Do you have an aquarium in your house?

[luvflorida]

I'm thinking about setting up an aquarium in our living room, but don't know much about them. It seems like it would be a very peaceful. pleasant thing to have in the house. It would be the next best thing to snorkeling, which I enjoy a lot.

Are the tanks easy to keep clean, or do you find them to be a lot of work? Any other advice or info would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[dis4harley]

We have a 55 gallon and a 10 gallaon tanks.
My kids and I love them. I don't think that they are hard to take care of. There are all different kinds of things that you can do to make cleanig easier.

 

[peg2001]

75 Gal - goldfish and pleco
20 Gal - harlequin rasboras, cory cats, ottos, pleco
5 Gal - just water and plants right now, our betta finally got old and died, we plan to replace when we find one we like
20 Gal - empty and dry, waiting for kids to be old enough to decide what they want and do majority of upkeep

Here's an idea of effort for one tank:
5 minutes a day to feed and look it over to be sure all the equipment is working and the fish are not sick or hurt
1 hour (tops) per week to clean, siphon, and replace water

Make sure you read a good book before you start. A lot of people just jump right in and end up disappointed when their fish all die. It's not at all hard, but you have to know what you are doing. Here's a few tips:

1. the bigger tanks are actually EASIER to care for because the amount of water helps stabilize conditions
2. start with very few fish, let the nitrogen cycle run it's course before adding any more
3. quarantine new fish before adding them to your tank, you don't want them to bring in a disease and wipe out your whole tank

Good luck. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have.
Peggy

 

[cajunmommy]

We have two tanks - a 25gal freshwater with goldfish in my DS's room and a 55gal saltwater in the breakfast area (Home to Dory's cousins!)

The freshwater is easiest to take care of (less finicky fish). However, despite what we had heard, the saltwater really isn't that difficult either. Both tanks have survived moving as well!

We've received really good advice from a local pet store that specializes in aquariums (we try to stay away from the chains unless we need generic supplies).
We took our time, asked LOTS of questions and have been patient with the saltwater tank.

Only two bad incidents in the nearly 10 years of maintaining these tanks - bizarre fish kill that wiped out our entire saltwater tank (depressing since they can be expensive); and, a tank leak onto my brand new living room wood floor that went unnoticed for almost 24 hours (lid went out of alignment and water dripped down back of tank). Needless to say, the big tank is now on a more tolerant flooring surface!

Definitely worth the minimal time & effort in my opinion!

 

[Margie J]

I have an aquarium with one large catfish in it now. I have had aquariums for years though and had all sorts of fresh water fish in the past.

If you are new to the hobby, by all means set up a fresh water tank. Salt water fish are beautiful but not only are they expensive but the tanks require more care.

Any good pet shop will have plenty of tanks, filters, adornments, food and fish to select from. First thing to get and set up is the tank itself. Do this a few days before bringing home any fish. A 5 to 10 gallon one is a good starter. Also, have a sturdy table to set it on. Once it's filled it will be heavy. Get a tank, enough gravel to cover about 2" of the bottom (see the packs for amounts to buy), a thermometer, a heater, maybe a few plastic plants &/or a cave, a background picture and a good filter with extra filter materials. As for filters, I like the ones that have a canister outside of the tank such as the Penguin Bio-Wheel. Also get some chemicals for the water. At the very least get a chlorine eliminator and then a pH balancing agent and a pH test kit. I also have a water siphon, tank scrubber sponge and a bucket used only for aquarium water changes. Keep ALL detergents or other household chemicals away from your aquarium stuff.

When you are shopping for the tank you can check out and ask about certain fish. Ask how big they get, what temps and pH they prefer, if they reproduce readily and who they get along with (some fish will fight with others). Don't get any fish yet but you can adjust your tank to be ready for the types of fish you intend to buy later.

At home, rinse the tank and set it in the place you want. Rinse the gravel and toys well and place them in the tank. Fill with tap water treated with the right amounts of chlorine eliminators and such. Get the filter set up and running then the water heater. Leave this whole system running, without fish for a few days. Then you can check for any problems, make adjustments and "age" the tank.

After a few days, buy your fish and the right food for them. When you get them home float their bags in the water for a while before releasing them. This helps to adjust the temps between bag water and tank water. Then, carefully open the bags and release the fish. They may hide initially as they adjust to their home. As for feeding, don't overfeed. Watch as they eat the first few times. Better to feed a couple times a day instead of one big lump a day. Too much food causes problems with the water.

Keep an eye on your filter. This is one of the most important components to keep your aquarium healthy. The most cleaning I do is of this one part, not only changing the filter but washing the whole filter box and components.

In addition to water additions, I do some partial water changes since my fish is big and even two filters can't keep up with the waste and pH changes. If your aquarium is well filtered you shouldn't have to do many complete tanks cleanings (taking out all things and scrubbing/rinsing the tank and doing a re-setup).

 

[sha_lyn]

1 hour (tops) per week to clean, siphon, and replace water

Once a week is probably too often
IMHO a good schedule for a smaller tank (20 gal or less)

Is every 2 weeks, with 2 different type of cleanings in the month

IE 1st time in the month... siphon of 2/3 or water, wipe of any algae on the tank walls, clean off any algae on decorations (a nylon scrubber and salt is safest, on removable decorations,be sure to rinse well). Add a tsp of Stress coat per 10 gallons of water add PH buffer (these should be added for the entire amount of water in tank. Add 1 tbs aquarium salt for each 5 gallons of water that is replaced.

2nd cleaning of the month

Change filter material. I prefer carbon in the outside filter and ammonia chips for the under gravel filter. Check PH and adjust if needed. Add Stress coat 1 tsp per 10 gallons of water. Top off water if needed because of evaporation (we add about 3 gal per week in winter to our 30 gal tank).

About every 2-3 months I use a small siphon hose and stick in through an opening in the under gravel filter and siphon off any "yuck" that has settled under it.

When siphoning the 2/3 use a tank siphon that has a gravel cleaner attached to it.



With a larger tank you can easily get by with 1x per month, rotating which month you do each of the above schedules

 

[ZachnElli]

We have a 55 gallon saltwater tank and it's alot of work and expensive. When we moved here over 4 years ago and had to set it up again, we spent over $1000 the first month getting it up again (not including the actual tank, we already had that). I told dh I wanted fresh water because it is so much easier and less expensive. Of course prices vary by where you live. When we lived in Texas is was much cheaper than here in Nebraska. Unfortunately, something happened to the tank in Oct and it killed everything in the tank except Nemo and a crab. It was horrible, we lost all starfish and other fish. If it weren't for Nemo (yes, he's a clownfish) we would have taken it all down. We are getting new fish in about a week. (It takes a while before you can add new fish again) It is beautiful and my kids LOVE it!

 

[Amy]

Taking care of the fish tank is DH's job, but I just had to share a story:

We've had a 10 gal. tank for about 7 years, home to 3 goldfish. For Christmas, DH found a good deal on air hockey tables and decided to get one for our 2 DS's, who are 12 and 13. They set it up Christmas Day and I told DH - "shouldn't you turn the hockey table the other way so they're not shooting at the fish tank?" Of course, he didn't listen to me. 3 days later, my DS calls me downstairs because "Mom, there's water all over the place." Yep, one of them cracked the fish tank with the air hockey puck. (and I still haven't stopped telling DH "I told you so!")

Anyway, I sent DH to the store alone to buy a replacement fish tank. Big mistake! He came home with a 29 gal. tank!!! FOR 3 LITTLE GOLDFISH!!!!! He claims the fish "outgrew" their old tank anyway. (Maybe my DH is really Tim-the-Toolman-Taylor in disguise!)

Anyway, for those of you who DO know a lot about fish, can I ask a couple of questions?

(1) How big of a tank do we need for 3 goldfish? (the largest one is about 3 in. long)

(2) Why do our snails keep dying? We had 2 snails in the old tank, and they only lived for about a month or 2. Haven't got any snails for the new tank yet.

 

[Cruisin]

we have two tanks and I don't find it a lot of work at all.
I clean them about every 2 - 3 weeks (only if they need it). It takes about an hour at the most.
Amy: goldfish can grow to be very large. I have some that are about 8-10" long in my fish pond that are about 4 years old. I think they will grow to fit the size of their environment.
Snails - I get rid of literally hundreds of snails everytime I clean my fish tank, they multiply like crazy, so I don't know why yours are dying, want some of mine!!!!
How about guppies, my reproduce like crazy, the males are beautiful with long flowing tails, but how many guppies do I need. I am running out of places to pass them on.
I even keep a male Betta fish in my fish tank with a few guppies and neons. They seem to get along all right together.

 

[jrmasm]

from all the research that I have done, I'd say that your DH is correct. Gold fish are filthy fish and require much larger tanks to stay healthy that most fish. Generally the rule is on inch per fish per gallon but with goldfish it is more like 2-3 gallons per inch.

I just moved my two in a 29!

 

[DISJAZZ]

Hi. We just set up our 20 gallon freshwater tank that we bought for Christmas. I wish that I had been smart enough to start a thread like this. The previous Posters are right on the money. Watch the PH testing/maintenance. It took me awhile to figure that out.
"Honey, what does it mean when the water turns black during the PH test? I don't see black on the PH test color-chart."
Do not put a lot of fish in the tank right away.
"Dad! Look! It's snowing in the aquarium, too!"
Our aquarium water turned white the night we added all the fish.
Remember that fish are heartless little cannibals for the most part.
"Where's Spotty? Has anyone seen Spotty? What's that on the bottom of the tank!"
Fortunately, our fish have so far survived in spite of me. The aquarium is beautiful and very soothing. Enjoy!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes we have an aquarium. We have 2 fish that do not match, ie do not belong together. And a plecosamous that has grown to a huge size. DO NOT buy one of those. He ruins (as in dirties) the tank. We really need to sell him.

Do your homework first on the kind of fish you want to have IN THE TANK and then figure out the tank size. Go to a real fish place and they will help you.

And that is what I would have done differently.

 

[peg2001]

Originally posted by sha_lyn
Once a week is probably too often

IE 1st time in the month... siphon of 2/3 or water,

Everyone settles into their own routine, of course. However, everything I've read and from my own experience, it is much better to changle 10-15% of the water every week than to wait a month and change 67%. It maintains more stable conditions.

Also, if you keep the tank clean with frequent water changes, you don't need carbon, ammonia absorbing chips, etc. We've used power filters with sponges only for years now. The sponges are rinsed and re-used. Very cheap and works great.

Peggy

Edited to add:

Goldfish and plecos are very dirty fish. This means that they put out a lot of ammonia. They need large tanks with frequent water changes to stay healthy. Common plecos and typical goldfish (commons and comets) grow to a foot or more in length. If kept in a small tank, they will grow and put out more ammonia until you can not keep the water clean and then they will sicken and die.

There are other types of plecos that do not get as big but they are fairly dirty as well. What is nice about plecos is they keep the algae off the glass, very nice!

 

[Lewski709]

I had a 10gal and 55gal and I thought they were a lot of work and money. I was always buying more fish, ornaments, medicine, books, etc. I had some carrying eggs (cichlids, not cheap), which meant more money. Also, mixing different Cichlids became a art and a chore as some are more agressive than others and eat or kill one another by stressing each other out. PH levels had to be checked constantly, water changes, curing ick, fin rot, blah blah blah. With that being said, I did LOVE it. BUT, it was too much work with two kids and I sold it about 6mo's ago. BUY USED, so you are not out a ton of money if it doesn't work out. I bought and sold ours for $150.00 with the stand, hood, fish and accessories. But through the 3 yrs I had it, I bet I put over 500.00 into it (learning, curing, beautifying, maintaining, etc).

A bigger tank not close to a water source is a PAIN. Reuse, don't replace sponges. I used carbon and sponges and had two filtration systems.

I had a pleco that got so big I just threw him outside to freeze. No one wanted it and he was larger than a foot long, too big to flush. He knocked everything over and made quite a mess. I recommend other "bottom/algae" tank cleaners (fish/snails).

Cichlids are beautiful and entertaining fish, but OHHHHHHHHH the expense. I would stick to regular freshwater fish and despite the beauty of saltwater tanks, be an observer.....not an owner. MORE work that all of what I mentioned above.

I would not hesistate to own another tank, closer to a water source/draining area OR with someone who would care for it other than myself. Have you seen Duece Bigalow? Someone like him to care for the tank so I can enjoy the beauty and peacefulness.

Good Luck!!!

 

[RUDisney]

We have a 55-gallon saltwater tank. We installed it in a wall between our barroom and our family room in 1997. I hate it. I have wanted to take it down for the past 2 years, but I have two clownfish that won't die. One is a sebay clown and the other is a maroon clown. They have had about 4 birthdays in our tank.

At first, it was hard to regulate the water and we had a lot of problems with ick. We bought a UV sterilizer that controlled that problem. I also learned that you shouldn't put copper safe into your tank to kill ick if you want to keep any coral in the tank. Copper kills coral.

I will not do anything to kill my 2 clowns outright, but I didn't replace the UV bulb the last time it burned out. (1.5 years ago) I also haven't done any type of water change since 1998 or 1999. Water evaporates from the tank and I readd it. That's a water change for me. I haven't lost any fish because of that. There was gill disease, ick and some other problem that a fish had that was not determined, but I tried to treat it with an antibiotic in a hospital tank, but it didn't survive.

The kids keep the tank clean. DD is a little weird about cleaning, so she is wiping down the tank all the time. We have magnet cleaners on both sides that she drags to keep the algae down.

My theory as to why these two fish are survivors is that they were both inexpensive. One was $7 and the other was $20. Had they been $80 fish, they wouldn't have lasted this long. I also use Nitrex. That is changed about every 6 months and it controls the nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. It sits in my biological filter.

I agree with the person who said that you shouldn't buy anything from major chains. They have more diseases in their tanks than anything. Find a fish store that you can build a relationship with for your best results.

For supplies, I like www.thatfishplace.com . It is in Lancaster, PA, and a pretty neat store. They have people with whom you can speak if you have any questions along the way. They handle both fresh and saltwater fish.

It's not a hard hobby, once things are established. Saltwater tanks are very expensive to setup... especially if you want to add coral, due to the special lighting requirements. I'm just sick of mine and I know what I want to put in the tank's place. At the rate we're going, I'll probably get my plant ledge in 2015.

 

[jrmasm]

My theory as to why these two fish are survivors is that they were both inexpensive.

Isn't this the truth! Our setup while not huge has cost us plenty over the last three years. All because of a "free" fair fish that was a prize. She's now 4 inches long and we are so attached to her. And her dumb brother Leonard and their suicidal cousin Chuck!

 

[RUDisney]

Another theory (my BIL's) is that we never named them. All the fish we ever named turned up dead. Whenever I get really aggrevated by the fish tank, I point my finger at the clowns and tell them, "don't make me name you."

 

[Lewski709]

YAH, too funny.....why do the mutts (as I like to call them) mixed Cichlids that are 2.99- 5.99 survive much longer than the pure bred Cichlids that are 5.99-19.99plus?

I tried everything to kill that dang pleco.....he just went on. I had to get rid of him. It was him....or me.

 

[Chip126]

hi....this is actually chip126 son. im 14. for the past 6 months i have been working at petco in connecticut. it is a volunteer job but i learn alot! in fact, i am now working in the saltwater fish department. for christmas a went out and got myself a 72 gallon saltwater tank. with it are 2 percula clownfish(nemos!!), a hawaiin hawkfish, 3 squirrl fish, damsels, a moon wrasse, a pork fish and a tomato clownfish. it is so easy to keep! i love it. if you ask any (good) pet store you will have NO problem with a tank.

~Ryan~

 

[Virgo10]

I have a 29 gal. bow front aquarium in my living room. Here are some photos.

Sadly our 2 five year old silver dollars and a shark catfish passed on recently

However, the tetras that occupy the tank now seem to love it.

Roberta