small tank for keen boy

[isatisblue]

Hi my 11yr old son would like a tank of freshwater tropical fish........I have no objection but feel that a large tank straight off is going to be a lot of work for me if after 6 months he goes off it .(hes not really like that..........but).........in the attic we have a tank which I am pretty certain is about 24x18x18 ................any use at all?.....................I was thinking neons.........danios....... honey or dwarf gourami.....otos....platy.........clown loach or catfish and he is much taken by funny little frog jobs in the pet shop ..........obviously not all the above at once....any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[OohFeeshy]

A 2ft tank is good to start with Depending on what sort of maintenence he'd do, I'd go with hardy fish like danios and then some bottom dwellers. I'd either go with cories or khuli loaches, the latter I prefer but you don't see them much.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

Harlequin rasboras are good beginner fish. they like to be in groups and are very colourful and fun to watch. neons are good too. they look great with harlequins. dont get clown loaches, they get too big. maybe a small pleco of some sort to clean up algae. a pair of German blue rams. they are fairly hardy. or a pair of Bolivian rams. i think they are meant to be hardier. very similar to German rams. if you got rams though then you wouldnt be able to keep as many other fish.

HTH

 

[dwarfgourami]

I'd stay off the rams and the neons for the time being, as they are not usually that hardy.

Platys or danios are a safer choice, or if he wants a school of tetra-like fish, harlequin rasboras. If you choose platys, give some thought to the gender proportions: either all females (more peaceful) or all males (may lead to fighting, don't keep fewer than 3) or else a ratio of 1 male+2/3 females. If you keep females, you are likely to get fry.

I'd definitely go for a small school of corydoras (3-4) for the bottom; they are entertaining to watch and quite hardy (at least the common bronze and peppered varieties). They don't grow as large as clown loaches, and do not have the aggressive tendencies of the Chinese Algae Eater.

Oh, and I would definitely do a fishless cycle before adding the fish (see pinned topics). It is so disheartening, particularly for a child, if the fish start dying within the first few weeks.

Be prepared for the fact that someone is going to need to put in about half an hour/1 hr a week on tank maintenance (water changes etc), so discuss this with him first so as to avoid frustration.

edit: I forgot to say: have fun! It's a great hobby to share with one's children. My children have learnt more about life in the Amazon from getting the catfish to spawn than they could have got out of a week's science lessons.

 

[isatisblue]

Am I right that about 20inch of fish would eventually be right for size of tank...........without tails...............................
..also although I get the idea of fishless cycle I am not happy about messing with amonia and I gather plants from the shop are not right either to help with the breaking in of the tank........please excuse my ignorance but as Dwarfgourami said no wish to kill the poor things before we start...............his elder sister wants a spider (seems a lot less complicated)

 

[Firebelle_uk]

Some people myself included, haven't been able to resist putting a few fish in the tank early, and no kid is going to wait eight weeks. Though I'm still very much a newbie myself, the way I understand it is that fish waste is a necesarry for the cycle anyway ammonia-nitrite-nitrate etc. I started off filling my tank with de-chlorinated water, letting everything run for 5 days, and then adding 5 zebra danios. I left it another week and then added some cardinal tetras (slightly hardier and more colourful than neon tetras), and then added two or three fish a week. I did 20% water changes twice a week, and have just gone over to once weekly water changes as the water parameters seem to have settled down now. I added quite a few plants at week four, some of these died but I think that was because I was away for a few days when they were delivered. I may have been lucky but so far I have only lost one cardinal tetra and that was the night I bought them home so was probably something to do with stress travelling.
Most of the advice I have received on here has been incredibly well intentioned, but at first it made me feel I didn't want to bother it all seemed too labour intensive and like rocket science, in fact I have found the water testing (so far I have only used the strips - they work out quite expensive and I have been told are not the most accurate) really easy, and something most lads with a intuitively scientific leaning would love. As for water changes what can be more fun than actually having an excuse to "play" with a syphon. My guppies have already had babies too.
My fish have all come form a local breeder that advertises in our local free ads paper, again I may have just been lucky but he is a lot cheaper than the shops, and I worry that in shops the nets are ever lastingly being waved around the tanks, and people go in tapping the glass etc whcih stresses the fish. I prefer to use private breeders.
My gut reaction is that even if you end up looking after these fish in 6 months time they will give you many more hours pleasure than you can currently imagine. Mine have already been a source of endless pleasure and conversation. Just beware of the "bug" it's highly infectious and spreads like widefire, there are already plans afoot in this house for bigger and more numerous tanks lol.

Good luck.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Some people myself included, haven't been able to resist putting a few fish in the tank early,  and no kid is going to wait eight weeks."

Doing a fishless cycle of a 20 gallon tank shouldn't take 8 weeks; I did it in 10 days! My children (5 and 8) were quite happy to wait once I had explained that it was better for the fish.


"Though I'm still very much a newbie myself, the way I understand it is that fish waste is a necesarry for the cycle anyway ammonia-nitrite-nitrate etc."

Nope, you can get the ammonia out of a bottle, which saves your fish from having to spend their first few weeks in a toxic bath.


"My gut reaction is that even if you end up looking after these fish in 6 months time they will give you many more hours pleasure than you can currently imagine. Mine have already been a source of endless pleasure and conversation. Just beware of the "bug" it's highly infectious and spreads like widefire, there are already plans afoot in this house for bigger and  more numerous tanks lol."

Good luck.

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Couldn't agree more with tis last bit!

 

[Clairel]

I also added 6 Zebra danios to my 90 litre tank, after it had been set up for 2 weeks, the lfs advised me to do this... and after about 10 weeks, i still have all 6 of them, and i am moving them to my bigger 180 litres, once that has cycled...

I have 4 females, and 2 males, but they are egg layers, and mine havnt had any yet, so these maybe better to get at first, than live bearers, then your not going to have fry everywhere Lol

Good luck

Claire x

 

[isatisblue]

Thank you all for your advice it is gratefully recieved and I will take it on board as best I can
Maredydd will wait because he would rather not have dead fish....he is very pragmatic...........they are also part christmas present and part compensation for a broken wrist which has put him out of the North Wales under 12's Rugby team this season...........
So as you can imagine it is being taken very seriously
................and can anyone tell me what these tiny underwater frogs are..
in our very reliable pet shop local locally owned not chain...they have them in a tank with tetras and the like?.........

 

[isatisblue]

sorry forgot.................... what sort of ammonia I live in UK can anyone give me a brand name please

 

[willtang3000]

I would say cories for any tank they are truly the best and when I was younger I used to laugh my head off just watching them scavenge for food on the floor it was like there nibling it sounds weird but hey it was good entertainment

 

[dwarfgourami]

Any ammonia will do as long as it contains only clear ammonia (and water). Check the smallprint. Some branches of Boots do it, and some small local hardware stores. I think the Boots brand is Jeyes, can't remember what mine was called. Also, try shaking the bottle, if it foams then it contains surfactants and is not safe. Non-foaming ammonia, no perfume or other additives.

The frogs are probably African Dwarf frogs. Never kept them myself but know people do keep them with bettas and other fish in small tanks. I'd start a separate thread on them- ask in the Oddballs. There must be lots of people who have personal experience and can fill you in on their needs.

Good luck, he sounds a great lad, I'm sure he'll get lots of fun out of his hobby.

 

[annka5]

In addition to the above, regarding your stocking -some fish live a lot longer than you might anticipate.
So what you could do is consider fish which naturally do not live too long. I know it sounds callous, but it is practical!

 

[trace1]

Hi my 11yr old son would like a tank of freshwater tropical fish........I have no objection but feel that a large tank straight off is going to be a lot of work for me if after 6 months he goes off it .(hes not really like that..........but).........in the attic we have a tank which I am pretty certain is about 24x18x18 ................any use at all?.....................I was thinking neons.........danios....... honey or dwarf gourami.....otos....platy.........clown loach or catfish and he is much taken by funny little frog jobs in the pet shop ..........obviously not all the above at once....any advice would be greatly appreciated

[snapback]917784[/snapback]​

also the clown loaches get to big for a tank that size as they can get to 12" in length, so i wouldn't get them. as said the corys are great i,ve got 6 of them. good luck & have fun pls some1 if i wrong slap me & tell me to shut up lol

 

[annka5]

I'm sure you're right about the clown loaches getting too big, unfortunately!

You're son's 11, so maybe he's likely to be able to help with the setting up of the tank - e.g. deciding wether to cycle fishlessly or not, then whilst the tank is cycling, helping chose a set of fish for it?

It seems like it could be good to get an encyclopaedia of fish (from library or buy one- just something covering some of the more common species would be enough) for your son to draw short-lists from, which would at least keep him interested and reinforce it being his tank - could do this whilst it's cycling.

So long as he can appreciate them needing to be compatible- size, temparament, diet, temparature, water movement, lighting levels, water chemistry (not all matter to all fish) he'll maybe get quite into it from that alone.

Am clueless about children though, so please ignore this advice if it stinks.