Keeping fish for beginners- any advice??

jen84

Hi, I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to start keep fish and just looking for a bit of advice on how to get started... trying to do a little research online and seems that there's quite a bit to consider

I haven't bought anything yet so open to ideas in terms of types of fish and tanks but I don't want to spend too much initially maybe €100-200 max for tank, fish & accessories. I saw something about little aquatic frogs that can live with fish which would be really cool too but I'm probably getting ahead of myself there!:D

Or if anyone knows of a good fish & aquarium shop with knowledgeable staff ideally in & around Dublin???

Thanks

Sleepy

Seahorse Aquariums would be your best bet for a good shop.

To start: read the "cycling a tank" sticky at the top of this forum: fish keeping is far more about keeping water than actually minding the fish.

Tanks are far better value second hand, for €100 you should be able to pick up a reasonable size starter tank with most of the accessories you require (adverts.ie is quite good for this). Realistically, you'll want something a minimum of 60l as the bigger the tank, the wider the variety of fish you can keep (a startling fact for most beginners is that a goldfish should actually have an 140 litre tank (about a metre wide!) rather than the traditional "goldfish bowl".

Generally, read up on any fish you plan to keep and google to see if they're compatible with each other if you plan to keep a few different types of fish (or frogs). Don't trust the majority of pet stores: most know fvck all about fishkeeping and make money out of peddling medications when the fish suffer because of the bad advice new owners have received from them.

Final tip: stick around this forum, I've learned 80-90% of what I know about fish-keeping here!

jen84

Cheers Sleepy! Just checked seahorse out online, seem to have a great selection there so looking forward to going in now:) I'm thinking along the lines of maybe some bettas (just 1 male allowed though as far as I can work out) or tetras and a african dwarf frog or two. I'll keep doing a bit of research before I go in anyway n hopefully get some advice in the shop.

My brothers just told me he's looking for a bigger tank for his terrapins so hopefully I'll get his current tank which I think is about 100L... a bit of a step up from me as I was originally just thinking a pickin up a goldfish bowl to start off. Tiny things tho anyway, I don't think I'd be a happy fish in there!

Thanks for that great sticky aswell, I guess I'll get started on this cycling as soon as I can.

fred funk }{

As Sleepy said, it's all about the water. If the water is good then the fish will be good. Another thing which is very important is feeding, don't over feed. It will pollute the water and most of us has done it at some stage.

Get yourself a test kit that will test for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH. The thread about cycling your aquarium will explain what each of those are, they're vital to fish keeping.

jen84

Yeah looks like I'll definately need to buy those tests which is fine. Just another question tho- how often would I need to clean out the tank roughly? Assuming I have a filter etc. I think i read something about just replacing some of the water regularly. If I was taking everything out and completely cleaning it out would you need to do the cycling each time tho?? Sorry just a bit confused on this issue?

fred funk }{

Normally, a water change between 10%-30% weekly is enough but it all depends on the amount of waste produced by the fish. If you over feed the fish you'll need to up the water changes, same too if you have too many fish in the tank.

There's no need to take everything out. Get a gravel vacuum to clean the gravel, this sucks out the dirt from the gravel while doing the water change, again if you don't over feed there won't be much dirt there.

Clean the glass weekly to with a glass scrubber to keep the algae at bay. I'd also recommend getting a bristle nose Plec, they love algae and will keep the tank relatively algae free.

Only clean the filter sponges when they are clearly starting to restrict the flow of water. Squeeze them out in the tank water that you just took out while doing a water change, never under tap water.

Always treat new tap water with a water treatment solution. These remove a lot of the nasties that are harmful to fish. They also remove chlorine which is in tap water to kill bacteria to make it safe for us to drink but it will also kill the good bacteria that you are trying to establish in your tank. So avoid tap water like the plague.

godtabh

Feeding is key. Dont over feed them.

Everything should be eaten within 2 minutes of feeding. You should take out anything that is left over after that or it will pollute the water.

Demo2011

Hi,


Just looking for advice. 

We have a grown approx. 4 year old yellow parrot fish which we would like to find a new home for. Our house simply is no longer suitable for the tank he lives in & we will shortly be selling the tank. 

We are not looking for money for him, merely a good home & would appreciate any help anyone might have to offer. 


Is there any place in Ireland that  takes in unwanted fish?

Thanks