Noobie To Aquariums

[WrestlingFan]

Glad to hear that you have some experienced help coming to help you get going. Something to be aware of is that many of us old timers, myself included in that group, can be unaware of the more recent developments in fish keeping ideas. What that means to you is that your friend may well have great advice from 20 years ago and know nothing of the more recent ideas that we use here. I myself am one of the fossils that has been keeping fish since the 1950s when water changes were an emergency only measure. Today we are quite comfortable advising people to do a very large water change as the first option when there is any problem at all with their fish or the health of their fish. Times do change and many of us learn as we move forward. I am not the same self confident fish keeper that I was as little as a decade ago. These days I have adopted the "modern" methods and I am as quick to recommend a water change as the youthful folks among us such as Wilder.

Forgot to add, that I do check before buying to be on safe side, dont want to get into a hobby that I love, and watch them die so quickly, learned from when i was a kid lol.
I also did some thinking today went online saw some other fish I maybe interested in, the Silver Dollar fish I read up on those, and saw, there compatible to mostly all fish, but they need to be in a group of 4 at least.

 

[Assaye]

How often would you recommend a water change? The pet store owner told me every other month is good for my two filters I have, he also suggested, that I do not change all the water at once, he said once I add the water and fish the water should never be completely empty, or I would have to re start the cycle changes again.

Sounds like the store owner is an old timer, as OldMan mentioned he might be. These days we know a lot more about the chemical balances in the water and what different chemicals do to the fish that we would recommend at least changing 25% every two weeks and more ideally 25% a week. That's a lot more than your store owner suggested but this is so that we don't let nitrates build up too much, as well as keeping levels of micro-organisms low and making sure the water does not become 'stale' or depleated of it's minerals, which causes things like pH swings.

If you have some running 5 and 10 gallon tanks then you will probably have some mature media from their filters you can use. This can make a huge difference, speeding up the fishless cycle.

Local fish shops, Parents and Friends, the three main sources of Fish-In Cycles!

~~waterdrop~~

Awesome I do, I still own a couple gold fish in a 5 gallon tank, not the kind that will grow big, I own the tiny ones.
But will not own them once I get the tropicals, plan on giving my gold fish to my cousin that has a 30 gallon tank with nothing but goldfish.
Dont want to take the chance of gold fish killing my tropicals.

Just want to say, and I don't want to offend, but if they are real goldfish there is no such thing as a "tiny one" that isn't a baby or stunted. Even the smaller varieties get to 6 inches long as adults.

30 gallons is a good size but if he has more than 2 goldfish in there, it would be kinder to find them a different home. One goldfish needs 20-30 gallons just for himself, depending on how big he gets.

Glad to hear that you have some experienced help coming to help you get going. Something to be aware of is that many of us old timers, myself included in that group, can be unaware of the more recent developments in fish keeping ideas. What that means to you is that your friend may well have great advice from 20 years ago and know nothing of the more recent ideas that we use here. I myself am one of the fossils that has been keeping fish since the 1950s when water changes were an emergency only measure. Today we are quite comfortable advising people to do a very large water change as the first option when there is any problem at all with their fish or the health of their fish. Times do change and many of us learn as we move forward. I am not the same self confident fish keeper that I was as little as a decade ago. These days I have adopted the "modern" methods and I am as quick to recommend a water change as the youthful folks among us such as Wilder.

Forgot to add, that I do check before buying to be on safe side, dont want to get into a hobby that I love, and watch them die so quickly, learned from when i was a kid lol.
I also did some thinking today went online saw some other fish I maybe interested in, the Silver Dollar fish I read up on those, and saw, there compatible to mostly all fish, but they need to be in a group of 4 at least.

Silver Dollars are gorgeous but get really huge. I wouldn't want to put a shoal of them in anything less than about 100 gallons.

I know it seems like we are warning you and saying no a lot, but we don't want you to have any problems down the line!

 

[WrestlingFan]

well I havent made up my mind on any fish yet, i do know, I want a red tail shark though that's a must.

 

[OldMan47]

A silver dollar is a fish that will get huge. It will be quite comfortable in a 75 gallon tank but may look a bit too big in a tank that is much smaller. A water change every month or two is far to seldom by our present standards. My conventional tanks all get at least a 10% water change every week, or a larger one less often when I get too busy. A 30% change every two weeks is probably enough for most tanks. The real deciding factor will be based on water measurements. If you test for nitrates and they are constantly climbing, you are not doing water changes often enough.

 

[WrestlingFan]

That is cool, I wasnt sure how big those silver dollars get, i saw some medium sized ones and they where awesome looking, i was told they need to be in a group of two to four. since it is a schooling fish.
Didnt really want all schooling fish.
Any suggestions on types of fish I could get that are colorful?
I dont like the type with no color to them hardly.
and I dont want them aggressive either, as I do not want to have to keep the same type fish or find fish suitable for them.
Im gearing more toward, the peaceful fish I have all my supplies ready, for the water testing etc.
My tank should be hooked up no later than Sunday.
I know I do want some glow fish, as there small wont really grow all that big, other than that clueless so any ideas, would be wonderful, as I dont wont a take full of bullies, or anything like that.