Newb to fish keeping

chromekilla · 10-14-2006, 12:59 AM

Hello,
i am 15 years old and i got a fish tank kit from walmart from my birthday in september and i was looking for a place to talk about it.
I have had all kinds of pets and i decided to try fish since my mother has had all kinds of tanks since she was little she bought a 10 gallon kit for my from walmart and my little sister wanted me to buy fish since we were at a super walmart with more selection but i decided to against it.Later on i found out that this was a good decision because of the cyling period.I had been doing research on this for a while and read up on some stuff.

I currently have a 10 gallon aquarium with 2 chinese algea eaters,2 cory cat fish,2 guppies.I bought like 15 differnt fish from walmart at differnt times they all died to my dismay.This ones have lived.These were the last fish i have bought from there since i dont have any good pet stores around where i live.
I am thinking about up grading to a bigger tank like 50-55 gallons freshwater tropical and i was looking for some suggestions on what to get nothing over 300 dollars.I don't want to have aggressive fish.

aar4545 · 10-14-2006, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chromekilla

I currently have a 10 gallon aquarium with 2 chinese algea eaters,2 cory cat fish,2 guppies.

You said u have 2 guppies right .. well from what I have heard if u want to breed them to have a tank full of these guys u should have 2 females too every male or if u dont want to get more of them just have all male or all female. actualy its very very easy to breed guppies , the only 2 things you have to do is to find a way how to make the fish food ur feeding smaller and seperate the babies from the other fish who may and will eat them even the parents

I have had my luck with fish when i first started out i just through my fish in the tank an to my suprise none of them died . but still u should still have good water quality an stuff such as p.h. and amonia.OK to deal with that nasty amonia u should get a water conditioner such as prime (its in a red and white bottle)(im sure there are many other conditioners u can pick from). now for ph if u happen to buy the wardley senior delux ph test kit i can walk u through this very easily. reasearch ur fish also to find out there needs like my fish like to stay around a little bit acidic too neutral water.

At first you should buy rocks and fake plants but when u get a bit more expierienced you may want to try your hands on live plants because they need alot more care then fake

such as the lighting and fertilizer. If your planing on getting the live plants in the neer future i recomend java fern or java moss(the moss eats waste if im correct)they dont need to much care u would need to get bogwood for java fern because they dont realy root they kindof cling on to stuf like rock or bogwood.and u may even notice little baby plantlets on the tip of the plants leaves.oh! ya careful if u put shells in your tank because it can rise your calcium lvls im not sure if it can hurt your fish.

hope that helps!!

Loman · 10-14-2006, 02:50 PM

chromekilla,
Welcome to the forum

I am not sure what you are asking. Are you looking for recommendations on equipment or fish or both?

The other thing that jumps out a bit in your post is that you have been faced with some challenges with a large percentage of the fish dieing. Do you have those issues resolved and understand what happened? IMO that is important so that you do not repeat the same issues over and over again if they can be avoided. Do you know what your water parameters are in the current tank?

chromekilla · 10-16-2006, 07:58 PM

Thanks to both of you.Looking for both .Yes i have figured out the problem the fish that all died were from walmart and they were in bad conditions.

Tommy Gun · 10-16-2006, 08:03 PM

I concur with the info so far. Water conditioners are essential when using tap water in your tanks. You need to rid the water you drink of chlorine and chlorimides (they keep the water relatively bug free for you and me) so that they do not harm your fish. This could be one reason they are dying, if you are not using one that is.

Another thing, (Loman is going to kill me since I say this all the time), I feel that your chinese algea eaters are going to become aggressive on you over time (especially since there are two of them) and will basically outgrow your 10 gallon tank pretty quickly. However, you could keep one of them in your 55 gallon tank, if you get one and your other fish are compatable.

As far as tanks go, if this is what you are asking, by far the best deal (money wise) are the kits you can buy from walmart. I have the 55 gallon kit tank and paid around 150 to 160 ish for it. I got the stand as well for an additional 75, I think. They are good starter tanks and you would have some money left over (out of three hundred) to get either another filter or a better filter. I am currently using the same filter that came with the tank and I bought another filter, the exact same type and size, for around 30 dollars.

To be really, really honest with you, Walmart is not going to be the best choice for buying fish from. I know that you say it is the only place near you, so just be extremely picking about what fish you are getting. The way walmart works is that they buy HUGE amounts of merchandice for a reduced cost and distributes it all across the country. This is good for pairs of pants and picture frames, but fish tend to suffer as they need to be mass produced and shipped all over. They are also not kept in proper conditions. Most usually they will keep them with other fish that are not going to be compatible at all, leading to stress, misfeeding, and inbreeding.

But, if it is all you can get, then like I said, pick and choose wisely. You are most likely saving their lives by getting them out of that store anyways.

Jay · 10-16-2006, 09:03 PM

My local Walmart, with a modest fish department, is 10 minutes from my house. I visit it frequently to get this and that. The nearest two LFS, that I have any confidence in, are 30 and 50 miles respectively.

I have never purchased a fish at Walmart.

Regards,
Jay

Loman · 10-16-2006, 09:36 PM

I am with Jay on this one. Wal-mart and all of the department stores simply lack the experienced help to maintain the tanks in a reasonable manner. It is too risky to buy a fish that was in that situation and then place it in your tank. If you do that I would not only be very choosy but I would certainly quarantine them for a good while to be sure the fish were okay and you were not introducing something into the tank. I am fortunate that I have a small chain store that is really good right next to the Wal-mart but I would check out buying fish on the net before trying any of the department store situations. One thing in any venue that I always look for is the number of dead fish in their tanks. If I can find dead fish in any of the tanks on a regular basis I will not buy from that store

Tommy Gun · 10-18-2006, 09:39 PM

Loman and Jay, you guys are the best. The same thing can be said about going to a home depot to ask a plumbing question, chances are the person there is paid minimum wage and knows nothing or next to nothing about plumbing. This is because all the people who know about plumbing are the ones making 20 bucks an hour or more as a plumber! Walmart never puts ads in the paper looking for 'pet experts' to work in the pet department so it shouldnt be expected for them to know much about fish and dogs. They sure would like you to think that.

Still, if this is the only option to you, I wouldnt want to discourage or tell you to wait for a good fish store to open up near you. Just be wise and research as many signs and symptoms as you can. Quarenteening is also a good thing and I try to do it to every fish, invert, or plant (well, soon plants) that I buy. I even go so far as to wash and rewash and decor or plastic plants I buy from walmart. While they are distributing all of their merchandise, much of it is stored in a wharehouse. To keep out rats and other insects/animals that could damage the items, they spray chemicals to kill them. Wouldnt want to put any of that in some fish water.