General Chat

Just wondered if anyone can give me any advice on whether to get Tropical or Marine fish for my new aquarium.

Decided to get into fish keeping but we are absolute beginners. Aquarium places say the big difference is obviously the cost, but has anyone got an aquarium who can advise.

I am completely stuck swaying between the two, my heart says get marine and my head says tropical. My grandaughter wants marine too cos of Finding Nemo and I think they are so colourful.

Any help greatly appreciated, we are going to pick up the aquarium, (equipped for marine or tropical), a 300 litre one, this afternoon.

Thanks a lot for any advice or suggestions
Marilyn :-S :-S :-S :-S

http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/marines/marinetropical


Have a read as each require different ideal conditions,,,,,,,,also all fish dont live in harmoney with each other,,,,,,they attack and eat each other.

ask at the place where you intend to buy the fish,they will give sound advise,when to add fish to a new set up.whats required for water conditions,size of pump and filters,feeding ,heat etc,

I myself would go with tropical
Marine are so much hard work
they are very pretty but also very expensive

and if you lose one its £30/£100 up the spout :-( :-(

Thanks Kay, will ask later :-)

That's what my head says JoBoroAngel lol.

don't buy a shark

don't buy a "Mexican Walking Fish"

They (and many others) eat other fish!

:-(

Thanks for advice LadyScozz :-)

I would love a living coral tank
but the expense is silly money :-D :-D

I would just have marine fish only, would love coral but it would be plastic lol :-)

I have a 4 foot tank. I have 4 goldfish in there. They are about 7 to 8 inches long. We feed them pellets and not flakes so we think that's why they have grown so big. We had tropical for years and they too can be quite pretty. They are very interesting for children if you get live bearers and watch the babies being born. We had a breeding tank for mum and babies otherwise mum will turn round and eat them. Marine fish I would love but far too expensive. The goldfish are quite boring but easy to keep

300 litres? hope you have a sound floor.............over 600 lbs of water........

Bob

My son has a huge tank all set on a fancy cabinet. He has tried Marine but as others have said very costly and a lot of hard work. He now keeps tropical of every shape and colour.

Hi Bob, knee is coming along nicely thanks. :-D

Who me Bob? I have a concrete floor. I started off with the goldfish 9 years ago. Looking after daughters house while she went on holiday. Went over to water the plants and was hit by this disgusting smell. Searched for this smell and it was 2 goldfish, one in each of the kids bedroom. You could not even see the fish. Cleaned the water and bought them back here and put them in my tiny tank in the corner of the kitchen. When kids come back daughter would not let them have them back as they did not look after them Hubby feeds pellets and not flakes and they grew very quick. So had to buy a larger tank where they carried on growing. We lost one of them last Christmas day so went and bought 3 baby ones to keep the large one company lol They are now quite big. I had tropical when my children were young

Well brought the cupboard part of the aquarium home, got the tank in but the boot wouldnt shut lol. Have to go back tomorrow for the aquarium. Decided on tropical in the end. Saw lots of nice colourful fish so will be taking another trip back when it is set up.

Thanks to everyone for advice :-D :-D

remember to set the tank up a week before you add your fish :-D :-D

As Joy said, leave the tank at least a week after setting up to allow it to "settle down"
There is a product that will be on sale where you buy the fish called
"Fluval Cycle"
It is a biological enhancer that will condition the water ready for the fish.

I also have a 300lt tank that I set up a few months ago.
Don't buy expensive fish to start with, as you may lose some in the first few months, until the tank has really settled down.

As for marine tanks, as tempting as they are, it is better to start with tropical, and maybe progress to marine at some later date.
Conditioning the water for marines is more complicated than for tropical.

Enjoy your tank,
Tec :-)

Ah! the "ammonia cycle"........begins.......

Bob

obviously, you are not a new starter.......so good luck with your new tank........
I started with an undergravel filter, but progressed to a separate Eheim one......

run both now........

Bob I had fish for many years, but didn't bother when we moved. Now after a gap of several years I've set up a nice bow fronted tank that I acquired second hand.

Got more time to devote to it now.

I notice that the hobby has moved on, and become a lot more commercial, and technical now.

Once we filled the tank, planted it up, put the fish in and hoped for the best :-D

They never seemed to come to any harm.

I kept tropicals from my teens to 30s and keep wondering whether to set up again now! :-) I never fancied the faff of marines although I love the fish and they are expensive as people say.

Don't forget to float the bags with your new fish in in the tank for an hour or so before you release them so the temperature equalizes. Don't overfeed and make sure any little ones (and big ones!) know not to tap the tank glass as they are very sensitive to that. :-)

I've only ever kept goldfish, but can never understand why some people feel the need to tap the glass of tanks/fish bowls :-S
What are they expecting the fish to do?

Do they tap bird cages? I don't think so, as the most likely response is a flapping bird in a panic!! People talk to birds, why not talk to fish?
They can feel the vibrations.