What species should I get and what will I need? I want to have a few cool fish and have some decent enough supplies to keep them happy, but I want to keep things as low priced as possible.
Tags: Agriculture and Forestry, Monterey Bay Aquarium, fishDiscount Pet Supplies - I Love Pets!
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What species should I get and what will I need? I want to have a few cool fish and have some decent enough supplies to keep them happy, but I want to keep things as low priced as possible.
Tags: Agriculture and Forestry, Monterey Bay Aquarium, fish
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Fish are great pets for college students!
The cheapest way is to make a self-contained ecosystem from a glass gallon jug, the kind with a small 1.5" or so opening and straight clear sides. You only need enough gravel for about1.5" on the bottom, and one elodia-type plant (aka anacharis). Fill with conditioned water (see more on water conditioner below). Plant the elodia: move the lead weight down and bury it in the gravel using a long stick. Plant it in the middle, if you will view your biosystem from more than one side, or in the "back," if you will view it only from the front.
Snails: When you buy the plant, ask the fish store if you can have a ramshorn or cone snail. You only need one, but it will lay eggs, which you may or may not like (they look like bubbles stuck tothe glass). If not, skip the snail and get an algae eater instead.
Then let the system sit for a week. Then put a couple of fancy guppies in it, or one guppy and one small algae eater if you don’t have a snail. To feed, either carefully drop a few food flakes in (enough so they eat for about 5 mins), or dip a slightly dampened stick in the food, then place the food in the water (this keeps the sides clean). Keep it out of direct sunlight, and the fish can live for a long time (two years for the guppy life span).
If you want a full-szed tank, check out Freecycle and craigslist, as others may be getting tired of their fish hobby and be willing to give you their fish and supplies for free or very little cost. Freecycle lets you post a "wanted" message.
You’ll need a tank of at least 5 gallons, but I’d start with 10. Allow about a gallon per inch of fish. Certain fish, like oscars (feed live fish or commercial oscar food) and plecos (plecostomus) (algae tablets), will quickly grow larger than a 10 gallon can hold, but most other fish will not. Some, like goldfish or angelfish, may be too aggressive for other fish… and end up being your only fish in the tank.
Some fish, like tetras, like to shoal (or "school") and should be in groups of at least 6 fish, but more is better. It keeps them from stressing and they look a lot cooler swimming in unison.
Select your filter based on the size tank you have. Or even on the amount of noise you need
If you live in a loud area (near a road or with loud neighbors, you may prefer a louder filter as it gives you "white noise" in addition to the relaxing sound of water gurgling. If your filter has a biofilter component, you can push the fish up to 1.5" per gallon.
If at all possible, get a tank with a cover and a light. We have ours on a timer so the fish get a certain amount of light AND dark, and we get a lot of time to enjoy them.
Go online or go to your lfs (local fish store) and look at what is there. What grabs your attention? Ask how big the fish get. Check out what fish are okay together by looking at fish compatibility charts. http://www.tropicalfishandaquariums.com/Compatibility/index.php
or
http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/freshwater_compatibility_chart.php
Otherwise, it can get expensive to keep replacing fish, as they tend to dissapear until the one culprit is finally identified.
Also, do you like a certain color? coordinate the gravel (if you can–beggars can’t be choosers) to show off the color. If you have blue gravel, red fish stand out; if you have dark gravel, silver fish stand out, etc.
Try to get one type of "cool" fish and one type of bottom feeder, in contrasting colors, like a goldfish and a pleco, or angelfish and catfish.
If you want a mix of tropical fish, I prefer fancy guppies, red swordtails/platys/mollies, and assorted tetras (12+ neons, 8+ black skirted), with one sailfin pleco and a clown loach (he’s the lone survivor of 3). We have a 28gal with a filter, biolfilter and additional air supply (since the pleco and loach have gotten soo much bigger).
You’ll also need at least one net, a bucket or two for twice/monthly 20% water changes (or an aquarium siphoning-hose set up), water conditioner to neutralize the harmful chemicals in tap water, a supply of filter cartridges (change every month to 3 months, depending on the brand’s recommendations), and good food for the species of fish. Algae eaters will need algae tablets once they finish cleaning what they can, or they starve to death quickly.
If you keep up on the water changes, your fish will be healthy and you’ll only be spending on food and filters, plus a bottle of water conditioner every year or so.
Some Guppys in A Ten Gallon
Start with Some Quality Strains So That If They Have Fry, You Can Earn A Few Bucks…
I have 15 Guppy Variations and To Date, Have Cost Me 0, I have Paid Them Off Because if they have fry, 10 to 200 at a time, you can earn 10 cents to 1 dollar depending on size. Price Them cheaply and you will have a line at your door. I can even send you some fryyounger guppies to start (Blue Moscow, Very Nice Strain!!!). Let Me Know and Hope I Helped….
Manuel
While I was in college, I had a beta fish. They are extremely low maintenance and really only require a bowl of water. You can decorate however you like and that said, you really control the price. My beta is still alive. He is 5 yrs old which is very old for a beta. (avg life expectancy is 3-4 yrs). However, if you are wanting more than one fish, I would recommend something else, maybe goldfish? Most other fish require an aquarium, rocks, filter, etc and those can get pretty pricey. Betas are also known as Japanese fighting fish– they really don’t go well with others, no matter the gender, size or anything. They puff up and will kill or injure each other. Good luck!
If you really want to budget cut I suggest going to Walmart and buy one of their starter tanks, these will come without a heater though. If you wanted to buy a heater you could get one that would work for about a 20 gallon (which is a good starter size) for about $15. I suggest buying a heater because about 95% of the fish you see in fish stores will require them. But if you could stick without the heater you can still buy several species of fish- Danios, most Tetras, or goldfish. But if you bought the heater you could definitely expand your species choices by about 200 species of fish. The cheapest place for fish is if you know someone who already has fish, chances are they have some that they might just give you! You’ll also need gravel, I happened to find an unbeatable place to get it- Home Depot. It will be label something like "pea-sized garden gravel", you’ll have to wash this gravel a little more than other gravel but the fact that the gravel is less than 1/8 of the price I’d say that makes it worth it.
Total costs— With heater, about $60 for a very nice looking tank. Without heater, about $45 dollars.
NOTE-This plan is for a 20 gallon fish tank, an excellent size for a starter.
In regards to previous comments,
Betas technically require atleast 2.5 gallons of water- a bowl of water will reduce their lives by about 7 years. And some betas can live together- ask the guy working at the store for a couple of female ones.
Guppies should be in warm water, they can live in cold water but they’ll be much slower and not as fun to watch. Watching guppies is one of their many perks because they honestly are like watching little kids play- they never stop moving.
You can get a betta fish the cost about 5 bucks and all they need is food and a container with water .I use to have a betta they don’t need a filter . you can just put a betta in a small fishbowl with water and give it food and change it’s water every week and he will survive Just make sure you do not put a betta with a betta in the same bowl or they will fight. You can have more than one betta just make sure you don’t put them in the same bowl or let them see each other or else they will get jealous of each others tail and they will get mad and want to fight. Betta fishes are better off by themselves but they can get companions just make sure you research the fishes that don’t have fancy tails or else they will want to fight.
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