What are the diferent needs for marine, freshwater, and pond fish?

Question

What is the difficulty level for each and what size tank do i need for abotu 6 -10 fish?

Answer 1

Freshwater tank - easiest, can use dechlorinated tap water unlike marine. Plenty of beginner options.

Marine - very expensive to set up, complex and difficult to start, gets easier as the years go by and it begins to look after itself.

Pond - expensive to set up, once its settled its ready for fish, ponds go through the nitrogen cycle too however and are best filtered also if you want to keep fish. If its smaller than 500 gallons its too small for fish. Will need seasonal care and maintenance.

As for the 6-10 fish, what kind of fish? 6-10 neon tetras would need an entirely different size tank compared to 6-10 goldfish for instance!

Answer 2

Wow, that is a wide open question, and I don't know that there is room to answer, lol.

For all of them, you need a good filter, suitable substrate, antichlor (I do know pond people who don't use it).

Freshwater is the easiest. Water changes, 15% once a month. At least 1 gallon of water per fish, adult size. Do not overcrowd.

10 fish, adult size, 2 1/2 inches, you need at least 29 gallon tank, they don't make a 25 gallon. Proper lighting, cleaning filters once a week, change them once every couple of months.

Salt water is a bit more involved, you need salt of course. a 5 gallon bucket of salt is $50-65.00. A hydrometer to tell you the salinity of your tank water, a measure cup, about 1/2 cup salt per gallon of water.

Live sand for substrate. $15.00 per little bag, and you need a few inches of sand if you are going to keep sand sifting snails (awesome little creatures) and other critters. Live rock varies in price, $5.00 a pound for 'junk' rock, stuff that will have sponges, $7.00 a pound and you might get little feather dusters (that is what my rock has, it has been in the tank for 2 1/2 years).

Test kits for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, etc are essential. $30 bucks for the test kit.

Frozen or live foods for meat eaters, dried seaweed for your veggie eaters.

Salt water tanks take alot of patience. You must do everything slowly, you have to research your fish for compatibility, they are expensive and you don't want to bring home a $200.00 fish just so it will be dinner for your big meat eater in a week!

If you do things too fast, not letting the tank adjust, you can have a crash and have to start all over again!

Ponds, well, you need a hole in the ground covered with a liner or a big tub. A big pump and a large filter. After all that, it is pretty easy. Koi or goldfish is what you put in it. Maybe a catfish. Clean the filter every week or 2, sift out leaves, keep the cats from eating your fish, the ways to decorate it are endless.

Good luck, and let us know what you choose!

Answer 3

Fresh water - Very easy to maintain once it's set up. As with any tank you'll want to start out small putting maybe some guppies, platies or mollies in there but only a few to start it cycling with fish. The general rule of the number of fish in a tank is 1 per gal. Except for gold fish. Gold fish put off a lot of ammonia so very few fish can be kept with them.

Marine - Very expensive and time consuming. I'm guessing you've never had a fish tank before so I don't advise a saltwater aquarium right now. Setting it up bigger is better. There are small tanks like the 12gal Nano tank that a lot of new marine aquarists like but I always suggest a 55gal tank to start with. It's a lot easier to maintain. If you don't have time to work with your tank don't get a marine aquarium. When you first put a fish in your tank wait 2 weeks and start with a damsel. They're the hardiest saltwater fish to keep. It will cycle your tank and get it ready for other fish. Take small steps, go from a damsel to maybe a blenny ie algae, scooter, etc. then step it up to a wrasse ie six line, blue headed, etc. Never start with a tang or an angel. They're super sensitive.

Pond - Not my preferable way to keep fish but they're really beautiful. But hard to keep clean. Many people spend hundreds of dollars in chemicals to keep the water clear but it's only a quick fix. Buying a UV sterilizer will be your best friend if you choose to go this route. But your fish selection is limited. Comets, koi and goldfish are the most common pond fish, however a lot of people have put swordtails and guppies in ponds. There are predatory birds out there wanting to eat your fish though, so a pond net would be needed.