I have a friend getting rid of a 55 gallon aquarium with stand, hood, heater, filter, everything except gravel, plants, decorations, and fish. I can't figure out what kinda fish i wanna put in it though I don't really want a buncha small fish like tetras and such. I think a big tank like that needs decent size fish in it. I thought about making it a cichlid tank... any other suggestions?

 

Fish are such a pain to take care of. I am glad my tank is gone now.

 

Eh i've had tanks before... I found that the bigger the tank, the less upkeep. I've had a 5 gallon with a betta in it that was THE biggest pain in the *** to take care of. I went from that to a 29 gallon tank. It wasn't that bad at all. After that i had a 55 gallon n it was a breeze.

 

Sharks or go home.

I'm in an Ichtyology class this semester and it makes me want to get a fish tank or go fishing. We have this machine with two electrodes that we stick in the water and it shocks and paralyzes all the fish in a certain area, it's cool.

 

Eh i don't wanna run a saltwater tank... now THATS too much upkeep

 

Get an Oscar! They are ******* awesome fish. My dad had one named Valentine and we used to feed him green beans.

I have a 10 gallon tank in my room and I only have one Comet goldfish in there and he is pretty happy. I love having a fish tank. It's not too much upkeep to me. When you have a good filter, change the filter regularly, and don't overfeed the fish, it can be surprisingly easy to keep up with.

Now turtles, on the other hand, are a different story...

 

when i was a kid, we had several fish. one of them was one of those fish that stuck to the side of the tank and sucked on it all day. we also had japanese fighting fish. they were cool.

 

I want some colorful hand sized fish. BTW I just got the tank n stand n all setup a few minutes ago, i gotta go get the hoods from him tonight but its ready for water and fish. Ill post up some pics when its all done n inhabited

 

My suggestion to you is to not put the fish in right away. Everytime I've done that, they've died... but I do have some pretty hard water. Putting in fish right away into new water can kill the fish. But, you can buy that natural slime coating stuff which can help a lot. I've always just bought the cheap Comet goldfish to help my tank cycle. I buy them with the idea that they will probably die. I bought 7 of them to cycle my 10 gallon. I thought they'd all die, but I still have one left and that's why I kept that one fish. I probably won't add anymore to the tank, because he's pretty happy.

You've had tanks before, so you might know that already. I have had a few tanks before my current one and I never knew that. No wonder my damn fish always died so fast!


From this website: http://www.fishlore.com/FirstTankSetup.htm

STEP 9. Wait, wait, wait and then wait some more.
I know, you want to add some fish. But, in order to do this right you must wait until your aquarium has cycled before adding any fish. There are ways of speeding up this process. Check out the nitrogen cycle page to learn more about starting the nitrogen cycle and how to speed it up. If you must use fish to cycle, try to get a hardier species like the zebra danio or cherry barb. You may notice your fish tank cycle kicking in gear if you start to get some white cloudy aquarium water after a few days.

STEP 10. Add tropical fish.
Only add one or two fish at a time. Adding a couple fish at a time gives your filtration system the time needed to take on the increased biological load that the new fish introduce. When you bring the fish home let the bag float in the tank for about 15 minutes so that the fish can become acclimated to the temperature and pH of the aquarium water. After 5 minutes of floating the bag you should add some of the aquarium water to the bag so that the fish can become acclimated to the pH level in the aquarium. This will help reduce the amount of stress imposed on the fish. Stressed fish often leads to dead or diseased fish! Don't feed your fish on the first day. They probably wouldn't eat any food on the first day anyway. Let them get acquainted with their new home.

 

Yeah i knew all that. LOL thats the worst part about setting up a tank is cycling it. A guy at my local fish store told me i could speed up the process by putting in one frozen shrimp per 10 gallons of water and as they decay it does a good job speeding up the process. On a brighter note, you guys will prolly get a good laugh out my stupidity. I ran the water hose thru the window to fill the tank. I put the hose in the tank and went back outside. Well, and the bad part is i KNEW better, i figured if i turned on the hose about half way, i could run back inside and hold the hose in the tank before the water actually got to the end of it. EPIC FAIL. By the time i got back inside, the hose was laying in the floor happily dumping water on the carpet. *SIGH*

 

I do that same thing when I fill my tank up. Except I always keep the nozzle I use to wash my car on the other end, so it can't come out until I squeeze the handle.

 

Yeah well... i shoulda thought about that but i didn't

 

Get at least 2 sharks ( fresh water), an oscar, some angel fish, (angel fish are big bullies) except with the sharks. A handful of tiger fish, and 1 or 2 catfish ( they'll keep the bottom clean). We had a 100 gallon tank, and it was fun for a while but maintenance is a bitch. we used to keep a good variety going, little fish too, like some neons, All the fish will learn their place in the tank. And there's always some action going on. Just don't spook the sharks too bad. They will dart at lightning speed into the glass and die.. Make sure you get stuff for the fish to hide in. Castles, and stuff. have fun and just pick the fish you like from a pet store...