My daughter's 8th birthday is coming up and she has expressed interest in a freshwater tank for her bedroom. She already has two hamsters she bought with her chore money, along with their cages, food, and bedding. She's shown a lot of responsibility with them (I help her clean cages and make sure she is feeding and watering them), so I'm probably going to oblige and do a fishtank for her birthday...(which is the end of May)
I'm thinking around 20gallons, freshwater of course. She has shown interest in the 'glowing' fish and decor they have at petsmart. Anyone seen/have these? I had fishtanks years ago, but obviously I need to read up on it again.
Can anyone recommend some hardy fish species for this size tank, some 'friendly' species that go together, etc...
And just for fun, can I see some pics of others tanks?
I'm thinking of gifting her the tank, filter, etc and then giving her money to go and pick out her decor..then later let her go and pick her fish when the tank is stable.
Sorry for the long post!
Thanks
Where are you located? Petsmart has really bad quality equipment and bad quality fish. A low quality (in-bred, fed poorly, kept in poor conditions) fish will be more likely to die or spread tank-destroying disease.
If you are in Ontario, Canada, I highly recommend "Big Al's Aquarium Services". Look them up. Better quality equipment and fish, and reasonable prices. The fish are actually cheaper. What is even better than that is getting fish directly from breeders. Fish you see in a pet shop come from the lowest cost source (ie, far away, like asia or czech republic). They have been in a bag for days sometimes. Many fish die in the bag and further pollute it. These fish are highly stressed, not only by their trip but also by being put into water which is wildly different from the water they came from in their country. They are also stressed by being fed different food (the odds that the petshop and the breeder in Thailand feed even remotely similar foods are 0.00).
If you buy from a breeder nearby, you are getting a fish that is from the same water as your water, that will experience a single bag trip in its life (to your house) of no more than an hour or so, that you can find out what it was eating, buy that food, and thus reduce stress.
If you already have a 29 gallon tank and you are sure it does not leak, you should try to find out the brand (ie aqueon, marineland, hagen) of the tank and find an appropriate cover for it (glass top or plastic hood). This is a must because fish can jump. I don't recommend that you aim for a heavily planted tank your first time around. So just get a basic hood with a single fluorescent bulb or a basic LED lighting setup. These are pretty affordable. Get yourself a 150W heater. I strongly suggest the JAGER heaters by Eheim. You will also want a thermometer, such as a digital thermometer that sticks to the outside of the tank and the probe goes in the tank. Stick the probe beside the filter intake.
This is my ideal equipment list for a 29 gallon tank:
Tank
hood/light
Eheim Jager 150W heater
Aquaclear 70 filter. Buy a second bag of biomax for it. Do not use the carbon. (*more about this in a minute)
Digital thermometer with probe (this is much cheaper than it sounds. Maybe $12-20)
Syphon with gravel cleaner (python brand is the best)
starter bulb for syphon
Dechlorinator (such as Seachem Prime or Tetra Aquasafe)
A syringe, to measure dechlorinator dosing
Light timer to have the same light period every day, of no more than 10 hours (reduce this if you have an algae outbreak)
5 gallon bucket (brand new, not used for anything else)
You will be told, no doubt, by the salesman, who wants to sell filter media, that you need to change your filter media. This is a crock of BS that has been around for years. Don't use the carbon. That's the only thing you would have to change and it leaches trace elements out of the water and is believed to be a cause of hole in the head disease in fish.
All you need to do is setup the filter with sponge at the bottom (included), then biomax in a bag, then another biomax in a bag (buy a second biomax). Then, every month or so, rinse out ONE of the three inserts in the filter, in aquarium water you have removed from the tank, until it comes clean. Never rinse your filter media in chlorinated water such as tap water.
Having said all that, I suggest that you setup your tank with no gravel (much more hygienic and easier to maintain), that you put a couple of pieces of driftwood (use malaysian as mopani really stains the water), and get enough Hornwort (a floating plant) to cover the surface of the water. Hornwort quickly absorbs nitrates, and has analgaesic properties beneficial to all fish. It also keeps the fish calm because they feel secure. This is a very affordable plant. You may have to buy this online.
Cycle your aquarium using either the bottle of ammonia method or the fish food method (I suggest the fish food method) google this.
Once cycled you can slowly begin to add fish. Never add too many fish at once as this shocks your biofilter.
Easy to keep fish for first time fishkeepers:
#1 Zebra Danio/Leopard Danio- These fish are excellent eaters, are active, and fun to watch. They are a hardy fish and if cared for properly, suffering losses is unusual (make sure they are very healthy when you purchase, of course). A healthy zebra or leopard danio has an irridescent sheen on its back when viewed off angle.
#2 Guppies- With Guppies, you always want something in the area of 4 to 5 females to 1 male. The males are very "randy" if you will and if you have too few females they will literally get... err.. mated with to death. If cared for properly, you will get baby guppies. Guppies do not lay eggs and give birth to live young.
Cleaning your tank:
1X per week, try to do this always on the same day, use the syphon to remove about 3/8 of the water from the tank, into the bucket, vaccuming the bottom for poops and uneaten food (you wont have uneaten food with danios though). Dump this water down the toilet or in the bathtub.
Then refill the bucket from the tap with water that is exactly the same temperature as your aquarium (aim for 77F or with both the fish I suggested), mixing an appropriate dose of dechlorinator into the water as you fill the bucket (read the bottle) then dump the water (slowly, gently. Dont want to create a tidal wave and smash your fish into the glass) into the tank. If you have your heater sideways near the bottom of the tank and your filter intake is long enough (aquaclear filter intakes are extendable) you do not need to unplug these while you do a water change.
Also if you will be buying very young fish or keeping guppies which have babies, attach a prefilter to your filter intake (these can be bought premade or you can make one by cutting a hole in a sponge and sticking it on your filter intake so the filter sucks through the sponge. This prevents shredded fish (poor fish
) inside your filter.
Food wise, for either one of the fish I suggested, I do suggest pellets of the appropriate size which would be 0.5 mm to 1mm depending on whether the fish you get are full grown. In either case you can err on the side of caution and go with 0.5mm
I wholeheartedly suggest this food and have had excellent success with it. You dont need to feed anything else, just this. Keep it refrigerated once open
Buy it online if you cant find it in store.
Optionally (but totally not necessary with the above mentioned species) you can give a treat once every two days of frozen critters, such as Hikari Sprulina Brine Shrimp in the cube packs.
^This is TOTALLY not necessary and is sort of like giving your dog a piece of ham. It won't benefit from the ham you just want to treat your dog.
In all cases, remember not to overfeed your fish. You can feed your fish 3x per day but very small amounts. 4 or 5 brine shrimp per fish or maybe 7 pellets (if 0.5mm) and 3 pellets or maybe 4 if 1mm. Monitor your fish. They should not look bloated or fat. They should not have a sunken back or look boney. They should be somewhere in between. Adjust your feeding accordingly. Overfeeding is the number one cause of tank crashes.
Oh and btw, if you happen to be in Downtown Toronto, you can't go wrong with The Menagerie Petshop in cabbagetown on Parliament St. And if you are in Mississauga, Finatics is the place to go. I know the fish managers at both places and they will not steer you wrong. Their fish and food are also top quality. Not good places for supplies though such as filters, tanks, etc. The best price for these is Big Al's.
