Starting an Aquarium?

[dave_h]

Always wanted one,nothing special just a few marine fish.Anyone offer any tips advice about getting started?

My good lady has finally given the go-ahead but i have to restrict it to about 4ft

Cheers.

[Colin Brett]

dave_h:

Always wanted one,nothing special just a few marine fish.Anyone offer any tips advice about getting started?

My good lady has finally given the go-ahead but i have to restrict it to about 4ft

Cheers.

4', going for a small one then?? Sounds pretty big to me! A lot of = a lot of weight. Make sure you have a base that can take the weight.

I have complete set up for sale no heater I,m in Cambridge, so if interested mail me and I will check the dimensions.

Colin

[yoxer]

Wow , if youve no experience of " fish keeping " Dave , jumping in with salt water is a mine field of <expensive> problems compaired to fresh water.

[bikenut]

I kept marines for about 15 years, the best success I had was with a Minireef system which I dont think you can get any more. The filtration was not undergravel, but in the side of the tank. It really is a minefield, and if you must have a go, then limit yourself to start with, talk to loads of people and read lots of books. There are lots of different filtration systems available these days, many of which will cost you and arm or so. The secret in my opinion IS to go big, but you have to know what you are doing. A big tank sparsely populated will work better than the other way around, just think of the fish to water ratio of the ocean, also remember that you can have as many invertibrates as you like, provided thay are compatible with each other and the fish. Learn and understand the Nitrogeon cycle and and learn about pH and how to maintain it, or you might just throw it all together and be lucky. In any case, it will have to "Mature" before you can stock it.

Alternatively, a smallish tank with just a couple of clowns and an anemonae might work with care, and you would learn the ropes without making a huge investment.My minireef had a damsel which I had (alive!!!) for 13 years, and a breeding pair of clowns that I had for nearly ten years, and I did nothing to it for the last 5 years except topped up the water, It worked for me. I passed the tank on to our very own Ferret when I moved, who I'm sure will be pleased to let us know how it is going.

All the best on what you decided,

bikenut

[Vince]

Would agree with Yoxer kept both Fresh and salties in my youth.

 

My advice would be to try keeping a fresh water tank first for a while and then do a lot of reading before you make the plunge.

 

It aint so bad if you lose a few guppies because you make a mistake also aint that expensive, but get it wrong in a marine tank and it can really hurt your wallet

[dave_h]

I guess i might start on freshwater first after some of your replies, quite like the idea of a few catfish are they easy to keep?

Any websites i can visit?

I might be moving soon so i will have to wait for a few months but it gives me a bit of time to read up on it and make a descision on what i want.

cheers for the tips.

[davidP]

The advice about the marines is good - they're a lot more difficult to keep than freshwater and need a lot more equipment because water quality is absolutely vital - far more so than freshwater fish.

 

Catfish are pretty straight forward most of the time (I liked corydoras but they're not real catfish I suppose). The thing you've got to watch out for with cats is that you don't buy ones that are going to grow big because then they need maintenance and they'll be difficult to get rid of should you need to. I noted recently that my local Maidenhead Aquatics branch won't even sell fish that grow large because they got fed up of getting them back at unsaleable sizes.

The other thing to remember is that cats will eat anything in your tank that they can overpower, so you're restricting yourself to what you could have in the tank.

 

Personally as a beginner I'd go for a mixed community tank with a good range of fish. This will get you used to the routine and keep the interest as they'll always be active unlike cats who spend 99% of daylight hours hiding. If you find that you're getting into it (and the wife likes it) then you could consider a 2nd tank for cats.

 

Best advice is visit a few local aquarium shops and have a look round. You'll soon get a feel for the ones that know their stuff and 10 minutes spent talking to an expert will stand you in good stead. Personally I use Maidenhead Aquatics who have 36 stores mostly in the south of England. I've been to couple of their stores and have always been impressed by the quality and the knowledge of the staff. I note you're in Surrey and they have branches in Guildford, Woking and East Grinstead if they're near you. Look at http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/ for store locations.

 

One thing I would advise is that you don't buy fish at general pet shops or any of the giant pet supermarkets like Pets At Home. I've had and heard of too many bad experiences with diseased fish wiping out entire tanks. Go to specialists and you'll get better service and better quality.

[John S]

I agree with others on this thread, don't go for marines without gaining experience with freshwater first.

 

I notice you live in Surrey, I'm sure there's someone here that would be able to put you onto a good aquarium shop (might help if we knew were in Surrey you live ). Find your shop and stick with it for all your purchases. If the owner is any good he will recognise a potential good customer and will be only to pleased to offer advice and help. He will also advise you on compatibillity between various species - for eg, don't mix angel fish and neon tetras in the same tank....

 

Good luck with the project

[chesters1]

i`d agree with the comments about jumping in at the deep end ,it is hard enough keeping the rock living animals alive never mind the fish i bought the complete contents of our local aquarium shop when they upgraded (40 tanks) just to get clean water for them i had to buy a reverse osmosis water purifier at £300 (i kept south american ciclids) i experimented with cold water marine for a while keeping that running smothly was difficult ,so i think your tropical marine will be a shortlived affair as its tens times harder

mind you you get to play with ozone makers ,you can rot rubber for fun

 

[ 15. October 2002, 08:14 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[Adz]

chesters1:

mind you you get to play with ozone makers ,you can rot rubber for fun

ROFL!

 

Time must really fly by at your place Chesters... do you set light to a lot of stuff, you know, old tyres, carrier bags, nextdoors cat... that sort of stuff?