MY TOP FIVE RULES FOR BEGINNERS

[alabaster]

1. GET AS BIG A TANK AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY AFFORD.
Try to go for a 29 gallon. Never buy a 10 gallon for your first tank. Small tanks are hellholes of ammonia and nitrite buildup. The bigger the tank, the less frequent water changes are needed, the more fish you can keep, and the easier it will be to maintain high water quality.

2. DON'T TRUST LFS EMPLOYEES.
Employees at fish stores (especially chain stores) just want your cash. They'll do anything to make a sale and don't care if you have a fish that grows to be 20" long when you don't know anything about the fish in question. Do your own research and don't buy any fish until you've researched its needs (potential size, level of aggression, diet, etc.)

3. BUY A TEST KIT
This is the singular most important piece of equipment in maintaining water quality (besides the filter) that money can buy. Buy one, and do it before you buy any fish. Be sure to test 2-3 times a week when the tank is first established, and at least once a week after 1-2 months.

4. ONLY ADD A SMALL NUMBER OF FISH WHEN YOU FIRST SET UP YOUR TANK. This will allow your tank to safely cycle , and if you do frequent water changes, the fish won't be harmed while the cycle is taking place. Only after your test kit has allowed you to observe the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels rising and falling in succession should you add more fish. When you do, continue to only add about one fish per week. Take your time, and be patient. It will pay off in the long run, and you'll be glad you did.

5. SUBSCRIBE TO A FISH MAGAZINE, READ ARTICLES ONLINE, BUY FISH BOOKS, READ AND ASK QUEATIONS ON THIS FORUM, AND ABSORB AS MUCH KNOWLEDGE AS YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON. Its fun, and your fish will thank you for it. Don't be afraid to ask any and all questions here on the forum (which you should already be signed up for )

Hope this helps. Its not comprehensive by any means, but I hope many people can benefit from the knowledge I've tried to present here. Thanks for reading!!

 

[WILDER]

Good, and never get a fish to big for your tank, research fish first.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Good tips
The only thing i'd add is with the test kit, make sure you get ones that test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates- its also advised you check out your ph/gh/kh when you first set up the tank too.

 

[yvez9]

i think it's harsh to say never trust an employee from a chain store.

I know employees that are awesome and very helpful. I know a lot are just working there to make a buck, and don't know anything about fish, but still, good employees exist.

Also, local private stores aren't any better. Most of the locally owned stores i know are no good at all. the owners just want to make a buck of customers and they have crappy quality tanks...

I've had the most luck with chain stores so far!

I think the best thing is to try out as many sotres as possible and then decide which are worthy and which are not

 

[The-Wolf]

2. DON'T TRUST LFS EMPLOYEES.
Employees at fish stores (especially chain stores) just want your cash. They'll do anything to make a sale and don't care if you have a fish that grows to be 20" long when you don't know anything about the fish in question. Do your own research and don't buy any fish until you've researched its needs (potential size, level of aggression, diet, etc.)

As a LFS employee I find that statement offensive and down right rude

you are correct many lfs's are just in it for the money but we are not all like that.
how about changing it so it reads
don't trust lfs's untill you have varified what they are saying from a second and third source.

 

[lizard]

I'm with Wolf. I, too, am an LFS employee. Not every LFS is just out for money. Believe me, there are far easier ways to make money! Yes, there are some that are out just for the money. There are others, though, that are truly interested in the hobby and helping others out. Even the ones that are good at helping people out need to make money, though. If they don't make money, they can't stay open.

My local private stores have always been better than the chain stores, at least as far as the condition the fish are kept in. I haven't done much buying at chain stores, except for my first few fish (which I got at Wal-Mart). Since then, I've always gotten my fish from privately-owned stores.

Even if you do have a good lfs, though, doing your own research is always good. Blindly trusting whatever the lfs says isn't necessariliy a good idea, but writing them all off as bad isn't fair, either.

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[dwarfgourami]

Blindly trusting anyone (even on a fishforum, wonderful as we are) is probably a bad idea. My advice would be:

Always get a second opinion!

And above all:

Never EVER buy a fish if you don't know what it is!!!

It beats me how many people write in, to this and other forums, saying 'I've got this fish but I don't know what it is.' So how did they dare buy it, how did they know it is not going to turn into a great vicious tank-hogging monster that will eat your babies or can only be feed on one specific type of greens.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

yeha i say always check what you are told! get 2 or 3 opinions, and then u can gte all confused when they differ, so then get a few more!!!

i also second the test kits, alhtouhg most lfs will do it, eventually its gets costly and time consuming to treck down there

 

[freddyk]

DON'T TRUST LFS EMPLOYEES.

I agree. I know there are good ones out there, but in my experience very few - I'll do my own research and make sure.

 

[debiasir]

2. DON'T TRUST LFS EMPLOYEES.
Employees at fish stores (especially chain stores) just want your cash. They'll do anything to make a sale and don't care if you have a fish that grows to be 20" long when you don't know anything about the fish in question. Do your own research and don't buy any fish until you've researched its needs (potential size, level of aggression, diet, etc.)

disagree maybe you should of posted, dont trust some LFS employees as i am sure there are a few on here (the wolf for one) who always gives out good advice, also one of my LFS are so trustworthy is unbelievable its like they dont care about profit. they want to know your tank layout, current occupence water stats if they are not happy you dont get the fish end of story and they will assist you in clearing up any water problems free of charge.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I think it would be much better to, instead of saying don't trust lfs employees, do your own research on fish and research every aspect of its living enviroment and habitat/conditions etc- then you won't have to ask lfs employees on things like "how big does this fish grow?" etc.

 

[Gazoo]

1. GET AS BIG A TANK AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY AFFORD.
Try to go for a 29 gallon. Never buy a 10 gallon for your first tank. Small tanks are hellholes of ammonia and nitrite buildup. The bigger the tank, the less frequent water changes are needed, the more fish you can keep, and the easier it will be to maintain high water quality.

As you referenced in #1, learn the importance of regular treated water changes. I have to admit it took me a couple of years in my early fish keeping to become educated in this subject.

 

[freddyk]

The bigger the tank, the less frequent water changes are needed

In bigger tanks people tend to keep more fish or bigger fish, so unless you're going to stock the big tank the same as the small tank, this won't work.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I'd say small tanks(i.e 10 to 15gals etc) do benifet from frequent small water changes(20-30% once every 4days) on a regular basis as things like ammonia tends to build up in them alot quicker than say, in a 50gal matured tank. With a large tank(i.e 40 to 50gal etc) they seem to benifet more from large water changes on a weekly basis(i.e 40%) etc.

 

[alabaster]

Ok I just read the replys, and there are 14! Last time I looked (yesterday) there were only 2...

Anyway, I'm sorry if my "don't trust local fish store employees" rule offended anyone, as I did NOT mean it to be rude. I totally agree with your insistance that there are many legitimate ones who will always give good advice, as I myself have a Petsmart whose employees have actually taught me some valuable things. However, I think that as a beginner, seperating the good ones from the bad ones will prove very difficult, unless the beginner researches his fish first, and then asks the employee, who may or may not give valid information. But, researching fish before purchase is, in my opinion essential, and if the beginner does research before the purchase, s/he will have no reason to ask the employee anything (unless s/he wants to test the employees honesty). Because of the huge value I place on doing research beforehand, I find it prudent to NOT trust the employees, but to trust the knowledge I've obtained through research on the forum, etc. I did word it "never trust LFS employees", and obviously that sounded rude because it offended several of you. However, I mainly said that in order to show beginners who may read this that because LFS employees may or may not be being honest, and so they should do their own research first. I was attempting to place emphasis on the importance of independant research. With that said, I'd like to revise my 2nd rule:

INSTEAD OF GETTING YOUR INFORMATION FROM LFS EMPLOYEES, ALWAYS DO RESEARCH ABOUT A PARTICULAR FISH BEFORE PURCHASING IT, SO THAT YOU KNOW IF YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE IT WITH AN APPROPRIATE HOME.

Again, sorry for my rude-sounding rule. Hope this correction is more on-target.