Simple tank setup

Hi All

I would like to get an easy tank set up for my kid.
What tank and fish can you recommend and where in Cape Town is the best place to go?

Thanks
D.

 

Welkom to the forum please introduce yourself and tell me more about the petzcafe
Have you got any tanks setup at the moment.
there are a few guys on the forum from the cape area that can help.

Blaar

 

I'd recommend the following, but others might disagree:

Smallish tank, a canopy with light, simple filter, thermostat, some gravel, rocks and plants and then perhaps some Guppies or Platies - Guppies are nice and colourful (the males that is) and they breed quite easily, which is exciting and they're incredibly hardy. Don't forget food, net and thermometor.

There are quite a few places in Cape Town, I don't feel you need to go to a fancy aquarium. There are sponsors on TASA who would be able to assist too, look for the Sponsors section on the forum.

Hope that helps

 

Hello and Welcome @Petzcafe,

Chris has given you some very good and sound advice. I can only add onto his...

Get easy growing plants, (Anubias, Java Fern-- Bear in mind you need to check with us how you plant them, because not all plants get planted into the gravel)
Swords / Guppies are very hardy, and very rewarding as they are live-bearers, (i.e not egg scatters) and can be fun for the young one to watch.
Internal Canister filters and Hang on Back (AKA HOB) are good started filters.
Don't go too small with the tank. I'd say go absolute minimum 2ft, however I would advise a 3ft. The reason being that if something is wrong in a small tank, the concentration of that problem is much higher because there is less water.

I would also advise you to go over to the beginner section of the forum and read up on 2 beginner articles. Both these articles perfect for you. The one deals with what you need to set up, how to set up, and what to expect. And the second one deals mostly with maintenance.

Regards

 

Hello!
How old is he/she? I've only kept simple beginner fish, and prefer platys to guppies (bit bigger, great colours to choose from) and have found them pretty hardy. I've got a few kids going on them. I wouldn't recommend plants right at first, they can be hard to source/grow. It'd be simpler to set up a small fish and rocks tank first. Then you can research plants at your leisure, and take that step. General wisdom seems to be that bigger tanks are easier to care for than the teeny ones usually sold as beginners outfits.
Theres really good advice in the beginners section, have a read there!
Good luck! Hope you enjoy the hobby!

PS: DON"T take anything your LPS (local pet shop) tells you as law! The forum is a far better place to ask questions! We've all already made the mistakes!

 

Welcome. I could recommend white clouds because they don't need a heater and you could get 6 in a 1ft tank . They are not that colorful but are very interesting fish.

 

Just to clear something up, there is not really a "simple" setup. Every setup needs regular maintenance and should not be neglected. Smaller setup sometimes even more so.

 

@Vis - Ok, in theory I agree with you, it can't be made and just left, but it's as simple as it's going to get.

 

@Chris yes indeed in terms of setup and availability.

 

I've always said, and will maintain that the smaller the tank, the more maintenance required. Hence I advised a 3ft rather. It's big enough to accommodate the growth into the hobby, and small enough to keep maintenance fairly low.

 

howzit guys (gals)

thanks for all the responses, really helpful stuff.
my kid is 2yrs old, but i would like for him to understand what caring for another creature is, even fish. I think it will stimulate his attention, and be an activity we can do together.
tank wise, i guess a 2ft would be ideal, not to big as we live in a small space. I would also like to get an external (if possible) filter, i know this is overkill, but for maintenance would this not be beneficial.
i have posted the same question on the marine forum as i am not to sure what the difference between the environments and fish are?

@thyse - Petzcafe is a portal i built up a month or 2 ago, to discuss animal related issues. I also wanted to raise money for various shelters/ animal welfare organizations so have added revenue earning links. I want to expose people to the plight of animal issues and abuse and educate them on day to day pet issues.

I live in cape town, with my wife, kid and dog. work in the retail field and have a very soft spot for animals. enjoy a mountain bike on the weekends and generally taking it easy.

 

Well, I can tell you one thing, you shouldn't be looking at marine, that's a great deal more work than just a tropical tank

 

more difficult environment or more maintenance?

 

Everything about it really, from controlling the water to matching fish, and then there's the cost - incredibly expensive in comparison. I have a lot of experience with keeping tropical fish and I was thinking of going marine, but because I took a break for several years, I'm going tropicals to get back into it before I explore marines.

I don't advice you go marine.

 

i have seen those all in one tanks are they any good?

http://www.google.co.za/imgres?imgurl=http://s3.amazonaws.com/tc-photos/11442/product/standard/523569.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.petmountain.com/product/aquariums/11442-523759/spongebob-jellyfish-fields-aquarium-kit.html&usg=__8YJhqgIogsWKtQjTszeUMsEk_h0=&h=300&w=300&sz=23&hl=en&start=28&zoom=1&tbnid=G41f1LjfGtDnVM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dintegrated%2Bfish%2Btank%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-USfficial%26biw%3D1012%26bih%3D479%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C779&um=1&itbs=1&ei=lZMGTbutIovAsAO0s-GYBw&iact=hc&vpx=160&vpy=237&dur=1241&hovh=167&hovw=167&tx=74&ty=102&oei=hJMGTY3hFoH98Aalho3uAg&esq=4&page=3&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:28&biw=1012&bih=479

---------- Post added at 23:12 ---------- Previous post was at 23:12 ----------

guys on the marine forum recon R5 to start. bit steep for me and after reading some posts, i think you are right, tropical is the way to start.

 

They serve their purpose, which is a very limited marine environment - there's no sump or anything, so when it comes to cleaning and managing the salt levels, amongst other things, it can be quite a mission. You will most probably only be able to put a couple clowns in there, some live rock and a piece of coral or two - clowns cost about R100 each, live rock is quite expensive and corals from R250 upwards. Tropicals on the other hand around like R20 each, for many, and you'll be able to keep quite a few more

 

Ahhh not for tropical? Looked at your setup looking very interesting and complex, why 2 tanks?

 

Well, I used to have a lot of tanks, like 13 or more, can't remember exactly, but I never went the direction of having a proper unit with a sump (the tank underneath). The sump's used as a fancy filteration system, in its simplest form. I'm going tropical though, but looking at making it a big more advanced, hopefully.

 

does the sump reduce the maintenance of the water? would a big external filtration system do the same thing?

 

I suggest you read those 2 beginner articles. A filter can only remove so much waste after that it must be cleaned. An absolutely vital element of maintenence is water changes. This will reduce the nitrite levels in your tank there is simply no other way to do this