One of the things that I’m often asked is from those who are considering of getting a fish tank with fish and what are my thoughts?
My feelings are as follows:
- Do you want to a lot of responsibility or very little?
- And are you willing to spend the money necessary to take care of fish?
If you answer “not really?” to both questions, then no, you shouldn’t buy an aquarium tank or fish.
There are those who purchase fish to have them as pets, for those who breed and want to make money, some who have it as a decoration portion for their home.
As you probably know, I like having fish but I’ll tell you right now, part of the biggest part of owning fish is to making sure you do everything necessary for them to survive and have them thrive but I can tell you right now, it’s not easy and it’s not cheap.
- Tank – No, you don’t want to keep a goldfish in a small round fishbowl, nor do you want to keep a betta in a size of a cup. For many fish owners, this is inhumane. If you want to own fish, as a starter, you can try a 5 gallon with one or two fish or 10 gallon with a few fish. But purchase one that comes with a filter (some come with heaters) and it’s good to have an air pump to have a sponge filter to help put air bubbles and also additional cleaning for your tank. I also have to say that you need to do your research. There is a certain major pet store that sells a 10 gallon aquarium for real cheap and is known to crack or leak. The last thing you need is water damage on your carpet or floor.
- Quarantine Tank – This is very important and requires another investment. When you purchase new fish, you do not want to add it to your tank with established fish. Because you don’t know if the fish you purchased has any diseases. You want it to go into a quarantine tank and see if it survives. One of the advantages of the big box pet stores is that they have a two week return policy on fish, local pet shops usually don’t.
- Water – This is probably the biggest focus to ensure the survival of your fish and that is constant water changes. You will need test strips to test the water for GH (General Hardness), Nitrates, Nitrite, Chlorine, Carbonate and pH. If you use tap water, prior to adding fish, you will need to add a water conditioner (very little of it, so remember to read the instructions because even a capful can end up killing all your fish). I purchase reverse osmosis water every few days from my local pet shop. Reverse Osmosis water is completely free from chemicals which can be toxic to fish like chlorine and chloramines. It happens to be neutral in pH and contains no water hardness. You can also purchase aquarium water from major pet stores (which sell them in big jugs).
- Acclimation – When you buy your fish, you will need to put the bag of your fish and let it acclimate in your tank for around 15-30 minutes, so your fish can get used to the temperature. And then put the fish in a huge bowl and use your net to put them in your tank as you do not want to add the water it came in and pour that into your tank.
- Substrate – These are the small gravel in your tank. I use sandlike gravel because I have cory catfish to help clean the substrate in the tank and I don’t want them to damage their barbels.
- Gravel Vacuum – The gravel vacuum is used to clean out the yucky stuff that gets caught in your substrate. There is a thought that cory catfish or scavengers will eat the poop. No, that’s typically your filter that will keep all that that stuff up including bacteria. One of the things you will learn is to not overfeed. Not only will it accumulate in your fish, your fish will produce more waste. Certain fish act like they are always hungry, but try to resist temptation to keep feeding them often. A little in the morning and a little in the evening is just fine. When it accumulates, this is where the gravel vacuum is important.
- Water Changes – I own numerous tanks and I have to do water changes often. As mentioned, having water test strips is important but to make sure your water doesn’t start having a foul odor and that your fish do not die from Nitrate poisoning, you’ll need to change the water. For goldfish, this is important because they produce a huge amount of waste. This is a weekly duty. For some, it may be almost every 4-5 days.
- Live Plants – I rarely use plastic plants anymore. Part of the benefit of live plants is that they create more oxygen in your tank, they convert ammonia and produces oxygen and also absorbs the carbon dioxide and ammonia that is generated from your fish. They also provide hiding places for fish especially for fry.
- Medicine – This is possibly one of the costly parts of owning fish… Unfortunately, bad things happen. Not everyone can have a quarantine tank, they have one tank, add the fish and hope everything goes well. But one thing that is difficult is not knowing the amount of stress that your fish may be experiencing of being in a new environment, to be around other fish or if they are being chased by other fish and while the fish may look healthy, the day(s) after, the fish may have had some virus or bacteria affecting it and it dies and affects other fish. May it be fin rot, slime, velvet, ick, etc. Unfortunately, depending on the situation, there are medicines that take on different situations and you end up having to get multiple medicine. I will say that Amazon offers deals of multiple medicine packs, so you may get three boxes for the price of one.
- Lighting – If you are going to get live plants, you’ll need better lighting. If you buy an aquarium with a special hood (cover), because these aquariums are sold as sets, finding a specialized hood with its light may not be sold by the manufacturer, so you end up having to buy different lights.
- Decorations – You may get decorations, caves, castles, etc. But make sure you think of what you want, live rocks, live plants or plastic decorations. These decorations aren’t cheap and they often cost more than lava rock or aquarium rocks sold at your local pet store.
- Emergency Backups – If you live in an area prone to brownouts during the summer, you’re going to have to invest in battery backups and USB air pumps. It’s always better to prepare just in case.
Overall, I hope this helps in making you decide if you want to have a fish tank and to own fish. I will say that I absolutely enjoy watching and also taking care of these fish. I’ve gone through heartbreak because it’s one thing to have cool fish, but as a fish owner, you owe it to them to give them the best treatment, but even then, sometimes bad things happen.
I’ve talked about heartbreak in the past (which made me stop the hobby because it was too hard) when one of my sharks shattered my aquarium heater (back when I was in college) and electrocuted all the fish. And that was then, I still experience heartbreak even now.
When I found all three of my black moors and my two ryukins floating. What happened was that I was doing my water changes for other tanks and ran out of reverse osmosis water. I told myself, “I will get some tomorrow and no harm waiting a day for a water change”, as it has been seven days since the last water change. I woke up and noticed something not smelling right and saw two black moors floating, one ryukin floating and then another Ryukin and another black moor. I was upset with myself because I should have done the water change. Sure, I use reverse osmosis water but I could have made my own water using tap water and using my Fritz Complete Conditioner but I didn’t.
This is one of the tough things about this hobby, sometimes unpredictable things happen.
I’m going to share some videos of well-known YouTubers in the fish community who had unpredictable things happen to them. It’s a tough part of this hobby, especially if you invest in expensive fish, may it be freshwater or saltwater fish.
I don’t want to scare you from buying fish or having a tank but know that similar to like any other pet, it’s up to its owner to make sure they get the best treatment and for fish, it’s not exactly cheap. But if you are willing to take part in this wonderful hobby, be prepared for the worst but do all you can to ensure their survival.
