How to: Buying a Tank

[Shane Tesser]

It was suggested to me today that i should write a basic how to, on choosing, purchasing and setting up a tank. Kind of a begginers guide. So ill keep this as short as possible, and i hope that it will help anyone who is considering buying that first tank or perhaps up-grading to a bigger one.

1) The size: There is a few basic things to consider here.
a) The Price: Perhaps the biggest problem one faces is the sheer cost of buying the tank. Remember, tanks are for the most part the most inexpensive part of the hole process, but think ahead. Accessories such as filters, decorations and the fish can often cost ten fold of what you basically had in mind to spend.
b) Weight. Where is it going to be situated. A general rule of thumb that absolutely has to be considered is the weight. For easy math it works like this. Roughly one gallon of water is equal to ten pounds (sorry no metric from this kid). So ten gallons, one hundred pounds. Now this does not include the tank itself, the roof work, wood, corel etc.
c) Where do i put it: Kind of back to the weight problem; can your floor joints handle it. For the majority of tanks, id say yes, but you wouldn't believe the large tanks that are available. Plus, it the floor, plus stand level. If you have fifty gallons, and ninety percent of that weight is pushing on one side, you will eventually have a leak at the seam, think about what the water will come into contact with, rugs, wall, hardwood floors, etc. Also, exposure to direct sunlight, while it has a certain appeal to the fish, may not be a great idea when considering the amount of algae you'll be removing daily. Consider as well if it has to be moved. Even twenty gallons is a chore to rip apart, move and re-assembly, so you'll want a place that is as perminant as possible. Traffic has to be considered. Is the tank on the corner where your hundred pound German sheppard runs by to play fetch with your kids in the hallway. Sometimes the view point has to be considered as well. Main focal point in the room, or something that compliments another piece of furnature. Remember water changes. Is it really going to be convienent walking across the living room floor with a bucket for hose to fill the thing. No matter what you do, there will be spills. Also consider the humidity. Believe me i speak from experience here. I have a hundred and fifty gallon in my bedroom. When i kept discus the temperature hovered around eight five constantly. I don't care what anyone say. Apart from making the tank air tight, there will be humidity in that room. I ended up running a de-humidifier as even the sheets on my bed where damp. And electrical. Is there enough outlets where the tank will be located. I would hate to have to see ten extension cords running across the floor and down the hall to support your power needs. Some big tanks, look like they need their own power supply with the amount of equipment they have set up. Also, if your going to consider salt water, think of where the salt will end up as a result of evaporation
d) How many gallons do i need: This is something your going to have to answer your self. Use the rules above as a guide, but also consider a few more points. What do you want to keep, hopefully you have done the research on this already, and are well aware how big your future pet will become. That white and black snake head looks really cute at two inches, but when he becomes three feet and eats the family cat one day, the novelty might wear off. Another thing to consider is disease and problems. Lets say your heater dies one day. You may come home to your ten gallon and find those three hundred dollar baby discus dead in water that is fifty degrees. At the same token, your hundred gallon may have only dropped one or two degrees. Not to mention, disease. A parasite, will take longer in a bigger tank. This is more true for freshwater than salt. Often salt water fish can get diseases that can wipe out everyfish in a day or so. Not too common in fresh water but it does happen. So the general rule is, the bigger, the better
e) New or used: Entirely up to you. We have all bought from time to time that ten gallon for five bucks at the local garage sale, or maybe pulled one out of the garbage that someone is throwing out. If you do choose this route, make sure that you completely remove all of the silicone from the inside of the tank and re-seal it. If you do this, please make sure it is aquarium safe silicone for obvious reasons. A little trick is to add some vinegar to the old silicone, its a natural product and helps to soften it up.
f) Glass or plexi. Entirely up to taste, however here too is a couple of things to consider. Glass, can crack, plain and simple and it is disasterous. Ive had rocks go right throught the front panels on tanks, trust me its not fun. Plexi on the other hand has a little more give, its not entirely crack proof however. Plexi also has the advantage that it come be made into millions of different shapes and sizes. Not to mention that some plexi tanks are seamless, quite beautiful if you've never seen one....not to mention expensive. But plexi can scratch relatively easy as compared to glass. In some of my tanks the light output is so intense that a large film of algae appears after a day or two. These are tanks that i raise plant for sale in and i need the extreme light to make them grow fast for the market. In these particular tanks in usually not too concerned with the way the tank looks, it is in no way a display and i will ofter only clean the glass every week. By about this time, the growth on the glass is enormous, and i will usually clean it with fine steel wool (stainless Steel). I dont think you'll want to attempt this with plexi. Weight again, plexi is a lot lighter. Yes i know that there is metal frame tanks sometimes available. But i think you know how i feel about those by the lack of attention there getting. Water plus metal, equals rust, which equals toxins, which equal death of animals. Dont even try it with salt water, not even if its a ten thousand gallon tanks and its on sale for ten bucks!!!!
g) Style:Up to person taste, however remember the fish. Your gold fish might not mind swimming around in circles in your see through coffee table tank in the middle of the living room, but your sensitive Babis Babis may. Sometimes as well a tall tank might be more suitable than a long one to a perticular species and vica versa.

Im gonna stop here (im tired of typing, lol, thank god im fast). Hopefully you can use this as a basic guideline. Use all of the steps above and you should have no problems. Most of this is common sense. And i think this should cover just about everything, but if there is anything that i missed, or that you can think of please feel free to add. Thanks, shane.

[Jeff_Favelle]

If I ever have an essay to write, can you write it for me?

[Jeff_Favelle]

About the silicone, is that why I smell acetic acid with aquarium-safe silicone??

[petpoor]

Tank size for saltwater is bigger is better, for the same size tank in saltwater will be capable of handlin about 1/4 the amount of fish as the same size freshwater tank will.

The majority of saltwater fish are all territorial and will fight if crowded, which leads to disease outbreaks from stress.

I usually suggest 5 to 6 medium to small size fish to customers for a 55 gallon tank. Same size freshwater they can easily get away with 25 or so medium to small size fish.

Do not let a store scare u away from marine if that is what u want, they are NOT that much harder once u get them setup. Yes the initial investment will be a little more due to differences in settin up the system, such as a skimmer and the need for salt mix.
the only difference once setup is a little more cost on ur water changes due to needing the saltmix.

The key to a marine tank is patience do not try to stock it all at once, go slow let the tank mature. Also do your research on the fish you want to make sure they are compatable with each other.
many many saltwater fish will either fight or try to eat one another if put together. Some that fight may not if u introduce the more timid one first and allow it to become at home in the tank so it is the home team when the more "aggressive " fish is introduced.

Also stock on the error of having too few fish in the tank versus too many.

Also by gettin a larger tank to begin with when the fish bug takes hold full force it is alot cheaper cause u dont have to upgrade to a bigger tank

Tom

[Shane Tesser]

Hey Tom, its kind of funny, but for some reason when i think of someone setting up salt water for the first time, i always recall in the back of my mind the most common question that you hear in any store, lol, "whats the smallest tank i can use". I just shiver when i hear this as i always picture some marines out there in a ten gallon, of coarse only living shorty, not saying it can't be done however, but you have to think of the health of your pets. A guy told me something in a store once when i was really little and i never forgot the advice. He told me to think of the tank size as your bedroom. And imagine that you couldn't get out. And imagine that while in that room you had to breath and rebreath the same air over and over. It will eventually kill you, but it will take a long, long time, because once a week or so someone opens the door just a crack and allows a little air in, then shuts it again for another week. Do you think that this would stress you? Now think about what size tank you have, and how many people are living in that bedroom. I guess looking back he was explaining water types too. My discus are soft water fish, but mine do just fine in hard water. Think about what statement your making when you think or say stuff like that, and remember the bedroom story. Its stuck in my mind and ill never forget it. Thanks for the up and up on the marines Tom, could not have said it better, Shane.

heh nice analogies.. i have a few more... could be used for things other then fish though...

whenever someone asks hey can I hosue this in this and it will be happy (insert pet/fish and houseing conditions)


"well etheopians can surrive in thier conditions but do you actually think they are happy?"

or in th world of piranha's I say sometimes -

How would you feel cramped up in a 10'x10' room with 5 other physcotic people?

just thougth I would add my 2 cents heh

[Shane Tesser]

Nice analogy, mo. Jeff f, i would be lying if i said this is the reason why you smell it in silicone. The truth is i really don't know. I would assume that vinegar is probably the smell though and it would make sense, natural product.......and your gonna think im nuts here but to clean hard scale off a tank wall it works very well, and although you should rinse it off before filling the tank, small amounts of it don't really seem to do any damage, however i still wouldn't really chance it. Why stress the animals if you don't have to? Tom, im extremely interested in doing a large salt tank. Ive never done my own but am quite aware of what is envolved. The one problem ive always had is the compatibility question. Perhaps you could suggest a good book that perhaps gives good info on this. For fresh there is several available that gives simple little charts or legends that show the compatibility of fish, ie. green for community, red for preditors. But ive never been able to find a really good salt one. Im not looking for the easy paint by numbers way, lol, but id like to piece together somewhat of an idea as to what can get along with what. I have hundreds of books already, but am still somewhat sketchie on the subject. There is just so many ones to pick from, so beautiful etc. It can get real confusing fast, and i find my local stores aren't really all that on the up and up with the subject either. As far as typing your exam jeff, just let me know, lol. I know im long winded, im a really fast typer and sometimes i get out of hand i know. Im one of those people that have to learn how to abbreviate things, lol, im working on it, shane.

[petpoor]

Shane,
Trust me when I tell you that you wouldnt' even believe some of the things customers tell me they do in and to their tanks, and then wonder why all their fish die.

Some notable ones are : Lady comes in with low ph in her 55 gallon tank, so I get her the marine buffer read the directions and tell her how much to add to her tank. The next weekend she comes in and tells me I killed all her fish and the ph went to 10
So I start asking her questions and come to find out she dosed the fifty five accordin to what I told her to do and she dosed her 30 gallon tank the exact same dosage Not to mention she had 3 Yellow tangs in that tank along with a huge dog faced puffer.

Another is a lady comes in to our store to ask questions and look around since all her fish died. Long story short she bought a complete setup at one of the major not mentionable chains, a 30 gallon and also took home 25 inch and half or so Africans to put in the tank same day. Needless to say in less than a week they all had perished, but the help at the chain assured her that it would be ok to put that many fish in that size tank. And told her nothin of havin to cycle the tank.

[Shane Tesser]

Since we are on the topic, i have a similar one. I recently set up a tank with a friend who was very inexperienced. Ill try and keep this short. He was adding corels (dead stuff) some star fish and shells he bought at a local craft store and this tank was gonna be rockin. So i told him to put the stuff in buckets, fill with water and add a couple of table spoons of bleach to kill, or dose for lack of a better word anything that may not be completely removed from the above items. Then the next day flush and fill with water, and continue flushing with water each day until all smells of the bleach are gone. Here's what he did. He puts all of the stuff in a garbage pail, then adds two table spoons. Of coarse not a large enough ratio. A couple of days go by and the stuff starts to get the fishy smell. My friend figures hey, the bleach smell is gone, that mild fish like smell will probably go away. So what does he do, he throws everything in the tank, fills it and then goes and buys goldfish. Now none of this was to my knowledge. So a week goes by, the water is pee soup green, and guess what, the smell goes crazy. Absolutely horrible, the worst part is, that the tank is right beside the cold air return to his furnace. Guess where the smell goes......yup everywhere. So he calls me, and says the stuff is really starting to smell, i can smell it thru out the house. Doesnt tell me that the tank is installed, or there is fish in it, just that it smells real bad. So i say, okay man, add about two or three more cap fuls and let it sit, It should be gone by morning. The next day, same thing. But in his mind this is how the conversation went (as i imagine it) "okay, i think he said capful, but maybe he meant cupful, so how much is a cup.....well its close to about a jug...... i know...... i'll put a full jug in.....well maybe to be safe i'll but a couple of jugs in". And about two hours later i get a phone call, no joke this is what he says "hey man, i did what you told me and the smell is gone, and the water is getting clean now, but how come all the fish i bought died? lol, s.t.