So I live in Christchurch and i have had fish for a few years now, I started with goldfish (this tank is kept in the family room so it's not really mine) which I found was quite boring so recently, I started my very own fish keeping journey! Back when we started the goldfish tank, I knew next to nothing about fish keeping but over the years I have done lots of research on particular fish that I am very fond of, these fish are guppies, white cloud mountain minnows, neon tetras, bettas, and paradise fish. I currently only own a bowl (lol excuse the bowl but I am pretty much in this journey alone with little to no help from my parents so the journey might be a little bit slow, and hey I had to start out from somewhere! I didn't wanna lie and say I have a big tank or anything that isn't true cause I don't think that a foundation of lies would be good if I seek good advice for my needs haha. Currently in my bowl, I have 3 white clouds, 2 guppies, and 3 neon tetras, now I know some of you might already think that this is horrible that I am keeping tropical fish in a non heated bowl and that it is way over stocked but please bare with me cause I do have my reasons haha. So first I decided to get the neons (neons are what started my interest in fish keeping after seeing them in the pet store when I was 12) I bought 2 neons and after one died, I went back and bought two more, it was then after researching more about neons did I realize why one died in the first place, and it of course was of the lack of a heater, I then decided to keep the neons as I didn't know what to do with them and they were definitely not gonna be live bait for the goldfish. I then went and bought a male and a female wild guppy (tepid water guppy) but then soon enough I realized that the female was not actually a wild guppy but a fancy one meaning it also needed a heater, I was very annoyed when I found out about this but thankfully the male wasn't a fancy guppy. Then one day my brother came home and gave me his white cloud minnows cause he had no place for them anymore after his tank broke. anyway so that's how my over crowded, unheated bowl came to be haha, and for those of you who are wondering, I do genuinely care about these fish and I am currently saving up to buy an aquarium kit with a heater, a filter and an oxygene pump in which I will be moving my female guppy and neon tetras to. I am incredibly excited about giving the fish a better home in which they can thrive in haha. anyway best of luck to all my fellow aquarist!

Welcome and enjoy your time here.

Welcome to the hobby.  We all make mistakes when starting out - its how we learn!

For your future plans I would suggest when buying a tank to get one bigger then you originally think you will need.  The hobby is addictive and your fish will breed thus need more room. Also instead of an oxygen pump put that money into a filter upgrade.  The vast majority of oxygen in an unplanted tank comes from the surface area of the tank (thus why bowls are not the best - smaller surface area).  An airstone and oxy pump is mainly to circulate the water between the bottom of the tank and the surface, very little O2 is absorbed from the bubbles. If the filter is strong enough to pump 5x the tank volume per hour then there is more then enough circulation in the tank for O2 absorption.

Thanks all! and wow I had no idea that O2 was that complicated but thank you, I think I understand it a lot more now

 

Welcome and feel free to ask questions - just make sure you take note of the answers! Nothing more frustrating than being asked questions, giving good answers, then having the person ignore all your advice, then come back and ask why their fish died/tank turned green/ or whatever 
You should be able to get good second deals on tanks and any equipment needed to go in them. A lot cheaper than buying a kit usually too.

Welcome 

I have a tank you can have 

Its 13 litres, it has a filter & heater (25w)

Free, just pay shipping.

Edited January 4, 20179 yr by Silverdollarboy2
Found a heater

Oh wow thanks a lot everyone for making me feel really welcome! I will take as much advice as i can, i'm quite passionate about this hobby so i really wanna do my best haha

 

also would you by any know how much shipping would cost? 

 

 

Not sure, probably around $20.

I will find out

that'll be really helpful, thanks!

PM me your email address.

done

 

Hi, welcome to the forum and to fish-keeping. There will be lots of good advice on here, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

There are various cheap/ish shortcuts for keeping fish when you don't have a lot of money available. If you are interested you are welcome to come and have a quick look at my set-up, I might be able to give you some ideas. I live in Shirley near the Palms Mall, just PM me if that would be helpful to you. I keep Fancy Guppies, White cloud minnows, danios and bristlenoses.

Also, I have a few bits of old but still usable gear lying around, there's a few things you could have for free, and some others very cheap.  And some aquarium plants for free.

thank you

 

Welcome to the forum and enjoy this great hobby of ours!

thanks