Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish, Fish. Fish

Keeping Fish,

Saltwater fish.

My flat mate has copitulated and so we are going to get some fish :D

But its been a while since i kept tropical fish, and even then i was somewhat limited by space. So I was woundering anyone got any pointers? Any sugestions of fish i should aspire to providing a home for?

Any recomendations on filters? I'm tempted by undergravel filtration systems, but have heard very mixed things about them.

and the title, first two lines are reference to "Mr. Scruff - Fish" which is on the Keep it Unreal album which is a must :)

Marine fish require a bit more set up than tropical fish, and constant checks to make sure the salt levels are right, marine set ups are a lot more hard core, and for people who know what theyre doing usualy. if your willing to plough the money in, then, you will need, a decent size tank (around 250l (50ish gallons). some arag alive sand, and some marine salt. a decent heater with thermastat, a VEY GOOD filter (preferably too) a protein skimmer and a powerhead (to create waves and current). preferably you'll want some lving rock wich will require specialist lighting. (ps. ive probably overlooked something - the reason for the bigger tank is becuase the larger the tank the easier it is to keep everything level)

Hmm, i was thinking saltwater fish, because i've had freshwater tropical before, and wanting to try something new.

That said, i've just thought.... which would be more resiliant to a good quality sub trying to shake the sense out of em?

I knew a guy who kept marine fish, had a setup for about 3 years, reckons he spent about 2500 pounds setting it up and lots more keeping it going and adding to his collection, ok tank was about 5 x 3 x 3 but he got rid of it in the end bacause it was too demanding in terms of time.

I would go freshwater myself. My last 'freinds' were 2 red bellied piranhas (the common type) had them for about 3 years. Since then I've moved on to cats - they smell less and don't need as much cleaning!

Good luck.

You might be right the main reson i was thinking saltwater fish, is because its new to me, think it might be best to have freshwater fishes

Yeh i was able to keep tropical when i was 13 with no real issues, but marine looks like alot of work, although its a very impressive sight to see coral and stuff in a marine tank

its kinda what i want, becuase i managed tropical fish fine till i was about 12 and a bad fish i bought with a nasty little germ killed my tank!

But in all honesty i don't think i've got enough time as all my google reading suggets is needed.

Tropical it is, any good fish sugestions?

chiclids, of all types they are amazing looking fish and come in many varities, also oscars are lovely..

Siamesse fighting fish look good, khuli loaches look awesome.. few neon tetras for banter, mind you oscars prob would eat them :)

Keeping marine fish is a whole different kettle of erm fish...sorry.

If done correctly, a marine tank can look absolutely stunning, the colours on some marine fish are breathtaking however as you have discovered they are a pain in the but to keep and there is the added "gutted" feeling when that £80 fish you bought dies after a few days of setting the tank up - I am not talking from experience btw.

If you want something along the lines of marine, but is tropical check out Lake Malawi Chiclids. They come in a whole range of vibrant colours and if I didn't know better I would have thought they were marine fish.

The downer with them is that they are NOT social fish, they can extremely aggressive towards other fish and will even kill each other if the tank isn't right. You can mix other species of fish with them, but they have to be the correct type, you can't blindly stick any old species of fish in with Malawi's. Despite this they are worth taking a serous look at, because they are beautiful fish.

if you want to go marine, then do it,but do it slowly, buy tank salt filters sand heater protein skimmer and some prawns from your local supermarket. use the prawns to start the ammonia off

Tropicals...

Guppies (gotta be done really)
Clown Loaches, Silver sharks and plecs were always my faves. Neon tetras are pretty and mollies are nice and floaty.

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Originally Posted by tiggerai

Guppies (gotta be done really)

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No it doesn't have to be done :P

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Originally Posted by tiggerai

Clown Loaches, Silver sharks and plecs were always my faves. Neon tetras are pretty and mollies are nice and floaty.

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Good selection of fish suitable for beginners with lots of colour. A large school of Neons are a great sight, just a shame that my Ghost Face would take a liking to them. If you want some larger Tetra's have a look at Congo tetras, they are much bigger, with the males having some great colour and unusual fins.

TheAnimus, if your looking at filters i can recommend the Eheim external range, very good filters and very easy to look after, just don't bother with the undergravel, they aren't very good, especially if you want to add real plants.

I had guppies when i was 10, i was able to breed them with relative sucsess (i managed to get about a dozen still living!)

neon tetra and glowlight tetra i think do add something to the tank. Oh well got to find a sideboard first i supose!

We managed to breed Plecs when I was younger... apparently that takes some doing in a home tank.

ended up selling them back to the shop, had about 30 of the things (had 3 large tanks set up in the hall, they were awesome to watch hatch)

damn plecs. mine grew so big there skin steched lol.

And it was so reclusive its skin went lighter

My sister dissected our Plec when it died... Grim... Bloomin' Biologists!

I have a relatively new Tropical tank setup. I bought 9 Guppies to start it off, 3 males and 6 females. 2 Females have vanished but I now have 3 baby guppies swimming around.

Guppies are great fun for a population explosion.

Trout are very valuable and immensely powerful.

(don't you go too near them!)