Which Tank?

[frida]

Hi Everyone,

I work in a zebrafish research lab so I know a few things about fish and fishkeeping but this is the first time I'm planning to have a tank at home. I'm hoping to get something about 50-70 litres and I was wondering what kind of tank you would recommend. Also, do any of you have recommended retailers?

Getting excited about finally getting my own tank and getting started with the fishless-cycling!

Thanks!

 

[VaegaVic]

It's really up to you at the end of the day.
I'm a massive fan of Interpet and Eheim and as such I have a fishpod 64 and an eheim 2215 powering it.
A lot of members seem to have Juwel Tanks, specifically the Rekords, as they seem to be strong and sturdy yet cheaper. They also come in roughly the litres you're after, the average being 60L.
Always go for the biggest tank you can afford and you wont regret it.

In terms of retailers, that depends where you live. Maidenhead Aquatics are supposed to be quite good.
In terms of online retailers, I love All Pond Solutions as they sell decent products at lower prices. They don't sell small tanks however, so Ebay and looking in your local area might be a good idea for that one, perhaps also Gumtree.

Hope that helps.

 

[ZoddyZod]

seapets (online) often have good deals on tanks, worth having a look at them.

 

[frida]

It's really up to you at the end of the day.
I'm a massive fan of Interpet and Eheim and as such I have a fishpod 64 and an eheim 2215 powering it.
A lot of members seem to have Juwel Tanks, specifically the Rekords, as they seem to be strong and sturdy yet cheaper. They also come in roughly the litres you're after, the average being 60L.
Always go for the biggest tank you can afford and you wont regret it.

In terms of retailers, that depends where you live. Maidenhead Aquatics are supposed to be quite good.
In terms of online retailers, I love All Pond Solutions as they sell decent products at lower prices. They don't sell small tanks however, so Ebay and looking in your local area might be a good idea for that one, perhaps also Gumtree.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for your reply. It's just good to have some names that I can look up, as I really don't know much about domestic tanks! I agree about the bigger tank - slightly more room for error and more fish has to be a bonus I'm just about to move to London so will have a look at the closest shops but online might be the best bet as I don't have a car!

seapets (online) often have good deals on tanks, worth having a look at them.

I'll have a look, thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Frida, I remember you've had some threads before. By already knowing of the existance of fishless cycling and by being here asking questions about equipment before you've even purchased any you are doing better than 99% of our beginners. Its a wonderful opportunity to get things a little more right before you begin your first experience in the hobby.

You initial stated goal of 60 to 70 liters is also good in that its not among the smallest tanks we see beginners starting with. I will basically repeat however what's already been said, that nearly every beginner we've had go through here reaches a point late in the cycling game, when they've been working for weeks on their stocking plan and are now getting close to the big water change and "first fish" and they nearly -all- wish that they had pushed hard on themselves for an even bigger tank, even a slightly bigger one! This is because its very hard to realize until you've been through it a few times how much the various stocking problems will limit you. The fact that many, many fish need to be in minimum shoal sizes (6 individual fish is a common number for many tetras and other fish) and the fact that you use the "maximum adult size" as the unit you work with when making stocking plans are just two of the things that fool people. Even when people hear that there's something called the "one inch guideline" they will tend to be fooled by the fish they are seeing in the shops. Those fish are most often juveniles and many of them will grow much bigger (in fact, in most of the shops I visit, more than 1/2 of the fish on display are not even appropriate for beginners and many of them don't fit common beginner tanks.) Often beginners get a loose idea of one inch of fish per US gallon (thus your typical UK 60L would be a 17 US gallon tank and allow about 17 inches of fish).. they take a look at the fish in the shop and say to themselves, "ok, those are about an inch," and they think "Oh boy, I can have about 17 of them" but later they find that perhaps the species they like most really will grow to 2 inches or 2.5 inches and suddenly the numbers start coming rapidly down and then they find their plan bumping up against the minimum shoaling numbers problem.

In general I would say that when you're down in that 15 to 20 US gallon range, where you are, people end up with plans that have perhaps a minimum tetra shoal, a minimum cory grouping on the substrate and a pair of centerpiece fish perhaps, but often in achieving this, they have had to drop one or two favorite species and the whole experience has been more sobering than they expected.

(sorry, lot of words to get my idea across) All this is just to try and help you think about your true desires and its a positive thing to be able to think about it early on rather than in hindsight. It shouldn't change your desires but help you think about how to reach them.

By the way, my personal preference is for putting together individual equipment all the way (separate choices for tank, filter, heater, hood, light, etc.) and I find many who spend time here are serious enough hobbyists that this is what they end up enjoying. As a hobbyist you get very picky about all this details eventually, even as you get more knowledgeable and flexible in what you are able to accomplish, even with inferior equipment, lol.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[matthewgardner]

seapets (online) often have good deals on tanks, worth having a look at them.

Just Bought a Juwel Rekord 800 from seapets 110l , good price and fast deliverey. I started with a tank half this size and always wished i had gone a bit bigger, but saying that trying to keep it well balanced and heathly taught me a fair bit about this hobby. in fact i am enjoying my up grade more because of the experience. What ever you decide, i think this is the best place to get advise.

Good luck

matt.

 

[frida]

Waterdrop: Thank you so much for such a detailed reply! I really appreciate the time you've taken to explain all this to me. The tank size is something I chose based on the size of the flat I'm moving into (it's pretty small and don't want to annoy my partner by taking up too much room!) and also cost. Putting together my own tank is possibly a cheaper option (or at least better quality for money) and obviously allows more flexibility but given that I'm new to this, (and to be honest, feeling a bit overwhelmed with the sheer choice!) I think I'll stick to a preassembled one for now.

My thoughts in terms of stocking a 60L are 7 pygmy corydoras, 3-5 sparkling gouramis and some cherry shrimp although I haven't really checked whether they are particularly compatible (not sure if the gouramis will get a bit territorial, given that pygmy cories are less substrate dwelling fish than other corydoras - I see a new topic coming up later when I discuss my potential choices regarding stocking!) Anyway, just wanted to get it across that I know that I'm fairly limited with this tank size but I'm pretty happy with it. (at least for the time being, maybe when I live somewhere with more space and when I have more money I can expand!)


Matthewgardner: Thanks for letting me know your experiences with Seapets. I'm currently eyeing the Juwel Rekord 600 from there so it is good to hear that they are reliable. What's your stocking plan for the new tank?

 

[monsterberry]

i would not buy from maiden head aquatics or pets at home i would look for a small aquatics shop theres loads in london and look for a clear seal aquarium you can get a 80 litre one for £29.99 then i would buy an elite sting ray filter and an elite heater they tend to be the cheapest then i would get a condension tray for a lid and make some diy moonlighting you dont have to be good with diy it doesnt require any soldering or electrical work go to monster fish keepers and search for diy moon lighting they make them from christmas lights
cost of items
elite sting ray filter £14.99
elite heater £10.99 - £14.99 ( depends on were you buy it )
condension tray £1.09
aquarium 2.5ft £29.99
olternatively search (cheap aquariums)on ebay ive picked a full set up for £25 you dont need a credit card just email the seller and ask will they end bidding early for the right offer then make an offer
hope this helps ive got 25 aquariums my self

 

[frida]

Monsterberry: wow, that does sound like quite cheap way of doing things. One thing I am worried about is that it's not going to look tidy if I do it!! Given that the tank will be in our living room, I want it to look fairly presentable... But it is really worth thinking about though...

Yeah, I've already started looking up local shops! In fact, was pretty pleased when I saw the recent issue of the Practical Fish Keeping magazine had a shoptour of London.

 

[arobinson1984]

Some good points made above by several members. Just one point I wanted to mention was that I wouldnt go for an elite stingray filter as recommended by monsterberry, they are awful filters speaking from personal experience. They have quite low flow rates and minimal surface area for your bio media. You'd be much better going for a fluval 3+ or a fluval U3 for a few pounds more


Andy

 

[frida]

Some good points made above by several members. Just one point I wanted to mention was that I wouldnt go for an elite stingray filter as recommended by monsterberry, they are awful filters speaking from personal experience. They have quite low flow rates and minimal surface area for your bio media. You'd be much better going for a fluval 3+ or a fluval U3 for a few pounds more


Andy

Thanks Andy, that's exactly the kind of info I like to gather from more experienced fish keepers.

 

[monsterberry]

Some good points made above by several members. Just one point I wanted to mention was that I wouldnt go for an elite stingray filter as recommended by monsterberry, they are awful filters speaking from personal experience. They have quite low flow rates and minimal surface area for your bio media. You'd be much better going for a fluval 3+ or a fluval U3 for a few pounds more


Andy

no offense andy but yea a fluval 3+ or a fluval u3 are great filters but if you just want to have a few smaller community fish that dont make much bioload like oscars and large cichlids the sting ray can handle it and thanks for that comment i am experienced with fish keeping ive kept fish for 10 years and i have 25 fish tanks ranging from 2ft to 10ft i may have just joined but that doesnt reflect on your experience level

 

[CheniseMummy]

Ebay is a good place to look, i brought a 2ft, 90l light glo tank, with stand and heater for £42 and they delivered. I also brought my fluval 3+ from ebay for £18 instead of the £40 they wanted in maiden head aquatics.

My tank is a good size for my second tank the first one was 15litres! and it looks great in my dining room. It also gives my some scope for some interesting fishes.

 

[deetheman_6]

hi all i'd fluval roma tank but the smallest is 90 litre
my son is selling a fishbox 60 which is 64 litres it comes with all gravel a number of plastic plants and a few other ornaments 100 watt heater and a fluval u3 filter (internal)
its seven months old

 

[waterdrop]

Waterdrop: Thank you so much for such a detailed reply! I really appreciate the time you've taken to explain all this to me. The tank size is something I chose based on the size of the flat I'm moving into (it's pretty small and don't want to annoy my partner by taking up too much room!) and also cost. Putting together my own tank is possibly a cheaper option (or at least better quality for money) and obviously allows more flexibility but given that I'm new to this, (and to be honest, feeling a bit overwhelmed with the sheer choice!) I think I'll stick to a preassembled one for now.

My thoughts in terms of stocking a 60L are 7 pygmy corydoras, 3-5 sparkling gouramis and some cherry shrimp although I haven't really checked whether they are particularly compatible (not sure if the gouramis will get a bit territorial, given that pygmy cories are less substrate dwelling fish than other corydoras - I see a new topic coming up later when I discuss my potential choices regarding stocking!) Anyway, just wanted to get it across that I know that I'm fairly limited with this tank size but I'm pretty happy with it. (at least for the time being, maybe when I live somewhere with more space and when I have more money I can expand!)
<...>

Hi Frida! Now that's the -correct- way to make the decision! Its just a matter of making the tank size decision as an understood thing, so that you don't come back wishing it was different and now I think you've clearly worked that out.

Great that you are now getting in to a discussion of equipment and ready-collected-kits with the members, its really handy on a forum to have the large numbers of people.

Once again the very fact that you've found a good hobbyist site and are thoughtful about your introduction to the procedures is going to trump the various problems you'll run in to with just about any equipment. Knowledge will often be the most powerful factor in the midst of the various equpment you've got to work with and the water, fish and plant problems that you face.

~~waterdrop~~
good luck