First fish tank advice

a ten gallon would be fine for a first time tank. If you decide to go with live pants, i would suggest gravel for the base. that way food waste and animal poop will collect, forming a substrate to feed the plants. i suggest cory fish as bottom feeders, neon fish (cheep and flashy) and one male betta fish for that bit of pizaz. the male bettas will leave your other fish alone. they only go after other male bettas or maybe a guppy that has a particularly brilliant tail. do not get a pleco. they will get to be 10 inches long over time and hard to re-home. i would say no more then 8 neons 3 cory and one betta in the tank. you can buy decent tank setups that will include everything you need. just make sure you get a heater for the tank.

I used to do this for a living. First, get the largest tank you can afford and ‘house’. The more water you have to work with, the easier it is to keep stable. It seems counter-intuitive, but you must remember that a fish tank is an entire ecosystem and it must be in balance to keep the inhabitants alive and healthy. Imagine yourself with a cup of water, and a swimming pool full of water. Add an eyedropper full of ammonia to each. Which one will be less hospitable to a fish? The smaller the tank, the more concentrated problems become. I used to suggest to my customers that 20 gallon tanks were a good ‘starter’ tank.

Second, remember that water weighs between 8-10 pounds per gallon. A 10 gallon tank, once full with water, gravel, decor, filter, etc.. can weigh around 100lbs. A 20 gallon could weigh close to 200lbs, etc. An end table is rarely suited to hold this much weight! To this end I suggest an actual tank stand that is built to support the weight. Either that or a very robust piece of furniture.

Your filter type is a personal preference. Most common are the hang-on-back type filters (that spill over back into the tank), and canister filters (sits outside of the tank, with a hose in and a hose out). I always recommend that beginners not use under-gravel filters as they can be difficult to maintain properly. My preference is a filter that uses reusable sponges instead of those replaceable “use it one and throw it away” carbon filter inserts. I find them to be very expensive on the long term, and very wasteful. You don’t need to run carbon in the filter at all, if you have several sponges and rinse them regularly. This combined with regular partial water changes will keep your tank healthy.

A heater is necessary for tropical fish (which is what you will keep… goldfish need very large tanks indeed). I prefer the higher end titanium submersible style with an independent thermostat (usually built into the cord). Heater failure is common amongst ‘cheaper’ brands and honestly after going through it twice and having it cook my fish, I won’t mess with another cheap heater again! This is a personal choice of yours, though.

Get a test kit; I recommend the style with the test tubes instead of the strips of paper you dunk. The paper strips are not very accurate, overall. At a minimum, you want to be able to test pH, Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites. Kh/Gh tests are also very worthwhile.
Even if your local pet shop tests water for free, get a test kit, because you will need to do it every few days while cycling your tank. Unless you live very close to the pet shop, you probably won’t want to go out that frequently!

When you are ready for fish, make sure to properly cycle your tank. This is the nitrogen cycle- remember what I said about a tank being an ecosystem? Anyhow, it is an invisible chemical process in the water that is absolutely vital to the fish’s health. People not understanding and following this cycle is the most common reason people have tank failures and fish loss. It’s a bit long so I won’t type it up here but please take the time to read: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

As for fish, I actually suggest against neons or a male betta in a beginner tank setup. Neons are usually harvested in the wild or farmed in Asia, and can be quite sensitive, especially to a new tank. Best to stick to small fish that are hardy and commonly bred in captivity. It IS WORTH YOUR TIME to research each species a bit to make sure they are compatible. Nothing is more depressing than housing fish together that constantly harass, pick on, stress, or even kill one another. Another is to choose fish that are compatible with your pH… a low pH is easy to change but a high pH is not! Instead of fight your water, work with it, and find out which fishes prefer the pH that you have at home. That said, depending on many factors that I don’t currently know (such as your pH), here are some suggestions: White Cloud “Minnows” (these like to school), Smaller Danio species such as zebra danios, leopard danios, etc.. these also like to school. There are some larger danios that I wouldn’t suggest for anything under a 30g long tank, because they need a lot of room to swim. Cory catfish are good if your water is soft enough for them but I only suggest them for an established tank that is fully cycled (at least 3 months old). Some tetras such as black skit, lemon, and Serpae tetras are quite hardy, and like to be in groups. When people would pick the first inhabitants for their tank, I usually suggested a small school of danios, white clouds, or one of the above tetras.

Tiger and green barbs are very pretty, often hardy fish but can be a bit more aggressive. Be cautious about housing them with slower, or smaller, peaceful fish. They do great as a ‘barb only’ tank, perhaps with a few bottom dwelling species that have sheltered areas.

Fish to avoid, especially in tanks under 50 gallons:
Angelfish. They are beautiful but they get big and are a mixed bag as to aggression.
“Algae eaters” mostly Plecos. The commonly sold species get big– I am talking over 2′ long big– and just aren’t good for most home aquariums. Rubberlip or bristlenose plecos stay smaller but have special needs.. they really do like some natural driftwood to rasp, and rarely get enough to eat off of the algae that grows in the tank.
Amphibians and crabs- these are tempting and cute, but rarely do well in mixed tanks. Their needs are just too different. Most also really like to eat fish!
Guppies- these are good if you plan on breeding and have lots of breeding tanks and know what you are doing. Otherwise they are just a headache! They can be weirdly aggressive, and even keeping males only can be a nightmare when they harass each other or the other fish nip their fins.
Other livebearing fish (swordtails, mollies, platys)- These can be kept well with some care. They will breed like rabbits, which can be either exciting or depressing as the live babies get eaten by the other fish. They also prefer mild brackish conditions (salt) which most other tropical fish do not. They are best as only-species tanks.
Goldfish- They are a coldwater species, and they get big. Even the smaller goldfish can get 1′ long and need at least 50 gallons.
“Sharks”- These are rather aggressive and get large. Avoid for smaller tanks, especially in mixed species tanks.
Male bettas- sometimes work in mixed tanks, but are often picked on by the other fish due to their long fins. They might also have a hard time swimming around in filtered water with a fast flow. Bettas do best in filtered tanks, but usually by themselves with the filter turned on ‘low’. Female bettas can be kept okay in mixed tanks sometimes, as they have shorter fins and can navigate the flowing water better. They can still be a bit aggressive so keep them with care.

Anyhow this is a very basic guide and you will find exceptions to every ‘rule’, but it might get you started.

If you want to get into live plants, that is a whole amazing, fun, but also complicated issue! You can go as low tech or as high tech as you want to. Most aquarium setups do not have adequate lighting for most live plants. If you want to go simple, some low-light plants that grow slowly and are relatively ‘easy’ are: Java Ferns, smaller Anubias species, some hardier Cryptocoryne species, Vallisneria, Frogbit (this floats).
If you want to get more involved, let me know… this is a bit of a passion of mine….
(one of my home tanks)

I second everything Jennifer said. She’s the zen master of fishkeeping here. 🙂

I would add in that cherry barbs are much milder than the other types and would probably be a good starter fish for that size tank.

I have a small school in my 75gal and they’re really mild fish. I like them.

If I were running a small tank (30-45gal) I’d snag a pair of rams and a few cherry barbs then leave it be. Lots of plants though.

One tip I found on a fish forum and have been using for the past few years is coarse (not fine!) black diamond blasting sand as a substrate. Nice glossy black sand, but wash thoroughly before using in tank. I’ve found it works better than gravel for my plant roots, and doesn’t pack overtight like standard sand would either. Plus it’s not costly at all. Rinse the heck out of it though.

Yes, Cherry Barbs can be pretty cool. Rams would be okay but only if the pH is not too high for them. They’re a bit sensitive to that, though captive breeding has made them a bit more hardy.

haha…you can tell this is a love of mine too. FISH NERDS AHOY!

Wow! Thanks for all that info! I knew it was going to be more involved than my husband thinks. I knew that it would involve cycling the tank and making sure it was a healthy environment. (I haven’t read the link yet, but I will next). The end table is actually an old, but very solidly built cabinet type. Solid wood, I got it at a flea market type place for my first college apartment. It was a little beat up, but they don’t make solid stuff like it anymore. At least without paying for it! So I know it can defiantly take the weight. I’ll be discussing it more with him, because I’m with you, I want to do this right.

Sounds awesome! Thanks for researching first instead of jumping in without a clue (lol, no pun intended). A lot of people would come in and buy a bunch of stuff, ignore my advice, and come back with bags of dead fish a week later, very depressing!

I had a lot of success with zebra and leopard danios back when I kept fish (this thread is making me so nostalgic!) – beautiful and easy to keep. (Also Jennifer that planted tank looks incredible, bravo.) About the only advice I can add from my years working in pet supply is avoid any fish food with ethoxyquin in it – it’s bad for animals (bad for humans too.) A lot of the cheap fish food has it. Basically, try to do some good research on food too – just like with cats and dogs (and people!) processed stuff isn’t always very healthful for the fish unfortunately.

I liked keeping fish, but I vastly prefer my leopard gecko Diego – she is far easier maintenance! (However you might not want a gecko since the kids would probably want to hold her all the time and geckos, from my experience, although amiable and harmless, aren’t particularly enthused about that.)