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I cant afford ANY tanks.

Last edited by ladiejl at 22-Nov-2005 02:04

Just be careful with WalMart tanks. They are just that, cheap. They may save you $10 now but the glass is usually thinner and the seems and braces aren't as sturdy.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

If you just mean the tank, I can see that, but I have NEVER saw tanks with a lighted hood and filter for that much.

There's no way I would ever buy those kits or full setups. Most of the stuff in there is junk to me. I don't want any of it but the tank. It's tons cheaper and you get better equipment if you buy filters and lights seperately online. The only exception are hoods on smaller or odd shaped tanks. Buying just the hood to my 5g hex is $30. A full 55g setup from the fish store was $200 and that included just two 18w lights and one hob filter. I got the tank for about $50 and then bought two penguin 330 filters for $40 and a 220w jebo light strip off ebay for $50. Saved $60. If you don't want a bright light for plants and just the basics you can get the lights for $10 off ebay (usually new) or even free from people who upgraded their lights to keep plants. The fish store wants $50 just for a strip to go on half a 55g. For a 90g it was $400 for the whole setup. I got a stand, 4 times better light and filtration system for several hundred dollars less than they wanted for the setup. Walmart kits are the worst. The filters always die and the lighting is nearly worthless. If I could also buy tanks online I would but the shipping is insane. Tank equipment costs 4 times more in the stores than online so getting the tank from the store is always my biggest expense when setting up a new aquarium. Except maybe stocking the tank. That gold nugget pleco I used to have cost me more than any of my seperate light or filtration setups.

Sham, where on this earth do you live??

Are you meaning the tanks alone cost you that much or the whole tank set up cost you that much??

If you just mean the tank, I can see that, but I have NEVER saw tanks with a lighted hood and filter for that much.

My Wal Mart only carries just the 10 gal. That is $10. The combo kit with lighted hood, tank and filter is $30. I paid $100 today for my 29 Tank, filter, heater, lighted hood combo. The 20 that is sold the same way was $75.I paid $30 for my 5 gal hex with built in filter, lighted hood.

Ive looked all over the net and have never saw whole set ups that cheap.
Anyway...Ive changed my mind and just think I will get Kribs and Dwarf Gouramis instead. Maybe 2 Dwarf Puffers.

Ill have to see how much my other LFS sells Congos for. I may also get a few more Rummy Nose even though the one I have schools w the Cherry Barbs. As a side note, my two Congo fems try to swim with my two paradise. The paradise fish dont even seem to notice they are there.

Congos are definitely a fish that like lots of their own kind. I'm having trouble breeding them for that reason. In a big tank with 9 congos and several other fish they spawn constantly but all the eggs get eaten. When placed in even a very heavily planted tank as pair or trio they completely freak out and hide for weeks on end. Females are a bit better though. The males have always faded more when transporting them and gotten more upset with change than the females. The males always hide for quite a few days after I move them and usually won't eat for a week at least while the females settle in much faster even when there aren't alot of other congos around. They also highly dislike very active fish in their tank but will loosely school with even very different fish with more relaxed swimming habits. My congos and threadfins actually swim around together but something like danios sends the congos scattering for cover.

Most tanks except very large ones or acrylic ones are about $1 a gallon here. There were even cheaper ones at the petsmart in Georgia than here in Iowa. If I hadn't been flying I would have made off with a tank when I was down there visiting my boyfriend. My 55g was $50, the 10g tanks were about $8-$10, the regular 5g I got used at a consignment store for $8 with gravel and all sorts of stuff, the 29g was $32, but my 90g was $200 and the acrylic 5g hex was $20.

Last edited by Sham at 23-Nov-2005 00:25

I have had mixed results doing exactly what you are trying to do. The answer we are supposed to give you well yep that is above. In my experience my tetra schools have been ok with numbers less than six. The real kicker is that some of your varities may school together but some won't. In my tank with rodwayi, neon, and rummynose tetras all three schools stayed completely seperate. When the neons came down with NTD there was one lonely neon left who tried to school with the last one rummynose who wanted nothing to do with him. The rodwayis never wanted anything to do with any of them. The rummynose was the same way, he stayed alone. Now as far as hapiness goes that varied too. The rummynose was perfectly happy alone, ate very well, swam everywhere, very healthy. The neon just withered away, always seemed depressed if that made any sense. I knew better than to buy neons because once surviving NTD he was still a carrier. I let all of the fish in that tank peter out without replacing solely for that reason. If you would like your partial schools of tetras to school then try to get varities that look similar.

Goodluck

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

If you get Red-Eye Tetras (Moenkhausia sanctae-filomenae, I believe, unless the name has changed - yes, here is a site with info and pics) then be careful what you put in with them. Red-Eyes can be nippy, particularly with long-finned companions such as Angels, Bettas and fancy Guppies. They're also boisterous once they get older, although this can be moderated somewhat by getting a decent sized shoal. With this species, I'd recommend you get 8 of them if you have the space, and watch them like a hawk for any signs of combative or bullying behaviour toward smaller fishes. Ideally, this species should be kept with other fairly boisterous species: Lemons are boisterous with each other but peaceful toward other fishes, and large enough not to feature as lunch!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

"Your tetra school has a good chance of costing you more than say a 20g long which would be a great small tank for a school. Mine was about $18"

Where on earth did you find a 20 gallon long for $18???


Im not getting a school of Congos. The reason I have the Congos is because the LFS told me they were a differnt kind of fish and I didnt find out until later that they were Congos. I will probably just buy one more Congo depending on the price at my LFS.

A 20 gallon tank here cost $75.

The kind of tetras I want would one cost $18 for a school of six.

The ones I mentioned in the first post werent excatly what I wanted. They were just like the ones I wanted as far as body size an ect. I should of been more clear.

I most likely will get Red Eye Tetras. I still have to go and look.

Last edited by ladiejl at 22-Nov-2005 02:08

Your tetra school has a good chance of costing you more than say a 20g long which would be a great small tank for a school. Mine was about $18. Filter cartridge changes and fish food cost me tons more. Otherwise I would limit it to 6 fish around the size of cardinal-black neons or smaller. Being a bit thicker than cardinals I probably wouldn't go for black neons but with plenty of water changes they should be one of those species that are ok. I definitely don't think anything bigger would be good and even if the fish were ok would look quite cramped.

Tetras like congos would not come close to fitting in either of those tanks and will definitely cost you more than the 20g tank to get a school.

Last edited by sham at 22-Nov-2005 01:16

I want to start a tetra tank but want to get several different kinds.
If I put, say 3, of these different kinds, would they be ok and school together?
Im thinking of.....Bloodfin, GloLights, Pristella, Congos....

if u want a schooling fish...u should buy the biggest tank u can afford... the bigger the better.

I have a small school of 8 Cardinal Tetras with my Betta in my 11g tank.
You can find more info from the below links.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Very few schooling fish are ok for a 10g tank. It's just too small for a good school.

I wouldn't recommend a large school of Tetra's in a 10 gal. tank, due to overstocking & water problems, but you can have a good school in the 29 gal. tank. There are plenty of Tetra's to choose from & most of them have very beautiful colours.



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29 or 10

I think you will find and enjoy one large school rather than a small mix of several varieties.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/profile.asp?userid=6741" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for my tank info

[link=Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tanks]http://photobucket.com/albums/b209/keithgh/Betta%20desktop%20tank/" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link]

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

You need to have at least 6 Tetra's of the same type & colour.
3 Tetra's aren't a school & how big is the tank?.


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.geocities.com/s8xi5heh/classic_blue.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buzaqq/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

thats not ideal...tetras should be kept in bigger number to be comfortable in their surroundings... at least 6 or more is appropriate. so, its better to keep one species of tetra with sufficient number to establish pecking order than having different varieties.