Newbie Starting 1st FW Tank

[FreshWaterTank]

After several months of reading books; magazines, & visiting aqua related sites, I am planning on starting my 1st FW tank. The plan is to purchase a kit (WaterHome- includes an aquaclear HOB) & keep the tank a little understocked until I get some experience. What would be a good starter size tank for a newbie? I understand the general rule of thumb is the bigger the better but there are some really good prices right now on 10 gallon kits, any comments & a vote would be appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and have a great Christmas. 

[beowulf]

I started with a 10g and I made a mistake.  If you are sure this is something you want to really get into, then get the biggest you can afford and have room for.  The bigger the tank the more options you have as far as fish and plant species.  I would get a 40 minimum and probably a 65g if you can.  Only real advantage to a smaller tank like a 10 or 20 gallon is that they can be used as species breeders or quarantine tanks in the future.  The other advantage for a bigger tank is that a small change in water chemistry and things like that are not as pronounced and often easier to fix in a larger tank.

[KLKelly]

I just got into fish in late March.  My opinion - I wish I had gone bigger to start.  I now have a 10, 20, 40 and just bought a 90.  A lot of expense in setting up each tank Oy!  A 40gallon would have been perfect.  An understocked 40 would be even better   Things might be more expensive in the short term - lighting etc - but save you a lot of money long term.  Maybe you could get a 10g QT kit also.  I would never put a fish right in with the community w/o QT first.  Cheaper to medicate a small tank if you need to also.

Best of luck!

Karrie

[sniggir]

I would have to agree 40 gal or bigger, I would also invest in a good filter like a ehiem canister filter they cost a litte more but work better that the HOB, I to just started into the world of aquaria no more than 4 months ago I started with a 26 gal bow front, with in 3 weeks I started up a 48 gallon long and 3 weeks latter I started a 20 gallon SW, I have a 160g cycling right now!!!! my two fresh water tank's are African cichlids mostly Tanganykan. Just remember to research what you want and have fun

Pat

[RedFish]

Just putting my two cents worth in....I too started with a 10 gallon, and just recently moved to a 29 gallon.    Boy oh boy it really is much easier to keep a larger tank, and the fish seem happier and frankly it is nicer to look at.
Even with an understocked tank, you can have more/larger fish than in a 10 gallon (obviously) which if you only have one tank it is more fun!
So buy the biggest tank you can afford and have space for, you won't regret it!

[clouxles]

Just me 2 gallons worth...

If you don't know you love the hobby I suggest you don't start too big. When I started my 29 gallon Eclipse was perfect (for about 6 months) then Multi Tank Syndrome (MTS), every aquarium hobbyists nightmare, raised it's ugly head.. After a year I had nine tanks 55 gallons or smaller and the maintenance was killing me. ( I have a life ...sort of). I suggest start with a medium sized tank...  if you like it, get  a bigger one. You like that ... get a bigger one... you like that... flood the basement! I'm almost there. My plan is no more than 3 BIG ONES (although upgrades with an overlap are allowed - make your own rules), a breeding tank (double as quarantine) and of course the hospital tank (they don't count). Enjoy - Merry Christmas...

Mark

[elad]

Hi there

I would reccomend either a 33 gal starter or larger but not to big because you are never sure if you will like the hobby but this is an almost perfect size to start with in my opinion anyways I have been in the Hobby of fish keeping for quite some time now and I have 20 g reef ( wish it was bigger ) a 90g corner and 100g I just moved into my new house recently so the to big tanks are not running hope to get them running in the new year.

I started with a 33g wild caught African cichlid (torpheus moorii moliro red) tank which I loved and now have some saltwater fish.

and yes I will be starting up a fresh water wild caught cichlid tank either the 90g corner ,100g as well as starting up a big sw tank again undecided.

or the 90g I hope my wife got me for x-mas lol.

anyways best of luck with everything and this is the place to get most of the info you need we are all very helpful when it comes to the aquaria world.

Cheers

[KarEn]

Yep! Start with the biggest you would ever want to end up with. 75-90 Gal is a good size.
I started with 29 Gal and ended up with 120 LOL.
It's easy to learn about fish, so start BIG! 

[PoisonJello]

it is fine to recomend a tank size for you but really you should consider what type of fish you want to keep first

If you want to keep cichlids i think i would recomend at least a 65gal 36"L/18"W/24"T but in the end it is all up to you

if you are planning on buying everything new then for the little extra cash, go big 

[twotones]

Hi,

I just got into this business of fishies in Canada a few days ago, I used to breed bettas back in Sri Lanka. of course im just into breeding bettas, but no matter how big you plan on going, you should get your stuff from the OVAS clasifieds. That way even if you end up hating the idea of a fish tank (I really really doubt it will happen) you wont spend a lot less money on it, you will help someone clear up unwanted clutter, and you might make a friend who will help you with stuff.

It might take a little more time than dropping by a pet store but its worth it especially if you are a newbie. Also make this website into your homepage cos you will be back here a lot more often that you think 

Good Luck !!!

[Adam]

I like aquaclear HOBs.  They are the best bang for the buck out there.  As for tank size, start as large as you can, but don't start TOO big...you may hate the maintenance and not be gratified and you lose more money on reselling new bought large aquariums than you do on smaller ones.  But if you are serious, try at least a 36" long, maybe even 48"...complete used 55 gallon setups are pretty easy to come by...

Adam

[darkdep]

Many thoughts already expressed, I'll echo my own.

FIRST, think about what you'd like to keep.  Forget the tank size until you figure that out.  The tank size issue is not the major decision.  Cost wise, the tank itself, being the most "visible" piece of the puzzle would appear to be the costliest, but it just isn't so.  The filter, lights, substrate, decorations and (in some cases) the fish themselves will be far costlier than the tank itself.

Bigger tanks don't necessarily mean more maintenance.  Maintaining a 33gallon tank isn't any more work than a 10gallon, IMHO. 

If you're not sure if you'll like the hobby, once you pick your fish buy used equipment; you can buy in parts or buy complete setups in the OVAS classifieds.  Once you play with your first tank for the first couple months (or less) you'll know if it's for you.  Then, you can plan for your first "real" tank.  I haven't met many people who are into this hobby who's "first" tank was their "real" first tank...if that makes sense

If you setup multiple tanks, having them in the same place makes maintenance MUCH easier;  I have 8 tanks currently stacked in one spot in my basement and I can clean and water change them all with a single python in about 30-40 minutes.

Make sure you get a good filter...canister or Aquaclear HOB.  Eheim, Rena, (current) Fluval's are all good choices.  Magnum Canisters are great too, but they are more complex to set up and operate (but FAR easier to maintain).

And, as others have echoed, come to OVAS for your questions and thoughts.  Everyone is here to help each other and to learn.  There are no stupid questions on here (I know, I've asked so many myself!)

[kennyman]

A 29 is going to be stable enough that a beginner wont have too many water quality issues and allow you to keep a variety of basic tropical fish.