Seen through the eyes of a beginner

Velvetgun

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Going back to the post about future fish sizes...
I am a person who loves to read, loves to be informed, loves to understand and I would like my future fish to live very well and for a long time.
I bought a 54-liter tank because due to current conditions in the house I cannot have a larger one but in the future I would like a nice tank 200-300 liter with many possibilities of choice of flora and fauna.
The problem is that I am also very afraid to start.
As a beginner I read everything and the opposite of everything, then in the shops I hear absurd things
I'll give you some examples:
- filter: some say it's strictly essential, some suggest a simple sponge filter, some an external adjustable one (my choice), some tell you that a tank like this is better without anything
- water changes: some say the tank creates a balance and should only be done if necessary, some tell you they're essential, some say once a week, some once a month... (if you want I also have articles on the internet about the cons)
- bottom even in the absence of cory: some tell you that sand is essential (I took this) some tell you that gravel allows bacteria to proliferate better


fish: here we can go crazy. I'll give you some examples:
- some tell me platy together with betta is ok but I have doubts about the values
- yesterday a famous betta breeder suggested tanichtys together with betta. I love tanichtys but then I have doubts about the temperature values but they tell me that they adapt.
- I was suggested opercularis and tanichtys in the 54 liter tank but then others advised against it...
- dwarf or pearl gouramis yes or no in 54 liters?
- on the poecilids always for the 54 liters a dealer advises me against platy or swordtails and another strongly recommends them

Do you understand that for someone who aspires to do the best it is really complicated?

The more I inform myself the more I am in crisis...
 
Here's how I would navigate the disagreement, the opinions, the facts, the dogmas and the gurus.

Choose a fish, the one you like best. Read up on its natural history. Where does it come from, how does it live. Avoid aquarium advice. Look at nature, always. If it comes from a small stream, go look at small streams, brooks and creeks. Are they stagnant? If so, make a stagnant tank. Do they move? Filter and water change.

The fish determines what you need. They shouldn't have to adapt. We have to adapt to them. Your instincts on the white clouds in with a Betta splendens were correct. Experts? This is the Internet and anyone can claim to be a guru. I could be a guy who bought his first fish 3 months ago. So read me and others carefully. Do I seem to favour my convenience, or a good life for the fish I keep? Am I selling a system? Do I seem to want followers, or do I seem to want people to discuss with? This goes way beyond the fish world...

So back to nature and the fish. What would make it do well, based on what you've read about it? Now, tankmates. Follow the same process, and see if the needs are similar. If they are, you have a good maybe. Never put two territorial species with the same needs in a tank, and build from there.

The complication is fishkeepers. They're as much products of their environment as the fish... if you are talking to a fish person from the agricultural midwest of the USA, he/she may have polluted tap water, high in nitrates. So you'll be told to only change water when the test kit tells you you must. It makes sense to them, where they live. The same may be true if water is expensive, as it is in many dry places.

If you talk to me, surrounded by clean freshwater lakes, I'll suggest water changes at a good volume every week. My local water is great, plentiful and available. I don't know your situation, but you do. If you can, do water changes. Streams in nature turn over and change. If you have to adjust, then do so. You may need to adapt. Most people forget that and assume everywhere is like where they are. They tell you how you should keep fish in their house, not yours.

The no water change people are generally dogmatic, and want their system to work as a one size fits all. If the advice avoids discussing the natural history/life of the fish and only talks about the tank, avoid it, or at least be skeptical. The tank is a means to an end, and is otherwise just a glass box.

The hobby can be simple if you:
put something that isn't your needs first. Plants, fish, snails, whatever. Adapt to it.
choose a style, and try it.
base your tank on nature. Go out and look at it. I keep African rainforest fish in Canada, but the way a stream flows is the same here as there. The water is warmer or colder, the seasons differ, but look at how the stream, the lake or the river functions and make something like it. When I caught aquarium fish in Africa, the plants, the bugs, the lighting - all were new to me. But the streams I was standing in acted just like the streams up the road from my house. I do weekly water changes and like to have moving water.

But if I look at a hobby Betta, it has been handicapped by large, unnnatural fins. I have to adapt to its problems, which were created by breeders. Does it look like it can swim well? No. So slower moving water is probably good. Base your decisions on the fish you see and research.
 
first of all, thank you very much for the very very thorough answer.
I propose you an article on the water change that had also convinced me.
Then I listen to him (maybe with the automatic translator you can understand)


and I get confused...
 
If one video is confusing, look for several different ones that aren't. There are confusing videos out there, often by people who know their subject but can't teach it. Where I am now, I can't watch that one to comment.
 
Choose a fish, the one you like best. Read up on its natural history. Where does it come from, how does it live. Avoid aquarium advice. Look at nature, always. If it comes from a small stream, go look at small streams, brooks and creeks. Are they stagnant? If so, make a stagnant tank. Do they move? Filter and water change.
This already says it all when choosing a fish species...
 
Going back to the post about future fish sizes...
I am a person who loves to read, loves to be informed, loves to understand and I would like my future fish to live very well and for a long time.
I bought a 54-liter tank because due to current conditions in the house I cannot have a larger one but in the future I would like a nice tank 200-300 liter with many possibilities of choice of flora and fauna.
The problem is that I am also very afraid to start.
As a beginner I read everything and the opposite of everything, then in the shops I hear absurd things
I'll give you some examples:
- filter: some say it's strictly essential, some suggest a simple sponge filter, some an external adjustable one (my choice), some tell you that a tank like this is better without anything
- water changes: some say the tank creates a balance and should only be done if necessary, some tell you they're essential, some say once a week, some once a month... (if you want I also have articles on the internet about the cons)
- bottom even in the absence of cory: some tell you that sand is essential (I took this) some tell you that gravel allows bacteria to proliferate better


fish: here we can go crazy. I'll give you some examples:
- some tell me platy together with betta is ok but I have doubts about the values
- yesterday a famous betta breeder suggested tanichtys together with betta. I love tanichtys but then I have doubts about the temperature values but they tell me that they adapt.
- I was suggested opercularis and tanichtys in the 54 liter tank but then others advised against it...
- dwarf or pearl gouramis yes or no in 54 liters?
- on the poecilids always for the 54 liters a dealer advises me against platy or swordtails and another strongly recommends them

Do you understand that for someone who aspires to do the best it is really complicated?

The more I inform myself the more I am in crisis...
Go with whatever you feel is right, I agree with what @GaryE says. However for your individual fish questions, think about what’s best for the fish. Look at the size, is a 15 cm fish okay in a 60cm long tank?(pearl gourami) Nope. Don’t trust just one person says, especially not a seller, they might be telling you the correct information but they might also just be wanting more money. Swordtails would be a very bad choice for your tank as well, they get quite large and are livebearers. I wouldn’t do platies in your tank with a betta but maybe without a betta they could be fine. There’s no law with fishkeeping, “you must keep (…) in a (…) tank.” However read about stuff, read old threads on the forum and other ones have information. The 2 main ways I’ve learnt are from personal experience and reading information about fish and looking things up and reading from reliable sources.
 
Something that hasn’t been mentioned is talking to people who’ve been in the hobby for a long time . Next time you go in a pet shop see if there’s somebody else looking at the fish , or better yet buying some , and strike up a conversation . Ask them about the fish they have . Nothing beats experience .
 
I’m a generally -almost- no water change guy, only if a tank is heavily enough planted/very understocked.
Edited to fix a sentence mistake
 
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I still class myself very much as a beginner even after keeping fish for a few years now. Completely agree with you that it can be very confusing and tbh depending on what search terms you put in you'll find an answer that backs up what you're asking but if you reword it you'll find an answer that contradicts! If I was looking to stock a tank from scratch, I'd look at the following things:

What's my water hardness and do the fish I like fit with my water? The fish I like are soft water and I have hard water, so I use RO water to recreate their preferred parameters, but it would probably have been easier to just buy fish that prefer hard water.

What's my tank size and would the fish I like fit? I only have nano tanks these days so that really, really limits what I can keep. There's no point trying to fit something in that really needs more space as it'll just create more problems.

Do the fish I like need a shoal or to be kept solo? This links to the above. If I have a small tank then that rules out a lot of fish if they prefer larger numbers. A solo fish works best for me because of my nano tanks.

Do the fish I like lay eggs or are they live bearers? With a small tank I'd avoid livebearers personally as you'll soon run out of space.

If I want to mix and match fish, then I would check several websites for what each species needs and see if the needs match ie. Temperature, temperament, pH, water hardness etc. If they don't then I wouldn't mix them.

If I had a tank of your size I'd probably just keep it simple and go for either a single betta along with some snails and maybe shrimp, OR a shoal of some sort provided it works with your tank footprint.
 
Totally agree it is difficult with so much misinformation. On TFF you ask one question and often get a number of answers because people don't put themselves in your position, they answer from their own narrow perspective (and those who just repeat what they hear with no personal experience at all). We had someone from a NZ rainforest who criticized the use of any water treatment, including dechlorinator, because he could only comprehend his water source which was fresh rain with negligible GH and no chlorine, nitrate etc! Once you get to know the posters here you will work out who shares similar setups and ideology to you.

I find it simpler to start species research on Seriouslyfish.com, then with that sound and accurate information, research further and wider.
 
Totally agree it is difficult with so much misinformation. On TFF you ask one question and often get a number of answers because people don't put themselves in your position, they answer from their own narrow perspective (and those who just repeat what they hear with no personal experience at all). We had someone from a NZ rainforest who criticized the use of any water treatment, including dechlorinator, because he could only comprehend his water source which was fresh rain with negligible GH and no chlorine, nitrate etc! Once you get to know the posters here you will work out who shares similar setups and ideology to you.

I find it simpler to start species research on Seriouslyfish.com, then with that sound and accurate information, research further and wider.
I wish I was on here and keeping fish when he was a member. That would be a fun debate to have. Eventhough, I doubt he would change his ways and advice, I think it would still be interesting discussion to have and do put into the perspective of other people who don’t live in rainforests.
 
I wish I was on here and keeping fish when he was a member. That would be a fun debate to have. Eventhough, I doubt he would change his ways and advice, I think it would still be interesting discussion to have and do put into the perspective of other people who don’t live in rainforests.
Lol, yeah debates weren't really his skillset :rolleyes:
 
Oh, yes. New Zealand... no debates there. He wasn't the listening sort.

I have had people get upset I didn't neutralize chloramines - my city uses chlorine and I deal with that. I was called a fish killer for not neutralizing a product not used locally.

I was called names for saying my tap didn't test for nitrates. The angry guy's did, which I respect and feel sorry for him for, but he thought that had to be everywhere. He had tapwater I wouldn't drink, let alone put in a tank (I have my priorities straight).

Hard and soft water have caused soooo many states of confusion. It's a simple concept, but you have to know what flows locally.

People sometimes ask about the water in towns without saying what country they are in. Ditto for asking about local shops.

People in hot countries have gotten snippy about the use of heaters, and people in cold countries have pontificated about no heater fish murderers.

I've seen people ask about brands I have never seen, then get mad because they don't get quick answers.

I think it takes a while on forums for people to grasp how huge and different this planet can be. This truly is an international forum, at least for the English speaking world. A lot of the most confusing advice comes from people who don't realize where you are is not where they are. I mean, I ask you, what foods does Ed sell, compared to what Paul carries? ?
 
Oh, yes. New Zealand... no debates there. He wasn't the listening sort.

I have had people get upset I didn't neutralize chloramines - my city uses chlorine and I deal with that. I was called a fish killer for not neutralizing a product not used locally.

I was called names for saying my tap didn't test for nitrates. The angry guy's did, which I respect and feel sorry for him for, but he thought that had to be everywhere. He had tapwater I wouldn't drink, let alone put in a tank (I have my priorities straight).

Hard and soft water have caused soooo many states of confusion. It's a simple concept, but you have to know what flows locally.

People sometimes ask about the water in towns without saying what country they are in. Ditto for asking about local shops.

People in hot countries have gotten snippy about the use of heaters, and people in cold countries have pontificated about no heater fish murderers.

I've seen people ask about brands I have never seen, then get mad because they don't get quick answers.

I think it takes a while on forums for people to grasp how huge and different this planet can be. This truly is an international forum, at least for the English speaking world. A lot of the most confusing advice comes from people who don't realize where you are is not where they are. I mean, I ask you, what foods does Ed sell, compared to what Paul carries? ?
I feel like now this forum doesn’t seem to have as many problems like that as it seems like it used to(I’m going to try and find some old threads with him in it : ) We all have different ways of keeping fish and what we do to our tanks. However we are all here because we love fish and most of the people know a thing or 2 and aren’t keeping Oscar’s is in a 5 gallon bowl. Are there any threads with New Zealand guy that people have links to or does anyone remember his name as there are a lot of threads when I search up “New Zealand”. I’m mainly interested because I want to know how people who lived in tropical environments kept their fish, however I do think it will be quite interesting as well.
 
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NZ isn't tropical though. It's temperate, Lord of the Rings country. It can snow there, technically. It's the Australian, Brazilian and southeast Asian members you need to watch for. They're often in tropical or warm rainforest conditions.
 

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