Section 1: Buying the Tank and Accessories

 (by  theAquarian June 26, 2000)

The first step of getting into the fish hobby is to actually buy the equipment you need to keep fish. This first step is usually a scary one for new aquarists. Often the only thing you really know about fish keeping is that you saw a really big beautiful tank at the local Chinese restaurant, and you think that it would be a great thing to give your 8 year-old so that he/she can not only learn responsibility but improve their chances at being a Ph.D. or maybe a brain surgeon someday. This is of course the same kid who not so many years ago was inserting cookies into your VCR, and who attempted scientific experiments involving your Microwave and your priceless CD collection. Nevertheless, if you are fearless, aquarium fish are a great hobby to get into for either you or your eight-year-old. So onto buying the aquarium.

I’ve walked into pet stores hundreds of times before with this familiar scene before me. A downtrodden father and mother with 2 or 3 small children surrounding them, clamoring continually for every fish they see, is slowly realizing that the $50 they put aside for an aquarium will not buy the large aquarium they’d hoped. In fact after considering the stand, hood, and various accessories that the sales associate claims they need, they’re not sure they’ll be able to purchase a tank at all. When they finally leave the store, they’ll feel beat, the kids will be crying, and they’ll have spent $75 for a 10-gallon set-up and 2 goldfish.

Now every time I see this happening I want to run over and shake some sense into the poorly trained sales associate. Why? Because the aquarium fish hobby is not this hard. What I’m going to go through is a brief explanation of what to buy when you buy your first aquarium. I’ll try to dispel some common misconceptions and help you get more of what you want for your money…water, I mean fish.

Tanks

First off, the amount of fish you keep is directly related to the amount of water you have and thereby the size of your aquarium. Now I know you’ll walk into PetSmart and see 45 fish in a small tank and think "I can do that at home." However, you can’t do that at home for reasons I’ll explain better in the selecting the fish article. For now I’ll just say three things about this. Number one, PetSmart (also Petco and many others) has all their aquariums daisy-chained together, so it’s like having one really big tank. Knowing that, you’ll realize the tanks are still overstocked, which brings me to Number two, every PetSmart throws away over 100 dead fish every week, often that number is in the high hundreds. You of course don’t see that if the store is being run well, but if you lose a single fish at home, it might be more traumatic. The third reason is that PetSmart cleans its tanks more often than you might. If you don’t plan on cleaning your tank weekly, you’ll need a big tank with few fish so the fish don’t all pollute themselves to death. (to put it nicely) So the main point to take home here is more water means more fish so get a bigger tank.

Now what size tank should you buy? Personally I think the best beginner’s tank would be either a 30-gallon tank, or a 20-gallon "long" tank. The reason for this is that they provide lots of viewing area and can make you think you have something bigger than you really have. A 10-gallon is the most common tank to buy because it’s the cheapest. There is nothing wrong with a 10-gallon tank. In fact they’re great. You can set one up on the top of a dresser and eliminate the need for a stand. However, you won’t be able to keep any "big" fish in it. Sometimes that is a deterrent. If you only pay attention to big fish, then what will probably happen is that you’ll get your small tank with small fish and ignore it. In time the water will evaporate and the fish will die. The key here is the size of the fish you want. Another key is the number of fish that you want. This is particularly important when dealing with cichlids. I have time after time been able to keep 4-1" cichlids together happily with 30+ other fish in a 55-gallon tank, but when I try to move the 4 over to a 10-gallon tank, I immediately lose one or two to aggression. A key fact with cichlids is that you can often keep many more fish per gallon in a large tank than in a small tank. You must know this before you buy a tank. If you are reading this and it’s already too late there is some consolation, you can still buy a bigger tank and then you’ll have two fish tanks! For a look at some fish I would recommend for each tank size, look at the Buying the Fish Article.

Filtration

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when buying a fish tank is that they buy a "kit." These kits almost without fail include something you don’t need. Often they include many things that you don’t need. One of the most common things that kits include that you don’t need is undergravel filters and pumps. My personal feeling is that both are a relative waste of time. However, they are low maintenance for the first year. Let me explain. An undergravel filter helps filter the tank by taking water down through the gravel. The gravel then becomes home to many bacteria that will break down substances as the water passes through the gravel. The system is often driven by a pump that pushes air to the bottom of a tube. The air then heads towards the surface creating a lift that pulls water through the undergravel filter and up the tube. The actual air being pumped into the aquarium does NOTHING for the fish. Air does not enter water anywhere other than at the surface of the water. If you have a sales associate telling you that you need a pump so you can pump little air bubbles into the water, he might be as clueless as you used to be about the whole filtration thing.

None of this has to do with the reason I prefer a power filter to an undergravel filter. The reason is that undergravel filters clog after ~18 months of operation and become detrimental to the aquarium. At that point you have to take everything out and clean under the filter and then start over. What’s more, pumps are just plain noisy. I don’t like noise. My personal preference for a filter is the penguin bio-wheel. The bio-wheel is a "hang-on power filter." What this means is that the filter hangs on the back of the tank. It has a lift tube that pulls water into the filter and then has an overflow that puts the water back into the tank. The system is run by a magnetic impeller assembly that pulls the water up the tube. It is very quiet, which is perfect for me.

All power filters use a pad of some sort that must be changed every month. Changing the pad consists of taking the old one out and putting the new one in. Hardly rocket science, but some people find that keeping a clean pad in the system a bit too much maintenance. If you are the type of person that feels that changing a pad once a month is too much work for you, go buy a plastic wind-up fish. This hobby really isn’t for you. As to why I prefer the Penguin bio-wheel? It contains this little wheel that turns as water overflows back into the tank. Basically it just provides more area for bacteria to grow on. In fact it provides lots more area as you get the whole surface area of the wheel, even though only a small section is ever in contact with the water. You can buy a bio-wheel of those for about $20, or for about $12 you can buy a cheaper power filter that will be just fine. Either way you won’t be paying any more or any less than you would be paying with a pump and undergravel filter, but you’ll get quieter more efficient filtration. Think about it. If you’d like to look at how aquarists rate different filters, check the filters buying guide.

Heaters

Heaters are another way that pet stores sell you things that you don’t need. For a 10 gallon tank a 50 or 75 watt heater will be fine as long as the fish tank is kept anywhere in the house. Fish tanks should be kept about 78-80° . Often your house will be at this temperature; so a heater doesn’t do anything more than make sure there aren’t any dips at nighttime. You definitely will want a thermometer, be aware that you won’t be able to buy a good one, but anything you buy will work fine for what you are doing. For $1 expect a thermometer that will help you set your heater to the correct temperature. For a beginner I would suggest the El cheapo $6 heater. It probably won’t make any difference to you what kind you get. Be aware that while heaters that you can set to a specific temperature might be nice, they rarely work. If you do get one of those, be ready for it to cost a bit more, and read carefully the suggested tank size. If you get one that is made for a 20-gallon and put it in a 10-gallon, it will usually run hotter than you’d like. If you’d like to look at how aquarists rate different heaters, check the heaters buying guide.

Gravel & Decorations

As far as gravel and directions go you are on your own. If you like little diving men and pink gravel, enjoy. People will laugh at you, but if that makes you happy, go for it. I would suggest that you have a few plants and hiding places. Again, look at the fish first. The kind of fish you will get should determine how you will arrange the tank. I would suggest finding a tank you like and trying to make yours look like it. Have you ever seen those plastic divers in that big tank you love at your favorite Chinese restaurant? A sales associate should be able to help you determine how much gravel to buy, but a suggested guide is located at the end of the article.

Other Stuff

Fish need food. So buy some fish food. I would suggest a good flake made by Tetra, but you can get buy with about anything. The only time you actually "need" a better fish food is when you are breeding some fish. Be aware that some foods will make your fish look better than others. Buy specialty foods at your own risk, most of them have not been tested and are not laboratory proven, but many do work very well.

Fish also need chlorine-free water. Tap water has chlorine in it. That’s what keeps our water relatively algae and parasite free. However, chlorine will kill a fish. There are two ways to get rid of chlorine. First you can buy a "Water Conditioner" that will neutralize the chlorine on contact, or you could just let the water sit. Chlorine readily disassociates with water in the presence of air. So if you left the water in the tank overnight, or "splashed" the water into the tank, you will get rid of all the chlorine in the water. It’s basically your choice. You don’t actually need a conditioner except for water changes. When you change the water you probably won’t have 24 hours to wait to add the new water, so having a water conditioner on hand for these times is recommended.

Doing it on the Cheap

Face it, you’re probably not rich if you’re reading this. (If you are, I suggest getting a really big canister filter, than you won’t have to do any more than just top the tank off with water.) There are ways around a lot of the things that you have to buy. Consider the following. A 10-gallon tank costs $7.00. A 15-watt fluorescent light and fixture at Wal-Mart costs $7.00. Getting 3/8" glass cut and scored for the aquarium top at Eagle costs about $4.00. A stand costs next to nothing if you can find an old cabinet or dresser at a second hand store, or with a couple of boards, some nails and a little know-ho you can build your own. Gravel can often be obtained for $.25/lb. at a gravel/construction store. (make sure you wash it) End result, a perfect tank for keeping and/or breeding various Gourami type fish such as Betas, Paradise Fish, Dwarf Gourami, and Pygmy Gourami. All of which are very good beginner’s fish. End cost about $20. That’s much cheaper than the kit you buy at the store, but mostly b/c you aren’t getting a filter or heater since neither is really needed with these fish. (Though I would still suggest some sort of aeration just to break up the surface water) If you add in a filter and a heater you should still be under $40, so it’s probably still do-able. The thing to remember here is that the tanks are generally the cheap part. Six dollars, a common cost for a 10-gallon tank, is only 15% of the $40 kit I’ve suggested here. Now consider that moving to a 20-gallon tank will only increase the cost of the equipment by about $7.00. A 20-gallon tank generally costs about $25.00, but the total would be about $65.00. That’s twice the size for 60% more. Plus there are the advantages to larger tanks outlined above.

Summary

As with many things, there is no real art to buying your first or your twentieth aquarium set-up. The main key is to look at the alternatives and figure out what works best for you. Beware of misconception and remember these key points:

Get as big as tank as you can…unless you know what fish you are getting and what size tank they’ll need.
Pass on the Pump. Hang-on power filters are comparable in price, more efficient and quieter
If the aquarium will be in a heated room you won’t need much of a heater, generally it’s better to be error on the small side of heater.
You’ll need a de-chlorinator, but generally not for the initial set-up. (assuming of course you didn’t buy fish with your tank…you didn’t did you?)
Everything can be done cheaper, but you might consider it a hassle
Percentage wise, it’s cheaper per gallon to buy a bigger aquarium than a smaller one.

That’s it, a guide for getting your first aquarium fish set-up. There are of course some other things to consider and many of them have been alluded to in this guide. The main key to all of this is knowledge. The more time you spend learning about what you are doing, the more likely you will be to enjoy the hobby.

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