tank, you know those shadow wave effects like you see in SimAquarium. You just take some aluminum foil and cut to length that fits just under your light on the hood. Then cut a few small holes in it....it dims the lighting though, but casts "Godrays" and gives a nice caustic shadow effect on all surfaces.

    as far as freshwater tanks dont waste money on chemicals either. you can get some water balance stuff to start out but other than that, most i think is a waste. PH balancers are evil, all they did was make the water dusty then it settles and looks ugly. just change 10% of the water per week, get a good water heater and quiet air pump. don't just grab any offshelf product either, do some research and try to get quiet filters and air pumps cause those noises really do get annoying after a while.

    dont use sand. pain the rear to clean. undergravel filters suck imo. I dont like live plants cause when leaves die, they muck up the tank and can harm the fish, your suppose to remove them but kinda a pain after a while, just get some good Silk plants...not plastic but silk, they look real and sway with the water.

    as far as fish...well thats your preference. i always liked apple snails, fun to watch but have to do population control every so often.

    try to use natural looking rock,corals...etc. many things you see at most retail shops look like toys, try to go for a solid theme and not just pick stuff at random.
    check out some fish forums too...tons of help and info and many have aquarium pics you can view to see how others do it...most of them frown on anything that doesnt look natural.
     

  5. CronoGraal

    CronoGraal Ancient Guru

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    we have a big freshwater tank with goldfish and koi :3
     
  6. ShadowMyth

    ShadowMyth Ancient Guru

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    Hey thanks for the advice. Yeah the more I research saltwater tanks the less I like them. As far as fish I'm to go with some of these, though it looks like the combo may prove fatal for a couple of them. I'll ask the person at the store & change it up if need be.

    Bettas
    [​IMG]

    Discus
    [​IMG]

    Loaches
    [​IMG]

    Swordtails
    [​IMG]

    Loricaria Cat
    [​IMG]

    Chinese Hi Fin Banded Shark
    [​IMG]
     
  7. crushilista

    crushilista Ancient Guru

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  8. Mufflore

    Mufflore Ancient Guru

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    Running 2 freshwater tropical tanks, one was for breeding shrimp until the fish that dont eat shrimp larvae ate the shrimp larvae, oh well.

    I'm running a 75W metal halide bulb on one tank with an open top.
    The light ripples reflecting on the wall and ceiling & inside the tank look fantastic.
    Sadly the light spectrum for 75W bulbs is only 3200K (Kelvin) for these double ended HID bulbs so its hard to grow many plant species.
    It does however keep algae completely under control, I have none on the glass and hardly any on the tank bottom.
    I havent cleaned it of algae for over 6 months now, fantastic.

    The shrimp tank (ha!) uses 2x40W high power fluorescent tubes at around 8000K bulb colour and its an algae magnet, it grows furiously.

    If you keep more than one goldfish (ie use more fish food), you must do regular water changes and a water pump with filter is essential to convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate, otherwise your fish wont last long.
    (Lots of plants can cope with the waste of a few fish without a filter but you need a pretty large tank if you want many fish)
    Fish food is a large source of Ammonia/Ammonium (Ammonia is very toxic to fish, food for plants and algae, Ammonium is less toxic to fish and plants can use it more easily too) and Phosphate (plant but mostly algae food).
    You should also vacuum the tank gravel of detritis. If you have plants, hoover just the surface of the gravel near the plants as its good plant food. If you dont have plants, hoover it all.

    Fish food converts more to toxic ammonia at water pH higher than 7 and more to less toxic ammonium at pH lower than 7.
    So in theory the lower your pH, the more you can feed your fish or the longer you can leave between water changes.
    But if your pH suddenly rises, it can kill lots of fish!
    Low pH has other issues so read up on those, not least of which is how fish tolerate low pH and pH changes.

    Ammonia (and to a lesser extent Ammonium) is deadly so are converted biologically to nitrite by the bacteria in the water filter.
    Nitrite is less toxic but is still deadly in higher quantities.
    It is quickly converted to the less toxic nitrate by other bacteria in the water filter.
    Again, nitrate kills if left to build up, this is why water changes are essential.
    So over time...
    after you feed your fish, your tank will receive a large ammonia/ammonium spike. Feed your fish too much and that very act can kill them.
    Especially as food which is eaten creates much less ammonia, food that decays uneaten creates much more ammonia.
    This fairly quickly gets converted to Nitrate if your pump/filter is well run in and is adequate for the tank and feeding regime.
    Not all tap water is suitable for a fish tank.
    Check with your local water board to see if it is ok otherwise a water change with tap water could be a waste of time.

    If your tap water isnt suitable, you can use rain water or reverse osmosis water but this can be dangerous to aquatic life.
    Water with nothing in it is void of minerals and nutrients and it will suck up these from its surroundings.
    You can test this by putting your hand in the water and your skin will be stripped of its surface oil and your skin will dry out.
    Your fish have to live in this and it will harm or kill them, so salts need to be added to the water before being used in a tank.

    Theres tons more and I'm not an expert.
    There are many ways of running a fish tank and indeed there need to be given the huge diversity of water creatures and plant life.
    The above is just general stuff that is helpful to know.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2010
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  9. Outrance

    Outrance Ancient Guru

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    I'm currently looking at getting some turtles. But with a 30 year life span it's one hell of a commitment, or heart break if you have to sell them. But they are just so awesome to visit whenever I go to the store.
     
  10. ShadowMyth

    ShadowMyth Ancient Guru

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    ^ As far as water is concerned I have a well along with public water so I'm covered there. Though I haven't had the well tested in quite a few years the water source forms a small creek about 100 yards away that does support crayfish aka freshwater lobster which usually is a good indicator of how clean the water is.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2010

  11. deepee74

    deepee74 New Member

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    This was my Last Marine Tank before it was shut down last October:

    [​IMG]

    There is only one place I would go for Advise Ultimate Reef. If marine is what you want then that's what you should do, you have to start somewhere. As said before it can become very expensive however it doesn't have to be. Modern day systems have come along way and can be done on a budget.

    Ultimate reef is a community of people that are more than willing to give advise and the site is an endless supply of great information.

    This is a thread the Tank from start to finish HERE.

    Good Luck ............. :)
     
  12. rotzilla

    rotzilla Member Guru

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    I have a 75 gal. fresh water tank. We use the power heads to filter the tank. If you buy a tank kit it should come with all the chemicals you need to get started. Maintance wise it is recommended to do a 1/3 water change every month or two. this keeps the tank cleaner for a longer period, and I usually do a complete tear down every year or year and a half. They can be pain in the butt to keep clean. However it is very enjoyable to get loaded and watch your fishs.
     
  13. Anubis

    Anubis Ancient Guru

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    Atm I have two (105 litres + 60 litres fresh water)
    In the 105 litres I have:

    6x:
    [​IMG]

    1x(one died):
    [​IMG]

    2x:
    [​IMG]

    A "few" of those:
    [​IMG]

    2x:
    [​IMG]

    1x:
    [​IMG]

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the 60 litres:
    1x:
    [​IMG]

    Alot of:
    [​IMG]

    Although, I'm looking for getting a 350 - 500 litre fresh water tank, to replace those two..
     
  14. TDurden

    TDurden Guest

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    I want one.
    Does it take a lot work to care for a fresh water aquarium if it has the proper standard filtration system (mechanical - biological filters)?
    Do you have to take everything out from time to time to clean and change water and then put back in? How to best deal with waste from plants/fish/food accumulating on the aquarium floor?

    Also I was reading about aquariums yesterday and found some amazing pictures of so caleed green planted aquariums.
    Take a look here for example:
    http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/planted-aquarium-gallery.html
    They look amazing, like underwater forests or vistas from other world :) Has anyone experience with growing plants like this as special equipment seems to be needed (co2 etc).
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2010
  15. ShadowMyth

    ShadowMyth Ancient Guru

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    Those are some awesome aquariums. They do look like there is an incredible amount of time & energy involved in the upkeep of one of those.
     

  16. mykledw

    mykledw Guest

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    Start small..............IMHO, as fish are finneky critters......................

    I now feed my freesh water fish 3 times a week............( a hungry fish is a healthy fish and it works for me)

    The fish in my tank.................9 years and going strong...............

    you do need based on the tank size some placasutumus (spelling?) as they are great at keeping tanks clean...........................................

    oh, and I DONT change the water every 3 months, once the tank is "established" I just add water to keep full, but I know that salt water cant do the same...............
     
  17. Adicto

    Adicto Guest

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    Used to have an VERY VERY big tank but shut it down because my dad got tired of changing water and maintenance after like 12 years and the longest living fish we had died :(
     
  18. XP-200

    XP-200 Ancient Guru

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    ^^Ok, something fishy going on here with this zombie thread.
     
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  19. Serotonin

    Serotonin Ancient Guru

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    Even though this seems to be brought back by a bot, I have to say, I always wanted an aquarium. My step dad had one years ago. Have they made any progress with the filters? Cleaning that crap is what deters me. That was never fun.
     
  20. Clouseau

    Clouseau Ancient Guru

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    Seahorses are very delicate. Keeping them healthy would require at a minimum a mini reef system. There is a lot of science in this hobby. One can go broke on the filtration system alone. Saltwater is a huge sink hole for money and upkeep. Just the price of entry. The beauty of it all is the payoff. All worth it in my opinion. It does tie you down though. So if traveling is in one's blood, it is difficult to come across someone willing and able to upkeep the tank while away on travel.
     

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