Jacko Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 I've just come across this site by doing a Google and thought I would join up. I was really just looking for information on gold fish. Perhaps I should introduce myself first. My interests most revolve round sports, I have mountaineered for the last 20 years both in NZ and Europe. I have pretty much retired from that as the dangers are quite unacceptable when raising a family! I also rockclimb which is quite safe and fantastic to do on a nice sunny day (not many of those recently). Since giving up mountaineering I have taken up flying gliders (sail planes) and this takes up quite a bit of time....and money I also swim in a squad, which is really the closest I have been to any sort of aquatic pursuits! Not to mention skiing and cycling! We purchased a small plastic tank (I think 10L) for my daughter in September last year and the two surviving gold fish are getting really big. So I started to look on trademe for a small aquarium...and followed links and was impressed by some of the pictures I saw...never know may become another MTS in the making Anyway I note in the questions on trademe people quite often ask about the age of aquariums. Is this because the silicon deteriorates over time, or is it because the glass has more chance of having clips etc which could affect integrity? What do the experts think of this one? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... d=60812797 Should I ask the seller to fill it first to make sure there are no leaks? What would the experts suggest we use as a lid? (do we really need one?) I though we could move up to a 30L aquarium, they seem to be retailing for round $60, is this a fair price? Would I need to buy a better filter, the one we have came with the set and just sticks to the side on suckers? I would assume it is the lowest spec model. Anyway thanks in advance for your comments/suggestions. Regards Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Hi and welcome I'll leave those who are more knowledgeable to answer your questions - I'm sure you'll find out what you need to know from them Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magenta Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 We are newish to the hobby and like you started off with a couple of goldfish that were given to our daughter... We spent alot of time mucking around, and wished we had just bought something like this: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pe ... 073142.htm Expensve I know, but it has everything, and you could play around with tropicals - it has a heater too Soon enough, you'll be stocking a nice 4ft anyway... Cheers, Hamish and Melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted June 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Yep, went to Redwood Aquatics today...though I left the chequebook at home Had a walk through their tanks, and quess what, we have the perfect space in our living room for a Vision 450L I'm confusing the wife now though, as I have been talking about my dream glider which happens to be a Discus, and there is a cool picture in the Juwel brochure of a Vision 450 stocked with..... discus 8) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magenta Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Now you're talking. Every time we go to Redwood we come home wanting to set up a marine tank... Do you go to Organism on Ilam Rd as well? They're excellent in there also - very helpful for us newbies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 you need a fair amount of space for your golfish, they can easily hit 20cm very quickly and make ALOT of mess. id go for a three foot aquarium for two, you might even need to upgrade still :lol: im guessing its a 450L tank (going by the name lol) and that would be great for discus. however- i do advise doing some serious reading, your going to need to do water changes at least 2-3 times a week on the tank as discus are picky about their water quality compared to weekly with most other tropicals. im doing daily water changes on my discus tank and when i upgrade to my 216L BB im going to be doing 70L every 2 days. much more work and pickier to house but definatly work the effort when you see your stunners gliding around like the kings of the world average 60L 60x30x60 go for around 30 bucks here, auckland is normally cheaper (damnit lol). it depends if you want new or second hand too, sometimes its even cheaper just to make the glass company make you one with their offcuts (or if you know anyone that makes tanks). offcuts are a real cheap way to make tanks if your handy. it also depends on what you want in a tank, a real flash tank with all the bits and bobs or just your plain standard glass tank and you add the rest, youll see the difference in price beleive me but in the end its up to you how much money you can afford to spend on them, but keep in mind they will get a good size (the goldfish) and need some really good filtration. hope that helps and welcome to our forums! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted June 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 No Magenta I haven't heard of Organism. Will check them out sometime soon. And Sharn you can be rest assured that if I go for the tropical fish, I will start with something pretty simple. BTW, do any of the forum members notice a difference in their power bill with all these electrics running? And how much work is something like a community tank? What would be a typical week of maintenance? Does the size of a tank increase the work? Regards Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 the bigger the tank the less work IMO, sure, you need to change more water (in some cases this doesnt apply) but its easier to keep everything stable. with a small tank your needing to constantly watch the water to make sure you dont over do anything. i run 3 tropical tanks (300W,200W,150W,100W heaters, a 40W canister, couple of internals, and 72W worth of lighting, couple of air pumps etc) and ive seen the power bill go up perhaps 10 bucks a month? if that! thats approx 800L worth of tanks. in winter its obviously a bit more (maybe 20 bucks) but theyre all in my room so i close the door and it heats up and reduces the heat loss, some people tape polystyrene to the backs and sides during winter to insulate a bit more. my weekly schedule for my 'normal' tanks (the not normal is the discus tank which is daily lol) is a water change of 30% and feeding twice daily. the gravel siphon is taking out water so thats killing two fish with one stone (bad joke, i know lol). turning on and off lights isnt a major, i could put them on timers if i wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted June 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 Thanks for the info Sharn. So you feed twice a day? Would that be standard for most community tanks? We have realised that we are over feeding our gold fish and cut it down considerably. :oops: I quess tropical fish are different. Regards Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magenta Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 My wife wanted me to say you should get your dream glider first - she wanted to renovate the bathroom before we started fish-keeping. Luckily she likes the fish too. as for the bathroom... ahem Personally, I think you should get a nice 4 ft tank, it will help distract your wife from the new glider you got *as well* Maintaining a tank isnt hard at all, its more a matter of getting into a routine, you'll get heaps of help from all the experts on this forum - they really kinow their stuff. Cheers, Hamish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 24, 2006 Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 HI Paul, Sounds like you're pretty active there.. great stuff. Welcome to the forums. and hope you enjoy your vists. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted June 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2006 So a 4 foot tank would be around 200L? And you are right Magenta, I haven't yet worked out how to hide the purchase of a glider in the normal household budget...not to mention how I hide it in the garage :-? Now if I was to buy a glider and a tank at the same time and mumbled something about the tank being more expensive than I thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustcooktea Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 Welcome along! It sounds like you are already getting lots of good advise but I would agree with the need to put your goldies in a nice big tank. My daughter's tank for two goldfish holds 100 litres but they don't need a heater or fancy lights if you aren't keeping live plants. I have a desk lamp on a cheap timer that is directed at the tank and lights it up nicely for viewing. Good luck with your scheming btw. Money is so much easier to spent than earn! :-? MCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 What do the experts think of this one? The silicon has discoloured which is a sign that it is very old and could indicate that it is starting to lift off the glass. Also there is no braceing on the top which means the sides could bow and break plus it will be a pain to put lids on with out something for them to sit on. If it was me I would pass on this one. If your thinking about just a plain tank, i.e. not a full setup with stand etc. I suggest you buy a new tank, but get it from a tank maker. There will be one down there. The going rate in Wlg is about $1 liter from our local tank maker. The other option would be to go along to your local club, someone will proberally either give you a small tank or sell it very cheap, most of us have small spare tanks because we have upgraded and don't use them any more. Also you asked about lids, you don't have to use them but there a many good reasons to, they slow down evaperation, stop cats eating your fish, stop fish jumping out of tank, help stop other stuff like dust etc getting into tank. About the only good reason for not using a lid is if you tank over heats for some reason, during sumer, or because you have strong lighting. You can blow a fan over the top of the water, this make the water evaperate really fast, but also takes energy out of the water cooling it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted June 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 Hey everyone, thanks for your great advice. Suphew, I have just looked in the phone directory and there is a place called Canterbury Aquariums in CHCH, which evidently makes custom made glass aquariums. Does anyone know if they would be a goer for my situation? Anyway on the above advice, I will probably buy a larger aquarium than I initially intended and will look at a new one rather than second hand....probably best for a newbie. Thanks again. Regards Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted June 25, 2006 Report Share Posted June 25, 2006 new isnt always best, its often alot more costly and if only bought new tanks id be in debt :lol: 4 out of my 5 tanks (60L-460L) i bought used. it depends on whether the aquarium place is using new glass, thats costs ALOT more than mint second hand off cuts. i feed all my fish differently. my discus get at least 4 times a day, the community is 2-3 times, my axolotls are every 3 days and my oscar is every 2-3 days. it depends on what fish you are keeping. i would feed goldfish once a day, im not too up on them and how fast their metabolisms are etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 26, 2006 Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 Glaziers are a lot cheaper when it comes to making tanks. Of course, you then have to have a stand made, or find something suitable for the tank to sit on (remember they weigh a lot!!). Marines are very expensive to set up and run. They use a lot more power than running tropical tanks. Mostly because they require more equipment and specialised lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted June 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 Yeah Caryl, I was thinking about the weight today. The current tank sits on a chest of draws, hardly designed to take a large weight. The other thing that occurred to me was in the case of a reasonable size earthquake there may be an issue with large tank, although the draws aren't too tall, probably a metre by 600 deep. I'm guessing that a 60L tank would probably be the maximum I would want to risk. I can quite happily sit on the top and weigh round 83Kg and the ‘foot print’ of the tank will be considerably larger than my backside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Hi Behind in the posts so I'm trying to catch up :-? Did you get another tank yet? I have 3 goldfish Sam, Beauty, & Puff in a 10 gallon tank, but recently decided that it's going to become a hospital/quarantine tank when I find one to put my goldies in It is highly recommended that you place styrofoam under your tank, thought I'd drop that in case you didn't know 8) Take care & have fun, Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim&Dan Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Hey Jacko! Been away and catching up with the welcomes So here it is: a warm welcome to the forums from us too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted July 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2006 Hi Caper Yep got our tank. Posted a couple of pic's: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/jackos ... 14205.html Goldfish now in and I presume happy???? Regards Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted August 4, 2006 Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 Very nice...I really like the rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacko Posted August 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 We have a few additions to the tank now. We purchased a couple of Chinese Algae Eaters, and man do they live up to their name!!! Last week we bought 6 Danio’s but lost 2 in the first 24 hours (as in no dead bodies, they just disappeared) . The remaining 4 don’t seem to be bothered by the goldfish and even try to push in on the choice bits at feeding time. Likewise the goldfish pretty much ignore them so I’m not sure why we lost them. We also bought a thermometer and the tank stays around 20c so was thinking of maybe buying a heater. If we gradually raised the temperature to 24c maybe we could get a few of the more hardy tropical fish?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WEKA Posted August 4, 2006 Report Share Posted August 4, 2006 I would keep a close eye on the top of the cabinet that the tank is on. If it starts to droop in the middle you may have some draws full of fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMAZONIAN Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 Hi and welcome to the "growing".. Hobby. I would suggest that you strongly consider the sizes of aquaria and the stocking rate before you even think about ONE TANK. My rule of thumb has been (And I have 46years experience) to allow at least 288 square inches of surface are for two ( a pair) of 4 inch Angel fish. In other words be prepared to invest in TWO TANKS from the Start. :lol: at least a 4 foot by 18 inch sq. and a two foot by 12 inch square.. and OH, dont forget you are going to need a quarantine tank as well. Say another two foot by 12 inch sq. You can probably cut a deal on two tanks the same. :roll: Welcome and Good luck with PMT syndrome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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