Question on tank

[liverpool1208]

Hi there everyone, i'm new here and in this hobby.. i'm slowly reading up and gaining more knowledge but i do want to ask a few questions to the old timers here ... i've been under alot of stress lately so i am planning of getting a fish tank set up to help relive stress and also as a hobby ..so please advice me

1. how much does a 2 or 3 ft tank cost for a clear glass tank? I am looking into clear glass as i would like to view the fishes in a much clearer view or is the led lights that will play the most part?

2. are there ready made fish tanks available or are all made to order? Don't really like waiting

3. I plan to place the tank in my room so that i can always view them but i'm worried if will it be noisy in the night? like the fishes swimming , the water pump and filter etc? please do advice

4.My aim is to get something to look as below pics... so please do advice thank you

1.jpg3.jpg7.jpg8.jpg

[mUAr_cHEe]

Hi there everyone, i'm new here and in this hobby.. i'm slowly reading up and gaining more knowledge but i do want to ask a few questions to the old timers here ... i've been under alot of stress lately so i am planning of getting a fish tank set up to help relive stress and also as a hobby ..so please advice me

Welcome! Advice for lesser stress? Do not start this hobby. Oh! Advice for this hobby? Here we go.

1. how much does a 2 or 3 ft tank cost for a clear glass tank? I am looking into clear glass as i would like to view the fishes in a much clearer view or is the led lights that will play the most part?

I would think it would cost about $200-ish for a 3 feet 'crystal' tank? That is my guesstimate. Maybe you pay a visit to Nanyang Seaview at Seletar Farmway. There have quite a number of tanks for you to 'cash-and-carry' home. Even 4 feet ones! In my opinion, LEDs do play a part in the clearer tanks too. Perhaps, it was the bulb configuration but I have seen MHs side-by-side with LEDs. The LED-lighted tank look so much clearer.

2. are there ready made fish tanks available or are all made to order? Don't really like waiting

Yes. There are ready made tank available. I found out that the LFS at Seletar Farmway have ready stock even for 6 feet tanks! 2 to 3 feet tanks are available at most of your LFS all over the island.

3. I plan to place the tank in my room so that i can always view them but i'm worried if will it be noisy in the night? like the fishes swimming , the water pump and filter etc? please do advice

If you can hear the fishes swimming, you might be a Poseidon or Aquaman descendant, depending on your opinion on a orange/green swimsuit. However, a proper set-up should have minimal noise. Again, this is assuming that you are not having a chiller installed.

[bryan]

Internal box filters or Cannister filters are very quiet. If the filter circulation is enough then you don't need an air pump. 2ft tanks and sometimes 3ft ones can be bought off the shelves for less than $100, you could look at the sales forums for second hand stuff too. Just that 3ft tanks might be tricky because you'll probably need to buy a stand. Seems like you're in a hurry. Take your time to plan or it will add more stress.

[wongce]

Welcome to AQ and the hobby...see my link below for the info you required

[liverpool1208]

THanks guy , looks like there is alot to learn before i move forward .

WIll i need to have a sump if i get a 4ft tank? is it necessary ?

is it true that i need to add some chemicals into the new water tank and let it run for 3 days before i introduce fishes and can i use fake plants instead of real ones?

one more thing i found a guy selling 4ft tank for $130, is there anything i should look out for when getting a tank? I'm worried if the tank might crack or leak since the price seems so cheap compared to others

I'm not sure i can even do all this

[Shadow]

First of all welcome to AQ.

Sump tank is not necessary especially if you don't like the noise but sump tank have better oxygen exchange.

The only chemical needed is anti chlorine then you need to run for 4 weeks (we call it cycle) to make sure the beneficial bacteria that convert toxic ammonia (fish waste) to less toxic nitrate. You can also get those bacteria starter which will reduce your cycle time.

You can have plastic plant but then you might want to add airpump, plastic plant does not produce oxygen

[liverpool1208]

First of all welcome to AQ.

Sump tank is not necessary especially if you don't like the noise but sump tank have better oxygen exchange.

The only chemical needed is anti chlorine then you need to run for 4 weeks (we call it cycle) to make sure the beneficial bacteria that convert toxic ammonia (fish waste) to less toxic nitrate. You can also get those bacteria starter which will reduce your cycle time.

You can have plastic plant but then you might want to add airpump, plastic plant does not produce oxygen

HI thank you for the explanation, so i need to run the cycle for 4 weeks than only i can add the fishes ? i am planning of adding marine fish by the way

[sheng]

Hummm, all the set up you posted are freshwater type.

[Mystikboy]

Marine tanks are much more complicated than freshwater. Perhaps you could start fresh? And move on to marine after you've grasped the basics of fish keeping (:

[liverpool1208]

ok thank you guys, i think i'll go with fresh water setup .. any one of you knows where i could get a tank and cabinet for a low cost? i went over to a 618 yishun lfs and for a 4th tank and cabinet it was around $11++ . ..

[mUAr_cHEe]

ok thank you guys, i think i'll go with fresh water setup .. any one of you knows where i could get a tank and cabinet for a low cost? i went over to a 618 yishun lfs and for a 4th tank and cabinet it was around $11++ . ..

My customised 4 feet tank cost me slightly lesser than $1300. It took me less than 2 weeks to wait for delivery.

You can try Nanyang Seaview. I am not sure if they will be much cheaper or at least have the kind of cabinet that you are looking for.

[liverpool1208]

Guys, is keeping marine fish tank really troublesome as i read many say not easy to maintain etc.. but really quite interested.

[mUAr_cHEe]

Its definitely more work than a planted tank. I liken Marine tank to Chemistry lessons and planted tank to Barber lessons.

[Ingen]

I feel planted is already chemistry lesson. You got to balance light, co2, nutrients, slow growing/fast growing plants, high light/ low light plants, foreground, mid and background plants etc, which is an art by itself. Easy to learn, hard to master.

Whichever route you are planning to take will likely have some setback for the first few tries, be it marine or planted since you are fresh at the starting point now.

My take is read up whichever you are more interested in and read lots and lots, never enough. After reading for two years on planted, I still failed to have a nice planted tank lol. If you are interested in Marine, do read up the requirements, equipments and never mix freshwater planted tank with marine fishes using cooking salt...

[liverpool1208]

Hmm looks like keeping marine fish tank will keep more more occupied, exactly what i want haha.. i have all the time in the world as i do my own online biz so i'm mostly at home(in my room) , which is what got me thinking of keeping a fish tank to help me relax my mind and keep me occupied with things to do.. and marine tanks interest me more than planted. But i'm just worried that i need to study more and learn more and also about electricity bills as if i'm not wrong i will need a chiller right?

[mUAr_cHEe]

... keeping a fish tank to help me relax my mind and keep me occupied with things to do..

[Urban Aquaria]

Hmm looks like keeping marine fish tank will keep more more occupied, exactly what i want haha.. i have all the time in the world as i do my own online biz so i'm mostly at home(in my room) , which is what got me thinking of keeping a fish tank to help me relax my mind and keep me occupied with things to do.. and marine tanks interest me more than planted. But i'm just worried that i need to study more and learn more and also about electricity bills as if i'm not wrong i will need a chiller right?

If you want to relax your mind and de-stress, then its best to start off with a low-tech simple fish tank setup first, then progressively gain experience and advance from there... if you rush in without sufficient research and start running complex high-tech setups with numerous additional parameters to balance, it will get very overwhelming trying to juggle all those different aspects at the same time.

When fishes and plants start dying and algae start going crazy in the tank, you will end up stressed out instead.

[milk_vanilla]

Algae and flora fauna dying are challenges but also indicator for any imbalance. Our tank always evolve, today you manage to make it balanced, but may not in next few months. Even though your approach are same.

[tunicate]

Couple years ago, I got so stressed up in my work I decided to decomm my then marine tank. It's not fair to the fishes if one starts neglecting the it.

[limz_777]

Always find marine tank dark and gloomy, perhaps the lighting? Poorly maintain marine, algae looks real bad, not to mention the salt splash.