Beginner!!! Need Help!!!

[slick_jing]

Hey Everyone! My name is Jing and I am new to this hobby! I have been thinking about this for several weeks now, and I am surprised to find myself still very much interested in this hobby. (I gave myself some time to cool down from the excitement) I'd like to start out but have absolutely NO experience at this at all. I was wondering if anyone can help me with: helping me get cheap/used beginners equipment, tips on how to start, types of fish to start out with, any online resources. Thanks again David for returning my email and suggesting that I sign up to OVAS.

Jing

[slick_jing]

Oh, and I will be checking out someone's store from this forum (james) somewhere on bank today. Is this where I should begine??

[darkdep]

Welcome to Ovas Jing!  

There are lots of places to pick up used/cheap equipment.  This forum is a good place, if you know what you're looking for.  

There is a plethora of information on this site and others regarding the basics of getting started, but before you do you should consider the following questions:

1) How big of a tank do you want?
2) What do you want to put in it?

james has a lot of good equipment in his store, and would likely be a good place to pick up your tank and some accessories.  

You should do some reading first.  The questions you're asking are too general at this point.  For example, I would personally say get at least a 30gal, with African Cichlids, and a canister filter.  Everyone else on here would give you a different combination.

[dpatte]

Id say a 30 gal tank is good, with a biowheel power filter. I would start with barbs or kribensis - but only after the tank is properly 'fishless' cycled.

[bojon]

Check out the SuperPet on Merivale, they have some clearance
which are very good deal.

[TBarb]

Welcome

Bad news: you will be bombarded with information here at OVAS but you will learn a lot. As mentioned, begin with identifying what type of aquarium you want and the fish. (Fresh water / Saltwater, Planted vs non planted, type of fish {Cichlids, community etc.). From there we can help you out and tell you from our experiences (which vary wildly) what your best approach is. I think you are making a good choice in looking for used items - there are lots of it at OVAS and if you go to ott.forsale newsgroups, newspapers etc, you will find a lot more. Oh, and our meetings conclude with a mini auction but I don't think there is one till this fall?

Good luck.

[slick_jing]

Thanks for the welcome.

I recently stopped by James' shop and saw a 10 gallon tank. Although you suggested a 30 gallon, it seemd huge for me to start out with. I was thinking starting small and having only several fish or plants. What is your opinion on this? Is 10 gallons too small to start out?

[BigDaddy]

I started out with a 10 gallon.

However, believe it or not, its actually easier to start with a mid sized tank.

Anything between 30 and 50 gallons is a good starter setup.  In small tanks, one change can have a big impact... whereas in a bigger tank, it might not be as much of an issue.

Essentially, measure out the biggest space you can place an aquarium in, and get a tank that size.  If you start with a small tank, you'll soon be upgrading to a bigger tank anyway...

[darkdep]

I would strongly suggest NOT starting with a 10gal.  I did, long ago, and was turned off of the hobby for years because of the experience.

To rephrase what BigDaddy said, in a tank with 10gallons of water there is very little margin for error; a little too much ammonia, a little too much food, a little too much light, and kaboom...it all goes to heck.

In a larger tank there is more water to "distribute" mistakes, and it makes the tank much more stable chemically.  

BTW, I was told the same thing when I got my first 10gallon long ago, and didn't believe it / listen.  I know better now.

[Jim]

I started with a 29 and i'm loving it!

[Iceman]

I would strongly suggest NOT starting with a 10gal.  I did, long ago, and was turned off of the hobby for years because of the experience.

To rephrase what BigDaddy said, in a tank with 10gallons of water there is very little margin for error; a little too much ammonia, a little too much food, a little too much light, and kaboom...it all goes to heck.

In a larger tank there is more water to "distribute" mistakes, and it makes the tank much more stable chemically.  

BTW, I was told the same thing when I got my first 10gallon long ago, and didn't believe it / listen.  I know better now.

I agree one hundred percent. If the thirty is too big, perhaps a twenty would be small enough for you. Ten gallons can be frustrating when first getting into the hobby. But i would also recommend thirty or larger.

[Underwater]

When starting out, the bigger tank the better.  The more water you have, the more diluted any chemical problems will be.  It also gives you a lot of room to stock.

Some beginner advice from me is for the first while, understock.  Until you have the "knack" of feeding the proper amounts, changing the right amount of water, it's better to have extra room for error.

Also research research research.  It's never a bad idea to put off buying a fish or piece of equipment you're not sure of.

[Raven]

i started with 20 and had problems so you should definately start with a larger tank.deja vu?

[kennyman]

Hi ya Jing, I like the fried fish pic. Thats a good one

What kind of fish have you seen that got you interested. Sometimes its good to know what type of fish you are hoping for and then work at seting up a home for them based on thier requirements. I know its almost backwards from good advice you got up a bit further, but if you can keep both in mind. It may help to slow down the inveatble Multi-Tank Syndrome we all suffer from.

[Toss]

Welcome Jing

I started with 20, go up to 30, and 70 plus 10 for the fry. Good luck.
This hobby is easy and full of fun, so don't get to stressful with all decisions you have to make. If you want 10 gal badly, start with 10. We will help you anyway. In the future you will this tank for the fry, so it will not go to waste.

Regards
Enrico

[Mettle]

I personally would definitely recommend a 20 gallon tank or larger. I work in a pet store and am constantly helping people with new fish tanks. So many of them look at a 20 gallon or 30 gallon tank and think it's too big for them. They don't listen to me - and I list all of the reasons already given here - and instead often end up taking home a 10 gallon... Then when they come back they get frustrated that they can only keep very few fish and a limited selection of them.

I think a 20 gallon tank is the smallest you should go. If you have room for bigger - do it. Almost everyone I know that started out with a tank of 55 gallons on larger has had very few problems and has thoroughly enjoyed their venture into the hobby. I even know people that started out with things like 180 gallon tanks with discus, for example.

In terms of what size of tank to get... I'd recommend visiting as many fish rooms here in Ottawa as possible and doing as much web research as possible. Get to know what type of fish it is you want in your tank. Then think if it's realistic or not.

Example... I had always wanted oscars. Even from when I started with my little 15 gallon community tank. I have a couple now, who are growing out in a 55 gallon. And I'll soon be getting a 90 gallon tank for them. And I'll most likely upgrade them one last time to a 120 gallon when I have the space/money. Dedicating that much room/cash to only two fish can seem insane to some people. Especially since the fish cost me less than $10 combined! But that's what I like.

You may find out you really like tetras. Or gouramis. Or African cichlids, or tank busters like jaguar cichlids and doviis. Who knows? Take a look around. And make a decision based on that.

AND... The best advice I can give you is to keep asking questions and to never take one person's response as law. This is a hobby for a reason. Everything in anecdotal. What's worked for me, may not work for you, but it may end up working for someone else on this board. It's really too hard to tell! Always cross reference any info you're given - whether it be in books, on the net or from people...

Good luck!

[darkdep]

Just remember...this is an addictive hobby.  When I got my 30, I logged on here and thought "Look at all these crazy yahoos with all the tanks!!!"

...Yeah, I just set up #4...

[darkdep]

I'd like to second Mettle's point about not taking one person's response as gospel.  There are so many "right ways" for so many aspects of this hobby...

For example...I keep African cichlids.  Almost all the guides will tell you you cannot keep plants with them.  But I've managed to figure out how to get the two to co-habit (as have many others).

Definetly pick the fish you like first.

[suu]

Good for you, welcome.  As stated earlier, the bigger the better.  Something around a 30 is a great starting point.  Research the fish.  If you see something you really like find out how large it will grow and what you can put with it.  In my first tropical community tank I had everything from Tetras & Angels to 2 one inch Oscars.  As the fish kept disappearing, I had no idea the Oscars would eat the other fish, actually they ate my entire tank and grew to the size of my shoes!

[darkdep]

hehe ah Oscars...I was thinking of setting up a tank under my kitchen sink and putting some oscars in it as a DIY garbage disposal...