Found A Tank In The Wall

[Ministocks8]

Hi, I have just moved house and there is a 6ft tank built into the wall which is empty apart from some very large coral rocks (There is no lid or anything else just coral), most of my friends want me to buy a snake!!! but I will not be able to sleep at night for fear of it getting out ;-)

I would really love to get the tank up and running (with Tropical fish) but have no clue what so ever about fish/tanks etc etc. Any advice would be more than welcome

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

[Rediahs]

I don't actually have any advice, but I'm just commenting on how cool it is that you found a 6 foot tank in the wall! That's crazy awesome!

 

[themissingelf]

Hi, I have just moved house and there is a 6ft tank built into the wall which is empty apart from some very large coral rocks (There is no lid or anything else just coral), most of my friends want me to buy a snake!!! but I will not be able to sleep at night for fear of it getting out ;-)

I would really love to get the tank up and running (with Tropical fish) but have no clue what so ever about fish/tanks etc etc. Any advice would be more than welcome

Thanks in advance

Mark

Congratulations for taking the trouble to find this forum and actually ask. So many people just dive in and start bunging fish in tanks with no clue about what it takes to keep fish.

On one hand a 6ft tank is a blessing because its size means that it offers a more stable enviroment to manage over a smaller tank. On the flip side, such a large tank will be more demanding from the point of view of maintenance, for example, partial water changes every couple of weeks will require many buckets of water etc.

However... whilst a forum can answer a lot of specific questions, I would suggest getting hold of a good book on the subject before you do anything else. You need something that covers materials that you can use in the tank to decorate it (coral is out of the question for freshwater fish), filtration, heating, stocking levels, and routine maintenance. Most books cover these areas as a matter of course.

Also... be very clear about the type of tank you want from the outset. It will save you money in the long run. For example, if you want a lush planted tank, you'll need to think about light levels and fertilisation. Perhaps a cichlid tank may interest you? After planted tanks, cichlids are my next favourite and well worth a look - especially with a 6ft tank.

 

[Egmel]

Hi, I have just moved house and there is a 6ft tank built into the wall which is empty apart from some very large coral rocks (There is no lid or anything else just coral), most of my friends want me to buy a snake!!! but I will not be able to sleep at night for fear of it getting out ;-)

I would really love to get the tank up and running (with Tropical fish) but have no clue what so ever about fish/tanks etc etc. Any advice would be more than welcome

Thanks in advance

Mark

Wow lucky you

My first advice would be to investigate the hardware you'll need to make it into a tropical tank. Does it have a filter, heater or hood + lights? You'll need all of these for tropical fish.

Next I'd investigate fishless cycling (see the pinned topic at the top of this forum).

Then I'd start deciding what sort of tank I want, a good way to do this is to look through the members tanks photos area, there are some really inspiring tanks there.

Books are all very well but they go out of date really quickly so I'd be tempted to say get one from the library if you really want one but to be honest I'm starting out using the Internet as my main research tool. There are so many sites that you can always find more than one opinion but they usually agree on the basics.

Then find a list of the local fish stores (LFSs) in your area and visit as many of them as you can. Look at how they keep their fish, talk to the people there and see how knowledgeable they are. Don't buy anything without doing your own research first, many LFS staff aren't as knowledgeable as they seem and many will try to sell you something that's not suitable for your tank/setup. You can find lists of LFS and ratings pinned in the tropical chit chat forum, see if any of those are near you and visit those first, though the lists are getting out of date.

Finally if you have any questions then just ask, this place is full of people who are passionate about fish and they usually have the answer to most questions.

Good luck and keep us updated on how it goes

 

[Miss Wiggle]

wow!!!!! a 6 foot tank, that's absolutely awesome, I'd love one that size!

As other's have said the first thing is to be clear from the outset what you want from it. Go looking for inspiration from the members pics section, or just do a google image search on fishtanks..... when you've found some that you like post them for us and we can give you some more precise advise on what sort of equipment, expense, maintenance your looking at to get that. You really have a huge amount of scope for what to do with that sort of tank.

There's loads of pinned topics in the beginners section about cycling and starting out, just read as much as you can and you'll soon get the hang of it.

In the Tropical Chit Chat forum there's a pinned topic with reviews of fish stores all over the UK and USA, have a browse of there and hopefully you can find some decent shops near to you which you can visit, getting to know the staff and get an idea of prices is always a good idea when starting out.

Also these are my first (well probably only) two rules every beginner should learn

1 - Don't believe everything they tell you in the fish shop...... remember they want your money, sadly there are some very unscrupulous fish shop staff around who will quite happily sell you anything regardless of if it's suitable for you or not.

2 - Do your research, it's a really bad idea to just go into a shop and see a pretty fish and buy it, I think a lot of people have done it, I know I have before, and I've ended up with fish that will eat other's in the tank or will grow so big I need to re-home them. If you see something you really like, go home, look it up and if it's suitable then go back and buy it. You just have to remember if you buy a living animal you take on the responsibility to give it a safe and happy home, well you can't do that if you don't know what it's home should be. So do your research before you buy.

and lasltly..... good luck, and have fun, I wish I had a tank that big to play with, your very lucky!!

Enjoy and let us know how your getting on

 

[Fillet 'O' Fish]

Did you buy the house not knowing the tank was in the wall then?
What had the previous owner done to cover it up?

 

[Bullrock74]

On the flip side, such a large tank will be more demanding from the point of view of maintenance, for example, partial water changes every couple of weeks will require many buckets of water etc.

I certainly hope everyone with a large tank does water changes with a Python vaccuum or something similar. These attach to your sink and make performing water changes very easy.

 

[raptorrex]

Hi, I have just moved house and there is a 6ft tank built into the wall which is empty apart from some very large coral rocks (There is no lid or anything else just coral), most of my friends want me to buy a snake!!! but I will not be able to sleep at night for fear of it getting out ;-)

I would really love to get the tank up and running (with Tropical fish) but have no clue what so ever about fish/tanks etc etc. Any advice would be more than welcome

Thanks in advance

Mark

lol before you do anything, make sure the tank is watertight!!!! this is all the more important, as it is fixed inside the wall, big big big big mess if it aint. after that the fish keeping world is your oyster. you lucky lucky thing.

 

[Fillet 'O' Fish]

On the flip side, such a large tank will be more demanding from the point of view of maintenance, for example, partial water changes every couple of weeks will require many buckets of water etc.

I certainly hope everyone with a large tank does water changes with a Python vaccuum or something similar. These attach to your sink and make performing water changes very easy.

Whats a Python vacum then??? got a web link to a site that shows them?

 

[samyboy]

wow lucky you the possibility are endless, as someone above mentioned.........make sure its water tight