50 gallon..what to do?

i know you guys must get lots of these...but well heres another one. Im in the process of looking for a new fish tank and i have my eye on a nice 50 gallon...but first i need to know what would look nice in it...

 

oh and also the lfs manager said he could give me a deal of $280 for the tank, lid with light, heater, and filter...is this okay?

 

Since there are literally thousands of species of fish out there, you need to narrow it down a little.

Are you wanting one large fish, a few medium sized fish, lots of little fish? Peaceful, active, lots of personality? lots of bright colors or is color not really important?

Also, before stocking the tank, you will have to cycle it first (I HIGHLY recommend the fishless method - you'll have to wait longer before adding fish, but you will be a lot less likely to lose fish and have to deal with diseases/illnesses).
http://www.flippersandfins.net/cycling.htm
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html

-Chelle

 

Im looking for a few larger colourful fish that have a personalities (not ones that hide all the time) or possibly and oscar... they arent very colourful though...so i thought some colourful cichlids.. they didnt have a wide selection at the lfs.

 

Depending on what brand the heater & filter are, I'd say $280 is about average. That's about what I paid for my 55 gallon from Walmart. It came with a stand, lids, lights, filter, and heater, but I ended up replacing the filter & heater because they where junk.

If you want lots of color, you could go with african rift lake cichlids. Depending on the species, you could fit around 10 or 12 in a 50 gallon.

For medium sized fish, you could go with something like convicts, firemouths, or acaras. They all get about 6" and you could easily fit 2 and a bottom feeder in there. But I don't recommend getting a male & female (especially with convicts) becaue they will breed like crazy and you'll likely have a hard time getting rid of the fry.

With a large cichlid, like oscar, red devil, JD, GT, etc you'd be better off with just one and maybe a bottom feeder like a pleco.

-Chelle

 

i can get a 55g at walmart for $150

 

That doesn't include the stand, though, does it? Granted it's been almost 2 years since I got my 55 at Walmart, but I don't think the price has come down that much. My whole 55 set up (not counting the replacement filter & heater) cost about $300.

-Chelle

 

The 55 gallon wal mart stand is $67 at my wal mart. The decorative canopy is about $70 as well. So total set up would be... $225 for tank and stand, just add $70 if you want the canopy like I did.

 

this may sound silly, but the classified ads in your area may be the most economical for buying any aquarium. i only paid $100 FOR MY COMPLETE SETUP.stand and all. some people just get sick of keeping them. you may have to travel some but it is worth it.

 

I got my 55g from the classifieds, including stand, lights/hood, filter and heater, for FIFTY DOLLARS, and the lady delivered it to my apartment. I've spent more on the fish and rocks/decorations than I did on the tank and accessories.

 

i can get another 55g for $80 includes EVERYTHING

 

I just picked up a 55g, Where in BC are u from?

 

I'm in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. I look in the classifieds quite often but nobody here seems to have a fish tank or anything to do with fish for sale.

 

Haha i just bought my 55gallon from Cambel River 8)

 

How much did you get it for? And where did you get it? I remember they used to have a pet supply store up there but I thought it closed down.

 

I just picked up a beautiful gold severum to go with my blood parrot in my 37 gal. I also have several plecos in there and am planning on adding some cories.

I saw some real pretty rams at the store today, too that are quite colorful. You probably want to add your livestock gradually over several weeks, that is, AFTER your tank is cycled. The most important tool is a freshwater test kit. Then you'll know when it's safe to add your fish.

Take your time, and enjoy the process.

 

err sevs with corys. Arnt sevs aggro :?:

 

m~

the sev is in a different tank than the cories. It's just a baby sev right now. It's in a 37 with my full grown blood parrot and several plecos. We'll see how it goes, but so far so good.

The new juli cories are in my kitchen tank with some smaller fish.

 

Ohhh ok. Sevs are really cool looking fish

 

It was a private sale and it was $200 for a fully set up 55gallon tank