Quick Ideas for the Fresh Water Tank: Ask the Right Questions

Pick a fish tank

Pick the rocks for the bottom.

Make sure that you have enough rocks to cover the bottom

Find a filtering system that will work for your fish tank

Choose plants, rocks, and other items to decorate your fish tank

Set up the fish tank.

Pick out the types of fish that you want

When picking the fish tank remember size and shape matter. Think of the space available, how many fish are wanted, the type of fish desired and the decorations. With a small space use a small tank. Get either smaller fish or fewer fish. Some aquatic life should not be in a small fish bowl. For instance a 3 inch gold fish should not be in a small fish bowl. He will fit but it would be like telling you to live in your car and that means 24/7. You would not be able to get out to go to work, shop, eat, or any other human duty. That would not be very uncomfortable and you would get muscle fatigue. The same thing would take place with a fish in a bowl that is too small. The fish tank should be big enough for the fish to exercise by swimming around and he should be able to zoom across the fish tank. Also, consider the number of fish that will be in the fish tank. Will the fish still be able to zoom across the fish tank or will he run into a school of fish blocking his way to the air bubbles? A small fish bowl may only have 1 or 2 small fish in it. One Beta would work well in a fish bowl. 10 feeder gold fish are small enough to be joyful and healthy in a 10 gallon fish tank. If buying bigger fish or small fish to get big, then a bigger fish tank is needed. At one time we had a 150 gallon fish tank and bought a 2 inch plecostomos to go with our 15 or so 2 inch gold fish. He grew to be 8 inches long within a short time.

Make setting up the fish tank after gathering all your supplies. quick and easy. Remember everything needs to be washed off. Warning!! Do Not Use Soap!! Soap can take the protective coating off of your new fish. If you want to use something to clean the fish tank and the new decorations then use non-iodized salt. Yes, everything needs to be rinsed. An easy way to rinse everything is to use a large clean bowl from your kitchen. Rinse it well and place it in your bath tub. Now you set your decorations in the tub. Poke holes in one side of your bag of rocks with a pen and one bigger hole in the top of the bag. The big hole will be used to let the water into the bag. Always hold this hole up. The smaller holes will allow the water to run out the other side. This will allow you to rinse the rocks without a big mess.

Run the fish tank for at least 24 hours before putting the fish into the water. This allows the fish tank to "condition". Some say that the fish tank should "condition" for a week before putting the fish in. We always waited 28-48 hours. Test your fish tank. Testing your fish tank is important. We would always buy a dozen minnows from a bait shop to test the fish tank. I like minnows. They swim in a school and move around a lot. They also go well with gold fish, which is another type of fish that I like.

Look at the options for rocks, plants and decorations. There are many decorations to choose from. Most will go into any size fish tank but you would need to get smaller and fewer plants for the fish bowl. If you want plants for a fish bowl I would suggest only using one small plant or decoration. If you want to have a special rock in the bowl then think of the fish before adding a plant. Live plants are a great idea. Many will feed the fish extra nutrients but make sure to ask your knowledgeable store associate what is right for your fish. Some plants should not be used. Pet stores have a selection to choose from that will work and look great. When choosing decorations remember to give a place to "hide". A lot of aquatic life likes to have some privacy.

The type of fish is important. Some fish are very aggressive and need to be on there own and others do best when they are in large groups. Here is a site that shows you quite a few different types of fish and how aggressive that they are. Also, there is a list of what they need. http://alysta.com/books/fishtype.htm

http://www.fishlore.com/freshwaterfish.htm

Also, ask a lot of questions when you are picking out your fish at the pet store. Make a list of what you want and the type of fish tank and cleaning system that you have chosen. Show this plan to your pet store associate. He should know if your plan will work. To make sure ask him questions to test his knowledge. Some questions that could test him are: Can I buy several Betas and put them in a fish tank together? (NO) Is it ok to put big fish with really small fish? (No, the big fish should be no more than twice the size of the smaller fish. Big fish pick on small fish.) A worker that is willing to tell you that he does not know is better that the one who pretends to know while giving you an answer from his own imagination. If you get a worker who does not know then stick with a basic plan. Choose one type of fish that are already in the same fish tanks at the store. You will notice that Betas are kept in individual containers on the shelves. At the same time many other fish are kept together by size. Keep this in mind when picking your own fish. The type of fish and size of the fish do matter. Warning!!! Do not get any algae eaters to clean your new fish tank. They will not have any food to eat, because algae takes time to grow in a new fish tank. Instead wait about 3-4 weeks.

Quick warning. Remember to set the bag of fish on the top of the tank for at least 30 minutes. The water in the bag needs to be the same temperature as the tank water to prevent shock.
Questions to ask you KNOWLEDGEABLE Associate:

Are these fish compatible? (name the type or point to them in the fish tanks.)

How much food do I feed these fish?

How many times a day do I feed them?

What type of food do they eat?

Do these fish like to hide?

Do I need a heater?

Add to this list any questions that come to mind.