Fish tank info anyone?

[Gunbuggy]

Hey all. It's been a dream of mine lately to get a small to medium beginner fish tank setup. I don't want anything crazy but a moderate sized tank maybe a 20-30 or so gallon. I like to know types of fish, shrimps and plants that can all live together without harming each other. Also would love some tips on what the fish tank should have to keep them healthy, and any tips or links to vids on how to properly maintain or clean would be awesome.

I really like colorful fish, I also like those little shark lookin guys lol. I want some little shrimps and or crabs in there too. I also have a fascination with those algae eating fish I think they are super cool and it's fun to watch them do their job. I also like the live plants that people put in their tanks over just the plastic plants they sell at pet smart

Something like this photo would be what I'm going for.

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[Nosferatu]

I used to keep a 60 gallon freshwater with live plants. The gravel base was super important and while I don't remember the names of anything (It's been well over a decade since I had an aquarium), I found a clay based product that worked outstanding.

Since you're talking crabs & shrimp, I assume you're into saltwater though (I know there are some freshwater species, but they aren't very common, IIRC). Those get really complex and expensive as the filtration and salt systems are ridiculous! It's actually easier to keep a large, 80+ gallon saltwater than a small one.

I'd recommend deciding on what species of animals you want and design around that. I kept cichlids, catfish, eels and several others over the years. I once threw ac couple crawdads in there that killed everything and destroyed a ton of plants. Don't do that.

Also, figure the space you want to put it in. With live plants, you need good lighting, I built a hood with 8 T11 bulbs that was the same color temperature as sunlight. You'll also need to feed CO2 into the water as well.

It's a lot of work to get started, but once you get the ecosystem running, it's pretty easy to maintain, but is still something that requires weekly attention.

 

[Gunbuggy]

I used to keep a 60 gallon freshwater with live plants. The gravel base was super important and while I don't remember the names of anything (It's been well over a decade since I had an aquarium), I found a clay based product that worked outstanding.

Since you're talking crabs & shrimp, I assume you're into saltwater though (I know there are some freshwater species, but they aren't very common, IIRC). Those get really complex and expensive as the filtration and salt systems are ridiculous! It's actually easier to keep a large, 80+ gallon saltwater than a small one.

I'd recommend deciding on what species of animals you want and design around that. I kept cichlids, catfish, eels and several others over the years. I once threw ac couple crawdads in there that killed everything and destroyed a ton of plants. Don't do that.

Also, figure the space you want to put it in. With live plants, you need good lighting, I built a hood with 8 T11 bulbs that was the same color temperature as sunlight. You'll also need to feed CO2 into the water as well.

It's a lot of work to get started, but once you get the ecosystem running, it's pretty easy to maintain, but is still something that requires weekly attention.

Thanks! Lot of great info. I figured most shrimp would be saltwater but I keep seeing these little shrimp guys at the pet store and I figured they were fresh water cause they're in with other fish that I believed were freshwater

 

[gryghin]

I'd recommend steering away from small tanks. You end up doing more work with a small tank as keeping water chemistry in the proper zone is hard.

A larger tank has more water volume to maintain chemistry as you end up only changing 1/4 - 1/3 of it on a monthly basis. Even with good filters.

There are fresh water shrimp that live well with the fish. I haven't had a tank in 20 years but apparently my kids caught the bug. He has two 50 gallon tanks set up. I'll post a picture.

 

[Gunbuggy]

I'd recommend steering away from small tanks. You end up doing more work with a small tank as keeping water chemistry in the proper zone is hard.

A larger tank has more water volume to maintain chemistry as you end up only changing 1/4 - 1/3 of it on a monthly basis. Even with good filters.

There are fresh water shrimp that live well with the fish. I haven't had a tank in 20 years but apparently my kids caught the bug. He has two 50 gallon tanks set up. I'll post a picture.

When you say a small tank what would you consider small? A 20-30 gal I assume would be small? And a 50 like your kids have would be a larger tank but less hard to maintain / clean

 

[gryghin]

55 gallon tank, canister filters.

Cory catfish
Neon tetras
Fancy Guppies
Freshwater shrimp
1 Beta

Tank environment is ideal as the shrimp and Guppies are breeding.

 

[gryghin]

When you say a small tank what would you consider small? A 20-30 gal I assume would be small? And a 50 like your kids have would be a larger tank but less hard to maintain / clean

Stay away from anything smaller than 20 unless you only want a few fish.

I think 25-30 would be a great start.

 

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I've had fake tanks and soil bottom tanks. My best were soil and rock bottom with live plants.

Schools of neons, shrimp, corydoras and such.

Had a high bio load for the tank size but was an established tank that was fully cycled with plants to help interrupt. Ran this method all the way down to a 10 gallon. My favorite was a 25gal cube. Gave lots of height and depth for designing.

 

[Gunbuggy]

55 gallon tank, canister filters.

Cory catfish
Neon tetras
Fancy Guppies
Freshwater shrimp
1 Beta

Tank environment is ideal as the shrimp and Guppies are breeding.

View attachment 1335651

What's cleaning process on that. I love that you can have a betta in there

 

[gryghin]

What's cleaning process on that. I love that you can have a betta in there

When my kids were growing up and I had my tank. Similar setup but no shrimp. My Beta hung out on the right side.

Cleaning/treatment consisted of filling two 5 gallon buckets little less than full. Let sit for a week to degas the fluoride. Turn off canister and check how dirty the water/filter media in there, change if needed. Drain about 8 -9 gallons using a different set of buckets. Add the new water and check chemistry.

I'll find out what the kids are doing these days as I'm sure they have better information available.

 

[Gunbuggy]

When my kids were growing up and I had my tank. Similar setup but no shrimp. My Beta hung out on the right side.

Cleaning/treatment consisted of filling two 5 gallon buckets little less than full. Let sit for a week to degas the fluoride. Turn off canister and check how dirty the water/filter media in there, change if needed. Drain about 8 -9 gallons using a different set of buckets. Add the new water and check chemistry.

I'll find out what the kids are doing these days as I'm sure they have better information available.

Thanks so much

 

[Certaindeaf]

Never buy a fish bigger than a turd.



Lol

 

[Alexx1401]

When I met the Wife bought her a 75 G. She wanted tropical fish so we got several of the aggressive variety that lived well together. Found out the way to filter is buy one that is rated for twice what the tank is. We used a side mount that was rated for 300 and it was super easy to keep perfect. The one Oscar, kind of an African Bass, got big enough he would actually bite when cleaning the tank. Saltwater have REALLY great fish BUT, you have to have more equipment and knowledge to keep them up. Gave the tank away after many years when it was starting to leak and I just did not have time to repair it. Still kind of miss it as they are beautiful to look at.

 

[Iceman04503]

This was my 20 gallon long. I had it for 2 years, I got out of aquarium keeping about 9-10 months ago when we got a puppy. If you're going to keep fresh water shrimp like neocaridina, i would go with smaller fish such as tetras and rasboras. And co2 with a good regulator for plants. Pretty much everything you need to know can be found on youtube.

 

[Gunbuggy]

This was my 20 gallon long. I had it for 2 years, I got out of aquarium keeping about 9-10 months ago when we got a puppy. If you're going to keep fresh water shrimp like neocaridina, i would go with smaller fish such as tetras and rasboras. And co2 with a good regulator for plants. Pretty much everything you need to know can be found on youtube.

View attachment 1335863

Good info I've seen some stuff about co2. Would that mostly just be beneficial for the plants more than the fish? Or does it benefit both. I assume if the plants are thriving the fish and shrimp should be too

 

[Gunbuggy]

This was my 20 gallon long. I had it for 2 years, I got out of aquarium keeping about 9-10 months ago when we got a puppy. If you're going to keep fresh water shrimp like neocaridina, i would go with smaller fish such as tetras and rasboras. And co2 with a good regulator for plants. Pretty much everything you need to know can be found on youtube.

View attachment 1335863

Also I'd like to add that your vegetation looks fantastic. I'd love to have mine look like this. What's the maintenance like with plants like that? I assume there's gotta be more cleaning involved and also some trimming/ maintenence???

 

[Iceman04503]

Co2 and liquid fertilizer is good for plants and plants provide a hiding place for shrimps. Trimming and water changes are one of the biggest things thats involved. I trim about once a month and I do a 10-15% water change after the trimming. The thing about having shrimp is that you have to take precautions when doing the water changes because they can be sucked up with the vac hose. If you're using a canister filter, use a sponge over your outlet hose so that shrimps can't get sucked into the filter. And you would have to clean out the sponge more often because it can get clogged. Shrimp doesn't produce alot if waste like bigger fish, so you would go longer in between filter cleanings. With shrimps, some rasboras, and alot of plants, I've gone months without a water change. I checked my water parameters and tds every week to make sure they were good.

 

[Gunbuggy]

Co2 and liquid fertilizer is good for plants and plants provide a hiding place for shrimps. Trimming and water changes are one of the biggest things thats involved. I trim about once a month and I do a 10-15% water change after the trimming. The thing about having shrimp is that you have to take precautions when doing the water changes because they can be sucked up with the vac hose. If you're using a canister filter, use a sponge over your outlet hose so that shrimps can't get sucked into the filter. And you would have to clean out the sponge more often because it can get clogged. Shrimp doesn't produce alot if waste like bigger fish, so you would go longer in between filter cleanings. With shrimps, some rasboras, and alot of plants, I've gone months without a water change. I checked my water parameters and tds every week to make sure they were good.

Man thanks for all the info this is great. I considered using a canister filter and it seems that's the best way to go however as a beginner and only looking around a 30ish gallon tank I think that would be A very expensive and B overkill? But I also don't know so any dispute to this I'd love to hear it.

Also what were you using for your ground cover did you use gravel and some sort of soil base or both? It gets blurry when zooming in my phone isn't the best

 

[Iceman04503]

I used eco complete on the bottom and a layer of Amazonia on top. Eco complete is cheaper and can be found on Amazon. I got my Amazonia from the local fish shop.

I was using a aquatop forza fz7 295 gal/hr canister filter which was rated for 60-90 gallons. Good filtration is key to keeping a healthy tank. For filtration is should be a 4x turnover rate. Meaning if its a 20 gallon tank, you should get a filter with at least a 80gph.

 

[BBQ Guy]

Nothing smaller than a 55 IMO. It reduces all of the things mentioned above. Live plants. A plecostamus is great way to lower cleaning tasks.
It's been 19 years or so since I had a tank. My last one was a piranha tank. All of my fish grew to be a healthy pan sized fish. Healthy and large enough that I sold them when it was time to get rid of the tank.

My dad was incredibly successful with angel and sword fish when I was a kid.

If I ever get another tank it'll be a cichlid tank.