I've got a few dollars to spare and I wanted to set my aquarium up again. Last year, I bought a bunch of crap for saltwater and ended up not being able to afford it. Now, I want to set up freshwater. I was wondering, though, if my compact fluorescent light would be too much for freshwater? The corals in the saltwater required a much more intense light than regular fluorescent, which is what I've always used with freshwater.

So is my compact fluorescent light better suited for growing pot than a freshwater fish habitat? It's not at my house right now, but I'm pretty sure it's a 24" Coralife with a 10,000K bulb and an actinic bulb and two lunar light LEDs...

Good choice, man. Your "fish" will be just fine with that kind of light. I had a nice "fish" once while I was in college, but I over watered it and it died. I still tried to smoke it, though. I mean... That is what you're really wanting to know about, right? 8) 8)

Well, if I decide that I'd rather "smoke" my "fish" than keep them alive for a while, I know that this light will definitely come in handy. Some guy at a pizza place once gave my friend advice on how best to use this light for growing strong, healthy "fish." It was pretty funny...

...but my concern is fish... without the quotations... at least for now. After all, I'm trying to become a reserve at the SO in May (when I can pass a lie detector test, which I can't do right now because of "fish" that I had just before graduation).

I've only had salt water aquariums (and it's been some years since my last), but from what I remember, the light is stronger in salties than freshies. If you notice when you walk through aquarium stores (real ones, not petco or whathaveyou) you can see a pretty big difference. As far as "fish" are concerned, on the occasion that I feel like handling "fish," I like to just get it from a fisherman. You know, already scaled, cleaned, gutted and ready to cook. And watching your fish with your "fish" might not be a bad way to go.

To me fish seem like the worst pets to have. First of all you have to listen to that annoying air pump all the time. The constant buzz makes me want to jump out a window. The animals themselves have no emotion and if you fell in the tank and died they would just eat you. No loyalty.
Then there's the ass nasty tanks full of algee. Maybe you could get one of those dumb algee eaters but they don't really do much.
The fish food smells like poo too.

In short, eat your fish, get a dog :P

Steve you're a funny dude. But as said already the lights wont hurt
the fish and if you use live plants in your tank it's even better. I've
had freshwater aquariums for the past 15 yrs. and have always preferred
live plants as do the fish, with their emotionless selves. :D

To me fish seem like the worst pets...
Steve, you ever sit quite and enjoy a sunset... It's kinda the same thing. There is some weird serenity one gets just watching these creatures go about doing their thing in a habitat made for them.

Now, what I don't get is Birds for pets. :D

Anyone know much about fish?
They taste good fried.

Indeed!! And admittedly when i first saw the title of this thread, i thought
someone wanted to exchange some good recipes. :)

Well, I can't say that I think gourami or guppy would really be all that delectable, fried or raw...

I just don't want the light to be too intense for them. I know plants will love it, but I'm not that far into planning, yet. I've got to see what all my old roommate picked up when I left my stuff at my apartment last year...

If anyone has some recipes, fire away... I haven't been cooking enough lately and I just got a decent new knife set...

I don't know if your into fishing, but once you get your tank set up, I could give you some tips on how to catch 'em! :)

I love fish! I travel to the "fish" shops in amsterdamm once a year with the boys :wink: ...... anyway I gotta fresh water tank with a bunch of african chiclids. They re fun, they like to eat each other

I LIKE "FISH" both kinds, Oh And your lights, they will be fine, You will have to watch your temps pretty close. From my experience fresh water is a less hearty fish than salt. (I know it seems crazy) Have u thought of a less expensive salt set up. I have had several tank set ups a my most enjoyable were low cost hearty fish. (Puffers, Triggers so on) It ends up being somewhat of an overaggressive tank but u cant kill em. Not to mention how cool feeding time is.

Really? Everything I was reading and what people were telling me about salt was that it required a lot of upkeep. All I can remember doing with my fresh tank was cleaning and occasional chemicals. The fish were living long and even reproducing...

So what's a "cheap" salt setup? I really like the saltwater fish more than the fresh. And I'm guessing cheap doesn't include corals (which was another huge attraction, but I can live without).

Oh, and it doesn't involve live rock, does it? I may still have about 20 pounds, but it's definitely not "live" any more, and that shizz is expensive...

So what's a "cheap" salt setup?
Oops there goes the easy salt tank :lol:

Whew, let's see. My 35 gal salt set up was about 5 bills just to get the tank up and running, another $60 or so worth of live rock (not lava by the way, that's fresh water stuff) and maybe another 10 to 15 bucks for guinea pigs, er, um, I mean some damsels, to test the water until the PH balances were optimum for real fish. - not that there's anything wrong with damsels, but that's not what you get a salt water tank for.

Yeah, changing the water can be a pain in the ass (you're supposed to empty about 20% of water and put in new water every month and half to two months if I remember correctly). Mixing that crap can get old. But it was also kind of therapeutic. Oh, and if you get the right kind of pump, it won't be noisy. Just a little hum, probably quieter than most appliances you already have running in your home.

Careful with eels, they like to get out.
Careful with lion fish - their spines can send you to the ER
Careful with your aggressive fish - make sure they are MUCH smaller than your non aggressive fish - salt water fish are too expensive to have to keep replacing if one decides to eat another, especially if both die in the attempt.

Sounds like a lot to contend with, but definitely worth it - if you like aquariums that is. Plus, at night, when the the tank light is the only light on, you got some soft music playin, a little drinky drink drink and a hottie over... whew, it's like magic!!! 8)

... all that said, I miss my old pit/boxer mix, and would love to have her back. Dogs kick ass!

Yeah, my brother did salt for a while and let me tell you my man, salt
water and cheap do not share the same ideas. The fish are crazy
expensive which means that you better be constantly on point with tank
maintenance. It is very cool and the variety of fish are awesome but
there is nothing cheap or easy about saltwater setups. IMO.

ive been running a 20 gal freshwater tank for about 5 years. it was a great post-breakup w/ the gf gift to myself.

these pics were taken this month.
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/601/dsc0070qa1.jpg

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/1843/dsc0069oo5.jpg

i have all live plants and they are awesome. been running a cheapo CO2 system. ive wanted to get a CF lighting system http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3733+9654+9871&pcatid=9871
but havent done it. things seem to be growing just fine w/ my standard coralife nutrigro flourescent 20Wbulb. 20W for 20gal live plant aquarium is on the low side, typically you want 3-5W per Gal for live plant tanks.

per the comments on the noisy filter/air pumps- not everything is loud like your wal-mart goldfish air pump. i have a canister style http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20060322191216/www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg_25755_34916DZ.jpg and it runs filters my tank 9x an hour. its silent as all get out. ive moved it 3 times in the last 3 years and its done well. theres not much algae either (i have fish to clean that) and its very relaxing to watch.

So what's a "cheap" salt setup? I really like the saltwater fish more than the fresh. And I'm guessing cheap doesn't include corals (which was another huge attraction, but I can live without).

You can go brackish.

Mono's http://www.fishandtips.com/displaydb.php?ID=12 and an archer or two.

Cooler than fresh, not as intensive as salt.

I kept 5 mono's and a single archer for several years at 50% concentration in a 30 gal. Very active fish and the archer was cool eating live bugs when available. Fed them all frozen brine shrimp.

Brackish tanks are very cool. My friend (fishtank fiend) had at one time
about six tanks set up and one was a brackish with Puffer fish and others
if i remember correctly.

Live plants are the only way to go. Looks pretty good, biking4j.

I use to use Whisper filters on my tanks. They worked well for me.

There is so much product available, that there is no excuse for loud
filters and air pumps. I kinda miss my tank. Had a 55 gal the last time
but have had a 75gal before and a 35gal octagonal.

That's a really nice setup. Are those just artificial rocks?

I really don't have the money for salt and my residence isn't all that permanent (moving corals and expensive fish is a bitch), so I think the live plant fresh is what I'm going to do. I really like some of the gouramis and tetras, too.

What is a cheap CO2 system? I see some for about $100 on DFS. Is that about rock bottom?

As for filtration, I had a Penguin Biowheel when I was just setting up my live rocks, but I'm not sure if I have it any more. I was going to run a smaller tank with a protein skimmer and all that for the salt tank, but I don't think that's needed here. Do you think just a hang-on filter will be fine? Or should I get a canister?

Also, have you tried different substrates or have you just stuck with one that works well?

Bringing this back up... I'm in a house right now that I'm probably going to stay in for a while, so I'm looking at setting up a fresh water again. My friend ended up throwing all of my old stuff out, so I'm starting from scratch. I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything to get up set up. I'm going to start out just fake plants and fish, but once I get that going, I'll get the CO2 and everything to put live plants in. Anyways, here's what I'm thinking:

10 or 20 gallon tank
substrate
filter (I'm thinking a Penguin 100 or 150 until I can get a good canister)
light (pretty sure I still have my CF)
heater
water conditioners
air pump
some kind of air stones, maybe a bubble wall or something

Is a canister really a whole lot better than a hang-on? And are the under gravel filters worth a damn? I really don't see how they can do much.

20 gal would be the bear min if you ask me. But sounds like you got what you need to get started. Pics when you set it up.

I have a kissing gourami, three tetras, two undetermined brownish/grayish oscar looking fish, two catfish, a sunburst mickey, some kind of yellow eel looking fish and we had some small neon fish that we threw in the tank but they got eaten. This is all for my six year old son who loves fish. Decent set up, 55 gallon tank I bought used off of craiglist, tossed in my back seat with maybe 10 gallons and the fish in it, and drove it home. Kid loves it. Maybe I'll get a pic up. I want to get some live plants now that we have enough fish.

Oh, and as far as lights go for your flowers, forget fluoros and go metal halide for the first eight weeks or so then high pressure sodium for the second eight weeks. Can buy conversion bulbs so you can use the same ballast. I once dabbled in that sort of thing for fun.

Thought you guys might like to see a real pet.

http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/40/cute_pet_dog_T3244.jpg

The animals themselves have no emotion and if you fell in the tank and died they would just eat you. No loyalty.
In short, eat your fish, get a dog :P

Most fish are oblivious but the Oscar is a little different. They show some personality and don't crap on the lawn. Nothing like Arnold from Green Acres (PF) but enough to enjoy their company a bit. The documented cases of aquarium fish eating their owners, especially the unassuming gold fish, are numerous. It's an accepted risk. Like keeping a tiger in your Manhattan apartment. ("I thought I heard noises next door, didn't want to seem nosey.")

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_18_104/ai_110076585/

6MePdZj-3Og

20 gal would be the bear min if you ask me. But sounds like you got what you need to get started. Pics when you set it up.

Yeah, 20 seems too small. I had a 90 gallon freshwater tanks a while back and even that seemed rather small after a while. Plus, the larger the tank the more stable the environment should be.

Also, if you're not in a hurry, you should scan Craigslist regularly and find a real deal. In my area, at least, there seem to be tons of two-week hobbyist abandoning their fish. I've even considered starting up again, just because you can find such good deals, but my mutts keep me busy enough.

Thought you guys might like to see a real pet.

http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/40/cute_pet_dog_T3244.jpg

Do you have any idea the mess that will happen when you try to flush that down the toilent? :lol2:

Do you have any idea the mess that will happen when you try to flush that down the toilent? :lol2:

It just takes a bit of hacking first.

Even with cool music in the background you can't make a fish look cool.

Lets see your fish do this!

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I have a Shih Tzu and a Boston Terrier... I love Boston Terriers and we got the Shih Tzu because I wasn't having a Doberman or German Shepherd, especially with our tiny yard. Anyways...

My last freshwater tank was 20 gallons, so I think it will be fine. It's really all that will fit in the space I have for it, anyways, unless I get something really tall. I might try a few live plants when I get the water settled and see if they'll survive with just an air pump.

I was definitely planning on metal halide when I was going to set up salt water with corals, but the CF was given to me at no charge, so it's what I was going to start with. Now, with just fresh water, I don't think I'll need any more than CF. I'm already a little concerned about how much the algae will love the extra light.

Fish are more fun deep fried with lots of tartar sauce.