please help fish masters: i want to buy fish but:?

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1.where can i buy all the equipments?
~ where can i buy them cheap?
~ what equipments do i need?
~ petco?
2. freshwater fish- which are easy to take care of-
~ i dont want betta fish- i want pretty ones but non expensive at the same time-
~also easy to take care of
3.what kind of pelets do i need to clean the fish tank


(if possible please include items i need to buy so i dont have to clean the tanks out every week-possible couple times a year)
and i want 10 or less galons

also how much should i prepare (money wise)

i want crabs and such but i heard theyre only for salt water... (put salt in water = saltwater?? and red ramshorn snails?? wat are those? freshwater??
thank you
-changing water couple times a month is no big deal- i just dont want to empty out the tank to wash the tank itself-- (i had to do that with my turtle too hard)

and my room is small so i dont want a huge tank just a small average size like maybe 15 gals max. and its kinda warm


and i'm trying to obtain a hexagonal one--
any1 know where i can get one cheap

??
 
if you want to go ten gallon you can buy whole kits at walmart for about 35$ including heater. if you want it cheap petco or petsmart is the worst places to go. you can get everything else at any petshop. for tropical fish i would suggest flakes rather than pellets such as the brand tetrafin is what we use. for a ten gallon the fish i suggest is: cory cats, clown plecostomus, a few neon tetras or dannios, sparkling gourami and some ghost shrimp. most crabs in aquariums eat small fish.
 
ok:

1.) if you plan on getting a fish(s), you have to keep the tank clean weekly or AT LEAST every week and a half. tanks get dirty fast and ends up killing the fish/smelling fishy.

2.) you need to read up and get the information you need. clearly you can't put salt in water and honestly believe that that type of salt water is what the fish need... thats just stupid.

3.) FRESHWATER VS SALTWATER. i recommend for a lousy 10gal to get freshwater because it's not worth spending hundreds of dollars on something so small. (saltwater fish cost minimum $40 per fish, freshwater can cost minimum $1.99) Freshwater ARE easier to take care of.

4.) Buy the equipment at meijer, pet co, petsmart, pet supplies plus, any local pet shop. no one place will be that cheaper compared to the other

5.) what you need: tank, tank stand, filter, filter pad, stones at bottom, plants, fish, food, hose cleaner, cleaning pad, fish scooper, chemicals to make water even, temperature gauge (all your basics)

6.) I'd set aside $150-200 minimum for start-up cost.

Google it.
 
1. Petco, petsmart or other chain stores for new ones. Newspaper and craigslist for used.
The usual, filter and heater optional but recommended-light and pump.
Petco? Cheap fish not nessasarily top quality. But equipment has a wide range Walmart is absolutely the cheapest ever so go there, but their selecton is small.
2. If your a starter, you can try guppies OR neon tetras OR zebra danios..theres a lot. This will help when choosing whats right for you. I suggest a school and some bottom feeders
http://www.fishlore.com/
http://fishprofiles.com/profiles/
3 pellets to clean the tank? huh?

You'll need to start with your 1 time buys like the tank, the fish, the filter and heater. Set up you can buy all at once. Fish should be added one species at a time 1 species a week. You should go for a new stock of fresh food every 2 or 3 months.

money- perhaps 80-100 bucks. There aren't many fresh water crabs but you can get a fresh water snail though, pretty easy care.
 
Hello,
Fresh water- cheaper and easier-community fish-mollies-guppies-platties are the cheapest,and can all combine together, you can also get a pleco or a lace cat to eat the excess crap from the tank, they mix with any fish. If you buy cichlids- you cannot mix them and they cost more.
1. Yes craigslist is a good place to get a fish tank cheaper, and if you do want to get a tank, I know you want a 10 or less gallons, but speaking from experience, get atleast a 20 gal, it seems big, but it really isn't. You cannot have many fish in a 10 or less gallon tank. Also the smaller tanks get dirty quick, so you will need to clean them more often. You can usually find a good 20-30-or even 10 gallon, really anysize on craigslist, for a good price. If you do not like that route you could do walmart, But I DO NOT recomend their filters! I got one there and it was gross, it stunk using that filter. If you want to buy new, I think Petsmart has good prices, for a ten gallon set up, I would say youll spend 80 dollars, 20 with stand 150 or more for both depending what style or stand you buy.
Things you will need-
Heater around 18-20 dollars
Light strip (usually comes with tank)
Filter-Aquaclear is great leaves tank water clean and doesn't smell bad
Gravel
thermometer to check water temp. only like 2 dollars
water conditioner 3-4 dollars
Stress Zyme-or stress coat puts good bacteria in h2o and help relieves stress and good for slime coat
decorations

2. You do not use pellets to clean tank, just a siphon-you can buy one that hooks to the faucet to create a vaccum so its easier. you only need to clean 1-2 times a month. I really clean mine every three months because its been established for awhile.
Stress zyme is good for your water though.

3. YOu will need to get starter fish to cycle your tank, it needs to build up good bacteria in your water, guppies, danios, mollies are hearty fish to start out with, you may loose a couple at first so do not get too worried. Keep the temp at 75-78 degree F.

Snails can mix with community fish also, but be aware the reproduce alot, but the fish may eat them for a snack so it should be fine, also you can mix gouramis with them.

There are freshwater crabs, but they will try to catch a fish, not too often, also they like to escape from the tank and cruise your casa!!!

Sorry this is so long, but I hope I helped. Good luck.
 
Oh my
Let's take this in parts and keep your questions on there so it's easier to read.



~ where can i buy them cheap? Walmart or your neighborhood petshop
~ what equipments do i need? a tank, filter, gravel, decorations, water conditioner, (top and lamp for your tank if not included), to name a few
~ petco? I personally do not shop a petco for I find them very expensive, but you may want to do some personal research on this such as comparing prices when visiting

2. freshwater fish- which are easy to take care of- guppies. very easy to take care of and extremely gorgeous. fancy guppies though. if you wish to populate your tank a bit, buy a cheap breeders net, but once the tank is full, it'd be best to let your fish eat the babies or give some to friends or something

3.what kind of pelets do i need to clean the fish tank
Umm..? I do'nt understand the question but I'll try to answer
Pellets? fish food? Depending on your fish
clean the tank, I suggest a small gravel siphon. Very very very useful and will work extremely well


(if possible please include items i need to buy so i dont have to clean the tanks out every week-possible couple times a year)
I'd suggest getting a few snails or, fi your tank is large enough, a plecto (sp?) (aka: big black sucker fish)

also how much should i prepare (money wise) Walmart has a 10 gallon set up that includes EVERYTHING except fish, food, and decorations...it's about $40 itself...warning...decorations can get expensive

i want crabs and such but i heard theyre only for salt water... (put salt in water = saltwater?? and red ramshorn snails?? wat are those?
Crabs need oxygen
I had two fiddler crabs (my poor baby girl died today v.v) and they preferred the dry land to the water. Yes, they need salt as well. But NOT tablesalt! Aquarium Salt! :)
Red ramshorn snails..I've never heard of them....sorry

Hope I helped!
 
you can get all the equiptment you need for cheap on craigslist.org just search 10 gallon aquarium it should have an air pump a filter gravel a top and light and to know how to set one up i suggest going on youtube and studying and i suggest gouramis or mollies
 
Most of these people are partially right. No one adreesed "so i only have to clean it few times a year." Ok, for starters, you have to do a 25% water change ATLEAST once every 2 weeks, but a lot better with one. You dont have to, but the odor will get horrible and the fish will all die from ammonia poisening...
 
1. you can get all the basic necessities by buying the aqueon ten gallon deluxe kit or something like that. its around 50-70 dollars and everything is good quality.

2. for only 10 gallons the choices are limited...
um 5-6 gold barbs, they are a beautiful gold with deep black spots.
and then some ghost or cherry shrimp or 3-5 cories (depends on species, 3 for the larger and 5 for the smaller) the gold barbs run at about 1-2 dollars each while the shrimps can range from10-50 cents each.
cories, again it depends.

3. if you want to reduce maintenence ie, (not alot of water changes) you should get a mag float for the algae that gets on the sides, and lots of plants (live!) i cant remember but i think they use up nitrates and thus theres no need to change the water for there are no high levels of either ammonia, nitrite, or nitrates.
for those inevitable water changes (which i would guess at least once a week no matter what but you can strecth the time, ive known people that have gotten away with once a month), get a vaccum pump so you dont have to stick your hand in the water alot.


freshwater crabs do need to breathe air so you can have one (youll need to ask someone else for stocking on that) but youll need a ramp or some thing for it to get out of the water to breathe. they do need aquarium salt.


if you have any questions go to tropical fish forums, theve helped me out on tugh spots and those people will give you really good answers. and these other posters too ive read through them and they are basically saying almost the same things as i am and future posters, the people here really care about helping.
 
If you aren't prepared to clean your tank and do a 25% water change at leat every other week, please don't get a fish tank. You wouldn't get a cat and clean it's litter box just a couple times a year would you? Tank cleanings and water changes are how the fish stay healthy. If you can't find the time or motivation to do this twice a month [every week would be better and it only takes a few mintues if you do it right], your fish probably won't make it for more than a few months, then you'll have spent the money for the tank and equipment for nothing.

You can buy everything you need at Petco or WalMart in a kit. What you get isn't the best, but it works. I'd get at least a 20 gallon tank so you have more room and more options in what you keep. For a tank, gravel, heater, filter, net, siphon [to clean the tank], decorations, dechlorinator, and water test kit, plan to spend at least $100-$150. And that doesn't include the fish. You might be able to find a used tank and accessories for less if you watch Craigslist, Freecycle, or classified ads in your paper.

Some fish that are colorful and are easier to care for that would do okay in a 20 gallon are glofish [danios], platys, mollies, and barbs. If you can only keep a 10 gallon, leave out the danios [too active], mollies [too big], and most barbs, but you could still have cherry barbs. If it's less than 10 gallons, as long as you have at least 5 gallons, a heater and a filter, you could keep a betta, a few platys, or a few guppies.

There are no pellets that clean a tank.

If you want crabs [fiddler crabs?] they don't need saltwater, just marine salt in their water. Saltwater is a lot saltier [about 1/2 cup of salt per gallon], fiddler crabs live in brackish water, which is only around 1-2 teaspoons of salt per gallon. But it should be marine salt. And crabs and fish don't mix well. Either 1 or the other will be eaten. You could keep 4 in a 10 gallon tank, 2 in a 5 gallon. If you get crabs, you have to put something in the tank so they can get out of the water, which means you usually can't fill the tank all the way to the top.
 
First, I'm glad you're asking before doing anything irrational as some other people do. Here is what I would do.

Equipment

- 10 Gallon Glass Tank Set (Acrylic is fine too)(MAKE SURE THE LIGHT IS FULL SPECTRUM FLOURESCENT) - $ 60 - 100
- Filter (I recommend a bio wheel or sponge filter meant for a 20 gallon - tank to take care of waste more efficiently) $ 20-30
- Water Heater (I reccomend Tetra) $ 30-40
- Submersible Thermometer (Petco Brand is Good) $ 2-5
- Fish Net (Smaller is better) $ 2-5

Chemicals and Food

- Aqua Safe Water Conditioner (Tetra is preffered) $ 3-5
- Hikari Algae Wafers $ 4-6
- Tropical Fish Flakes (I <3 Tetra) $ 3-5

Animals

- 15 Zebra Danios $ 10-15
- 5 Japanese Algae Eater "Amano Takashi" Shrimp $ 10-14
- 3 Malaysian Trumpet Snails $ 5-10

Plants

- Anubias Nana $ 5-10
- Dwarf Hair Grass $ 3-10
- Java Moss $ 4-7
- Java Fern $ 5-10
- Marimo Moss Ball $ 5-8
- Drift Wood $ 10-40

Gravel

- Black Sand Flourite $ 15-25

Ok, here is the procedure

1.) Place your tank (with stand if you have one) in a place away from direct light, and is not a high traffic zone.

2.) Wash the "Flourite" substrate (Rocks) until the water runs clear as you rinse it off.

3.) Pour your "Flourite" into the tank.

4.) Place in your heater, filter, and other appliances. (DO NOT TURN ON)

5.) Fill water 1/4 of the tank.

6.) Put the "Dwarf Hair Grass" in the back

7.) Put your "Anubias Nana" in front of it.

8.) Then arrange your "Java Fern" near the front.

9.) Place your driftwood near the back (Make it look beautiful) * BOIL YOUR WOOD FOR A FEW HOURS BEFORE USING. THIS WILL TAKE OUT THE TANNINS THAT TURN YOUR WATER BROWN.

10.) Cut your "Java Moss" in half and tie some onto the driftwood with some fishing wire.

11.) Place the "Marimo Moss Ball" near the bottom of the driftwood.

12.) Fill the water all the way.

13.) Turn on your appliances.

14.) Add in 10 gallons worth of "Aqua Safe water Conditioner" to the tank.

15.) Let your tank mature over a period of 2-3 Weeks...


2-3 Weeks Later

1.) Introduce your snails and shrimp before your fish (About 1 week apart)

Be sure to acclimate them correctly...

Hope your enjoy your tank...

ALSO, for feeding, feed 1 algae wafer to the shrimp and snails a day.

Also, feed your fish daily and do a weekly 20% water change (Condition the water before adding)
 
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