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i have a problem and i can't figure out what to do.
I will be moving after christmas and will have the oppertunity to set up a larger fish tank 55-100 gallons. the problem is that i dont know what i want to keep.

right now i have a 30g with yellow labs. and an african tank would be cool, but then i saw discus and i went nuts. i bought books and researched about them and could not get them off my mind. then a few weeks ago a started to pay attention to the reef tanks at my lfs and it started all over again, reading and researching and now i can't get the reef tank off my mind.

has anyone elese had this problem and what did you do to get over it. by the way, my girlfriend said that i can only have one big tank in the house because there is not much more room. i am getting part of the basement for all my stuff, computer, games, tv center and fish. this is driving me nuts. i am going to build an addition on the house so i can have fish everywhere.

keep clown loaches

I know that feeling. More space = more fish! More fish = desire to have more fish = requirement for more space.... It's a very fishous cycle

If you can afford the right gear to set up a reef tank... that would be my choice. But, now i've got some cichlids, i can appreciate just how nice fresh water is, and how much cheaper it is to maintain than a reef aquarium. Have a read over some posts on this forum about Discus and beginners... not really a good mix. Also, talk to your LFS, if they are a decent one, and maybe, just maybe, you'll find an experienced keeper who can offer you some starting out advice.

And yes... definitely get some loaches if you stay with fresh water... they are so funny to watch!

Good luck with your addiction. Shortly there will be a new section to this forum could "Fish-aholics anonymous", i think

not new to the hobby have kept fish my whole life, on a more serious level the past 2 years. i have 5 tanks at the moment so i think i can handle the discus. all of the choices have their good and bad points. i like the reef idea but it is expensive and you must be picky in the selection and the discus need 10-15 gallons per fish and don't mix well with many other fish. very tough spot i am in here.

and clown loaches are very cool but i don't like them enough to devote an entire tank to them. but i was considering them for the discus tank. who knows, mabey it will come to me in my sleep.


chris

Nothing but tiger barbs.

Tell her that "big tanks" are over 1,000 gallons .

If I had a 100+ I'd do planted coolwater...corys, corys, corys rosy or gold barbs, and WCMM....I prefer my fish to do something...not just hover .

^_^
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i would take a challenge and go with the reef tank if you have the money. then again a discus tank would be awesome too. i would go with the discus right now then later down the road get a 300usg plus for an ultimate reef tank!

Sorry, Chris, didn't mean to sound patronising or anything. Just you didn't say if you'd kept anything like discus before, and my limited knowledge of them is that they are not the easiest of fish to please. Anyways... good luck, and happy fish keeping

no problem at all jester.

fallout, do you ever suggest anything but tiger barbs.

this is such a difficult decision, these are all amazing fish and it will take a lot of thought. i wish they all did not require such large tanks. mabey i will go with a large discus tank and a nano reef. i know small reef tanks are not the way to start but they are being kept at the moment and doing well so i hear.

thank you for all the suggestions.


chris

Hey Chris how about involving your girlfriend in this decision? I know it's your money in your space, but if you get a really gorgeous tank that she loves too, she might end up encouraging you to get more tanks! Or even get one or two of her own!

And then she might become a super-hobbyist, win all the aquascaping contests, breed the world's most beautiful discus and run off with Takashi Amano. But sometimes you just have to take some risks.

fallout, do you ever suggest anything but tiger barbs

on rare occasions i suggest rainbowfish.

I'll recommend rainbowfish! A large tank is perfect for multiple schools of bigger rainbowfish. Some G. incisus, M. Boesemani, M. lacustris, G. Wanamensis, M. herbertaxelrodi or whatever your preference in color looks great with room to move. Colorful, variable, peaceful, hardy and very active. The perfect aquarium fish.

i have tried to envolve her but she is not intrested, though last week she did ask me to set up a tank with some zebra danio's that i was getting rid of, but for my tanks i can barley get her to listen to me talk about them. mabey she might change her mind if i allow her to make some choices, though she has not participated in the past.

i like rainbows but not enough to give them there own tank. they are nice looking but i really have no intrest in keeping them.

this hobby is crazy, all day long all i think about is fish. my boss got so tired of hearing about fish she went out a bought a betta for me to take care of at work so i would leave her alone. i can't stop thinking about them.



chris

nah, you keep fish so its your choice....get a big tank first then later stuff another one in..let her get mad for 2 days then things will be all good....

I say go for Discus is better, I have both marines and discus and honestly I need to do more work on the Discus more than the marines. But that's what fish keeping is isn't it? Another reason of course is cost for equipments for marines...can easily drain your wallet

If you have at least 3,000 to spend on a reef tank go with that if not do a planted discus tank or anything else that intrests you.

I'm of the opinion that 100 isn't large, who above said large was 1,000? I'd agree with that... So you could have a 55 and a 100 and easily be under 1,000 gallons!!! If you have the money get the 100, and do a reef tank...it would be awsome...truely it's just a matter of getting the tanks in the house and rearranging furniture so that she doesn't notice...Begin with the biggest tank, everything after that is small, and she said only one big tank and begin with a plan of where you want to move what, do it slowly...she'll adjust and become addicted herself, then there won't be any problems but space Best of luck...Heidi

PS if a fight is started, I'm not responsible

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle