New to the Hobby: Looking for General Advice and Tips

[marinkitagawa]

Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new to fishkeeping and would love to hear some general advice from the experienced hobbyists here. I want to make sure I’m providing the best environment for my fish and avoiding common beginner mistakes.

What are some things you wish you knew when you first started? Any tips on maintenance or species compatibility would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Conchonius]

I am not experienced enough to contribute meaningfully, but I suspect that it would help greatly to say what fish you're keeping at the moment, the size of your tank, and your water pH and hardness (that do a lot of work in determining what kind of fish you can keep).

One thing I wish I knew in advance was the fact that I have no interest in the typical dwarf cichlid-cories-tetras community tank. I would've saved myself a lot of trouble if I just got cats and nothing else from the start.

 

[Omrit]

Well despite this forum being called "monsterfishkeepers" it's genuinely the best source of info on freshwater fish keeping around(not just for big fish). So being here is already a good start!

If you let us know what type of fish you are keeping or planning to keep you will get better advice. For some general advice though:

I would say the best thing you can do is get as big a tank as you can. Bigger is easier in just about everyway. More water means more room for error , more stocking options, and happier fish. Slightly more work to set-up for far less work long term. If you lightly stock a large tank you can easily have a tank that needs hardly any care at all.

My other piece of advice is get hardy fish. Captive bred fish that have not been bred into crazy shapes are a good start. (no balloon mollies for example)

For people who can't keep any fish alive I put them onto either small central American cichlids like firemouths, rainbows, or convict cichlids or an Asian tank with barbs,loaches, and danios. Working at a fish store those were my go to recommendations for the customers whose fish kept dying.

Most Rift lake cichlids(mbuna especially) are extremely hardy as well as far as staying alive goes, but their temperaments require some further research. With proper understanding they are bulletproof though.

 

[jjohnwm]

I was mentored by one of my father's friends who was probably a very typical "intermediate" hobbyist for that time period (1970's). He had a roomful of smallish tanks full of swordtails, angels, etc. and he warned me about a couple of things to beware of. I took some of it to heart right away, and some of it took a few years...or decades...before it sank in.

First...as stated by O Omrit above...get the biggest tank you can reasonably afford and manage. Small tanks are a royal PITA in terms of stability. Big tanks suffer far fewer and far slower changes in parameters and are generally easier in every way to keep healthy.

Second...don't fall prey to the insane urge to own every species of fish in the world, and to squeeze yet another tank into every available space at your disposal. At some point, maintaining all those tanks and fish will quietly stop being a pleasant pastime and start being a chore, a major PITA. Don't let that happen. Keep it fun.

And finally...don't buy fish because they are "rare" or "desirable" or because nobody else has them. That's no reason for you to want them. Decide what appeals to you and get fish that fit that mold. Who cares if everybody else has that species, or if they're common as dirt? Are you keeping fish for other people? Of course not; the point of this hobby is...pardon the repetition...to have fun. Choose the species that make you smile, keep them well, and you will have fun.

Incidentally, a corollary of that last comment is that as a beginner you should concentrate on fish that are suited to live in the water that is readily available to you, either from city mains or from a private well. Many hobbyists, especially advanced ones, keep fish whose water requirements are completely opposite to the water that comes out of their taps. Those folks either need to expend insane amounts of time, effort, space and money to treat their water to make it usable...or else they never have healthy fish. Either way...there's that whole "fun" thing going down the tubes...

Good luck; have fun!

 

[bkfamus]

Set up tank near source of water and buy a python for water changes.

Set up a QT/Hospital/Growout Tank.

Sumps are easier to maintain than cannisters

Purchase fish from reputable vendors

One alpha species per tank