# Beginner questions



## Eiolon (Jun 3, 2009)

My 2 year old son has become fond of fish and I was thinking about getting an aquarium for the house. What I am looking to know is the amount of maintenance that is involved with it. 

I am looking more at getting a small 5 gallon tank with a couple of fish, nothing fancy. But if for some reason a larger size tank would require less maintenance I would be willing to consider it.

But if it ends up that I need to change water ever week or something I'll probably pass on the thought. Thanks for your time!


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

you will need water changes weekly for a long time.. at least until your well established and your tank will forgive if you forget one week... to start out wont be hard.. you know what you need: tank, filter, heater, gravle, bucket or two, syphon, and water conditioner. once you have all that and you cycle your tank.. your only upkeep should be water changes.. small tanks are relatively easy.. and great for kids that age


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

larger tanks are easier to maintain to a degree.. but not any huge difference.... keeping fish is a great hobby.. and certainly a great learning tool for little ones.. my granddaughter is 2 1/2 years old and can already identify about 5 different species of fish... every day we have to go down the basement to say hello to the fishes...
one of the benefits of the larger tank is if something goes a bit wrong;you have a little more time to correct the problem... with a small tank; even a small issue can be a major catastrophe with no time to try to fix the problem..the larger the volume of water; the more stable..
actually; i would suggest a 29 gallon tank.... or even better a 30 long...years ago a friend of mine told me.... "find the biggest tank you can afford; then buy the next size up.".... he was quite correct..
i have had tanks up to 240 gallons... kind of funny how a 75 used to seem huge.. now it is just so-so.....
when you do buy the set up..lets say the 30 long..whatever filter you buy; be it HOB, canister, sponge, or internal..get one that is rated for about 10 times the volume of your tank.. i.e.300Gallons Per Hour.. and a heater that is at least 5 watts per gallon..


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## fishyfreek (May 13, 2009)

*for your son*



Eiolon said:


> My 2 year old son has become fond of fish and I was thinking about getting an aquarium for the house. What I am looking to know is the amount of maintenance that is involved with it.
> 
> I am looking more at getting a small 5 gallon tank with a couple of fish, nothing fancy. But if for some reason a larger size tank would require less maintenance I would be willing to consider it.
> 
> But if it ends up that I need to change water ever week or something I'll probably pass on the thought. Thanks for your time!


 Getting a tank I think is a great idea for your son. All you really have to do is after you set up your tank, get you a feeder goldfish and leave it in your tank for 2 weeks an it will acclamate your tank. After that take your water to the pet store and let them test your water, that way you can pick your fish out at the same time. I set up a 10 gallon about a month ago and have not done a water change at all. All I have done is changed the filter and I took my water to the store tonight and it was perfect, crystal clear and I have 2 med. angels, 6 bloodfin tetras in it. They are all happy and doing fine.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

If it's a smaller tank you will require more water changes but we are talking like 1-3 gallons a week. or 1 gallon every day. There are alot of really great all in one small tanks out there which have a sump filter and lighting all built in, I think they are called eco's or nano's... something like that.

With a bigger tank maintenance is less, but the negative is that you're going to do bigger water changes. for example I have a total of 70gallons on my setup and I usually do waterchanges everyother day of 5 gallons. I could be lazy and just do a 10gallon change twice a week, but I don't want to move 10gallons in one go.

Negatives of little tanks... temp fluctuations and they have a tendancy to swing faster i.e. if something goes wrong it goes wrong quick. waterchanges need to be alittle more frequent

Positives of little tanks... maintenance is lighter work i.e. 1-3 gallons, less glass to keep clean, gravel vacing may take 5min, nuking a tank with medications doesn't require as much meds, lots of good prebuilt tanks 20gallons and under. can cost $40 to $150 w/o fish

Negatives of big tank... Maintenance is heavier 5-10gallons, Cleaning glass is more, you're gonna put alot of fish in it so you're gonna have to feed alot of fish, gravel vacing can take 10-20min. nuking a tank with meds takes more meds, start up costs are higher few big prebuilts. $100 - $800 depending on tank size + $200 to $300 minimum on lighting, filter, gravel, heater. w/o fish

Positives of big tank... Temp stay stable, tank conditions don't deteriorate as quickly (so you can catch problems better), Lots of fish, and having a big tank in a room is definetly a converstation starter. And you'll find yourself watching less and less TV, opting instead to sit and watch your tank.

I got lucky and got a 50gal and 25gal tank for free, but I still spent $350 for filter, heater, lighting, gravel, and sumppump.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

oh, also when setting up your new tank, make sure to buy *SEACHEM STABILITY*, and some kind of dechlorinator. Throw your gravel in, throw your heater in, throw water in, add decholrinator, let it run for like 10-15 minutes, and then dose with *SEACHEM STABILITY* as directed. Set your heater up so it holds the tempurature you want, and you can add fish pretty much the same day once the temp stabalizes.

read this for alittle more info on seachem stability http://www.fishforums.com/forum/beginner-freshwater/24519-seachem-stabillity-your-new-best-friend.html

oh and search around on the forums about "cycling a tank" or "the ammonia cycle" just so you get a better handle on what seachem does.


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

i wouldent add fish the same day under any circumstances.. this is how a beginner ends up with new tank syndrome


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

The beautiful reason why we live in 2009, Seachem Stability and other great products that didn't exist since last time I kept a fish tank which was back in 1991


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Toshogu said:


> The beautiful reason why we live in 2009, Seachem Stability and other great products that didn't exist since last time I kept a fish tank which was back in 1991


I'm still reserving judgement on Stability. I'm using it on my tank that refuses to cycle. Day 4 and I still have no progress. Am hoping to see some by the end of the seven days. I'll let you know!!


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

stability needs some type of ammonia source to work cause it is a bacteria culture so you need a fish or two in there.


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

Toshogu said:


> stability needs some type of ammonia source to work cause it is a bacteria culture so you need a fish or two in there.


I have got a fish in there, a goldfish of about 3-4 inches. The ammonia is currently at 0.5. I'm testing it everyday to make sure it goes no higher and doesn't harm the fish.


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## alliecat420 (Mar 28, 2009)

pingu.. i know you know there should be no ammonia at all (did that make sences.. lots of "no's") so when you get that .5 reading do a water change.. good old water changes


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

10% waterchanges everyday w/ seachem stability and you should read rock bottom 0 on ammon, n2, n3 within a week. Or don't use seachem stability and 10%-25% everyday untill you read rockbottom, that used to take me 1-2months before I discovered that stuff. Either way daily waterchanges are critical at this stage in the game.


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

alliecat420 said:


> pingu.. i know you know there should be no ammonia at all (did that make sences.. lots of "no's") so when you get that .5 reading do a water change.. good old water changes


Yeah, I am doing water changes everyday, I'm making sure it doesn't go above 0.5. If at any point the fish looks like he not well I plan to move him, and will just have to go with the adding ammonia route. 

If I don't see any progress in the next 3-4 days I think I will give up and go via a fishless method. It is just really frustrating to be stuck for 4 weeks at the same part!!


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## fishyfreek (May 13, 2009)

*Dont give up*



pingu said:


> yeah, i am doing water changes everyday, i'm making sure it doesn't go above 0.5. If at any point the fish looks like he not well i plan to move him, and will just have to go with the adding ammonia route.
> 
> If i don't see any progress in the next 3-4 days i think i will give up and go via a fishless method. It is just really frustrating to be stuck for 4 weeks at the same part!!


i asked that u put a golfish in ther for 2 weeks to acclamate your tank, no water changes. Leave it alone and it will only take two weeks for you to be able to add fish


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

fishyfreek said:


> i asked that u put a golfish in ther for 2 weeks to acclamate your tank, no water changes. Leave it alone and it will only take two weeks for you to be able to add fish


Yeah at the cost of a badly affected goldfish with permanent gill damage. 

Seachem stability + fish + 10% daily water changes = 2 week cycle w/ happy fish


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## Pingu (Apr 16, 2009)

fishyfreek said:


> i asked that u put a golfish in ther for 2 weeks to acclamate your tank, no water changes. Leave it alone and it will only take two weeks for you to be able to add fish


I think you gave that advice to the OP (Eiolon), I was just adding my experiences to the post. My tank has actually been set up for about 6 weeks and is refusing to cycle which is why I am now trying the Stability. I'm carrying out water changes to ensure the fish doesn't suffer.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

is there any way to get around water changes? When I was young my family always kept a 10 gallon goldfish aquarium and my mom only changed out the water every quarter or so a year. She just added water and conditioner when needed. Was I wrong in assuming they were happy fish or was it just because they were goldfish and hardier? 
Wanting to start a real aquarium...not there yet.

1/2 gallon Betta tank


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

given the fact that goldfish get much larger than a 10 gallon tank can handle; the fish were not happy..actually ; they were suffering greatly.....
there is only one way to get around doing water changes....don't put any in thetank....


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

well.... actually you could make it so you don't do waterchanges anymore if you figuere a way to get a RO system to draw water from your tank. you'd have to make a really good prefilter so bits and pieces don't get in there. But you would have to still top the tank off now and again to replace lost evaporation water. Basically to avoid waterchanges you are going to have to spend alot of money on a complete water scrubbing system. Think space shuttle and astronauts.


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Bio spira and Dr.tims one and only are also good if you can't find seachem or it doesn't work for you, as far as I am concerned, almost any bottle full of beneficial bacteria that isn't out of date will work as long as you do it right, every tank will cycle at some point if done right. Its all the same bacteria more or less so just get what you can and make sure you do it right.


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