Aquariums and Fish

[Finnegan]

I don't really know why but I've got this persistent interest at the moment in having fish.

I've never had fish before but I find them kinda relaxing and I've got the space in my room for a reasonably sized tank.

Wouldn't have a clue where to start, though, I could always go for Google but I'm feeling brave so I thought I'd trawl (cwotididthar) the depths of Foxes Talk's wisdom. I figure there must be a few of you on here with fish tanks who know what you're doing.

Are they expensive to keep? Is it very involved, will it take a lot of daily care beyond just feeding them? Are some fish a lot more durable than others? Are silver sharks actually really sharks and will they hunt down other fish if mixed? Which fish prefer the diver's helmet and which do you find more fond of the castle? Is it easy to mix fish and crustaceans and are the latter expensive?

Shower me with your knowledge, FoxesTalkers.

[21st Century Fox]

Jellyfish is where it's at!!

(I have a feeling their tanks are quite expensive though, as they have to have constantly circulating water)

[Rincewind]

I had a goldfish once but it died the first time that I took it out for a walk.

[General Smuts]

Transvestite: You did love it so, you treated it like a son.

Strange Man: And it went... where-ever I... did go.

[Bends perplexingly long arms]

Transvestite: Is it in the cupboard? Wouldn't you like to know! It is a most elusive fish.

[Strange Man twiddles some brass taps sown to the breasts of the Transvestite's corset]

Strange Man: That went where-ever I did go.

Transvestite: Oh, fishy, fishy, fishy fish!

Strange Man: A fish, a fish, a fishy OOOOH!

Transvestite: Oh, fishy, fishy, fishy fish!

Strange Man: That went wherever I... did go!

[The Doctor]

Well this has worked out well. Only thing I know - Silver Sharks aren't really sharks and mix ok, although they may try to eat smaller fish.

[Finnegan]

Jellyfish is where it's at!!

(I have a feeling their tanks are quite expensive though, as they have to have constantly circulating water)

That's actually awesome. Like a living lava lamp.

[Jon the Hat]

It has been a long time since I kept fish. Stay tropical, saltwater is much harder work. Get a book it will tell you all about the main species and what will eat each other. It was pretty easy to maintain a stable tropical 3ft tank.

[Fox92]

Jellyfish is where it's at!!

(I have a feeling their tanks are quite expensive though, as they have to have constantly circulating water)

Do they bite you? If so, how do you replace stuff when they are inside the tank and buzzing around? I always thought they can hurt humans a bit, am I wrong?

[21st Century Fox]

Do they bite you? If so, how do you replace stuff when they are inside the tank and buzzing around? I always thought they can hurt humans a bit, am I wrong?

Jellyfish can sting, but I'm not sure what need you'd have to put your hands in there. My friends got a tank in his studio, it looks laaaavely! They have to have special tanks though because they get stuck in the corners of regular ones and get sucked into the filter systems.

[Zingari]

Start with the easy stuff such as Guppy , Black Molly , swordtail , neon tetra etc . Most aquatics shops will tell you the best starter fish.

I used to keep them about 30 years ago , but have moved so many times since I've never got around to it again .

I'm pretty settled now ( I hope) so i think i might look into this again . There's a fantastic range of ready made set ups in shops these days , not like when I did it. The only choice was the size of tank .

I think they are fantastic .

Didn't someone post a picture of his set up a while back ?

[Haydos]

Wales are mammals.

[AoWW]

Samilktray was pretty into them, if I remember correctly. Not sure he still reads the boards though.

That jellyfish tank looks great - I can imagine them being really calming to look at.

Oh, and can you keep seahorses in a tank - I've always loved them.

[Zingari]

Wales are mammals.

Chileans are cold blooded

[Trav Le Bleu]

I don't really know why but I've got this persistent interest at the moment in having fish.

I've never had fish before but I find them kinda relaxing and I've got the space in my room for a reasonably sized tank.

Wouldn't have a clue where to start, though, I could always go for Google but I'm feeling brave so I thought I'd trawl (cwotididthar) the depths of Foxes Talk's wisdom. I figure there must be a few of you on here with fish tanks who know what you're doing.

Are they expensive to keep? Is it very involved, will it take a lot of daily care beyond just feeding them? Are some fish a lot more durable than others? Are silver sharks actually really sharks and will they hunt down other fish if mixed? Which fish prefer the diver's helmet and which do you find more fond of the castle? Is it easy to mix fish and crustaceans and are the latter expensive?

Shower me with your knowledge, FoxesTalkers.

At first I thought you were speaking Welsh!

[Bellend Sebastian]

Up until about a week ago I was pretty much unable to think about anything else. Struggling to cope with the twin pressures of work and family life, my only escape was to read about aquariums. You may assume this is the usual pithy Bellend nonsense, but it's actually true.

I am sans aquarium at the moment, but kept a tropical tank reasonably successfully for the decade up to moving house last year. I say reasonably successfully as I didn't really have a clue what I was doing, but I plan to return to the hobby soon once the house is sorted out, and as a result have been doing shitloads of reading over the last few months.

It's a great hobby in that to an extent you can spend relatively little on it both in terms of cash and time, or totally immerse yourself in it (not literally in the aquarium), spend a fortune and take it as far as you want to go.

Probably the most important thing to consider is how big an aquarium can you fit in? Generally, the bigger the better - as well as being a more stable environment, there will be more livestock to choose from as very few fish do well in tiny tanks. As has been pointed out already, Marine fishkeeping is expensive although a lot easier than it used to be, and as coldwater fish generally need a lot of space (putting goldfish in bowls and little plastic Argos tanks has long been considered cruel), for the beginner, tropical pretty much picks itself.

There is a certain amount of maintenance required, with water testing and changes needed regularly if the fishy dudes are to live for as long as they can, but ongoing expense shouldn't be too great, unless you have a heavily planted tank and get into CO2 injection and fertilizers and all that jazz.

Practical Fishkeeping magazine is ace, and its website and forum are both really helpful too (although the latter isn't as lively as in here). You can soon find out how to get started, which fish make good tank mates etc and keep it going.

I cannot wait to get mine, I'm going to properly go for it when I do

[MPH]

Just to add to Sebastians post above... I would actually decide first off wether you want a tropical warm water tank or a cold water ( goldfish ) style tank. I started off with a cold water tank as 1. it was easier to set up and 2. the fish are slightly more difficult to kill. But much less fun. Tropical fish come in many more different varieties and colours and are more expensive but really are much more fun.Still quite a few different varieties with cold water fish though... I have never known anyone who has successfully breeded cold water fish though.. yet with the right ph and chemical balance in the water, a few people i have known have managed to breed tropical fish . Like he said... it all depends how far you want to go....

[ithuriel]

There is a good shop on the Welford road near the Grimsby fish n chip shop, when i kept tropical fish i would go there for fish, think i got my tank from the shop on Cavendish road.

Get your tank first, the tanks filter will need time to mature before you place any fish into the tank.

They look amazing and are very restful to look at but need a bit of tending to every so often, there are some good sites online for advice but i stopped keeping fish a couple years ago

[Rincewind]

get an online screensaver of a fish tank.

Had some sort of PC game once where you had to breed fish. The bad thing for some of the fish was that they ate each other, so you had to buy the right quantities of the litle fish to feed the big fish happy whilst allowing them to breed fast enough.

[_Fatboyslow_]

get an online screensaver

Link it up to your flat screen tv sorted

[ithuriel]

Might get back into this, Juwel 180 Aquarium in darkwood with cabinet

About £450 to £500, will take a look see tomorrow.

[Christoph]

Stick with tropical fish rather than marine fish as they take a lot less taking care of and they are a lot less cheap. I'd reccomend getting a catfish as they'll get rid of the algae for you, so it saves you cleaning the tank as often. Overall tropical fish are easy to look after so i wouldnt worry too much, buy a book or google looking after tropical fish, there isnt much to it though with the right equipment bought.

[Nick]

I don't really know why but I've got this persistent interest at the moment in having fish.

I've never had fish before but I find them kinda relaxing and I've got the space in my room for a reasonably sized tank.

Wouldn't have a clue where to start, though, I could always go for Google but I'm feeling brave so I thought I'd trawl (cwotididthar) the depths of Foxes Talk's wisdom. I figure there must be a few of you on here with fish tanks who know what you're doing.

Are they expensive to keep? Is it very involved, will it take a lot of daily care beyond just feeding them? Are some fish a lot more durable than others? Are silver sharks actually really sharks and will they hunt down other fish if mixed? Which fish prefer the diver's helmet and which do you find more fond of the castle? Is it easy to mix fish and crustaceans and are the latter expensive?

Shower me with your knowledge, FoxesTalkers.

Dear Finners,

I'm worried about you.

Fish are more time spent in a bedroom and they bring inevitable fish grief loss syndrome, exacerbated by the fact that you shouldn't eat them. (Apparantly)

Fish and piano wire often go hand in hand, if you need an ultraviolet light in your life, may I respectfully recommend a greater exposure to daylight.

I once got so lonely my own tongue began to feel good in my mouth. My condition was not cured by fish.

Fish have never been the answer Sosban....... Never.

[Zingari]

Dear Finners,

I'm worried about you.

Fish are more time spent in a bedroom and they bring inevitable fish grief loss syndrome, exacerbated by the fact that you shouldn't eat them. (Apparantly)

Fish and piano wire often go hand in hand, if you need an ultraviolet light in your life, may I respectfully recommend a greater exposure to daylight.

I once got so lonely my own tongue began to feel good in my mouth. My condition was not cured by fish.

Fish have never been the answer Sosban....... Never.

What if the question is , "who was the lead singer in Marillion"

Fish would be the answer then ,

[Nick]

I see your point. The answer could be fish. I think it depends on the question.

[ithuriel]

Well, i decided to get back into having a nice fish tank in the living room with tropical fish, i was thinking about marine but that may take much more effort since i've never bothered with marine before.

Went to Ocean Commotion on Clarendon Park road and they are doing a deal on Juwel aquariums where you get the cabinet for free with the tank so i ordered a 101cm x 41cm x 50cm dark wood tank for £296, these tanks have built in light, heater and bio filter for tropica set ups.