pet fish

i was at PetSmart with my sister this past weekend and we started looking at the fish they have there. My sister has a Beta fish and was pickin something up for it. This made me sort of want a fish. As I was looking at the different figh they have there I saw a fish called a Bala Shark or something like that. I think it would be cool to have a shark. I know that it would require have a salt water aquarium and stuff like that. I guess my main question is this:

1) how hard is it to maintain a salt water environment aquarium?
2) any thoughts or suggestions?

If nothing else i think i will get a Beta fish or something like that. I would like a bigger aquarium with a wider variety of fish in there, but I'm willing to settle.

Part of the reason I want a fish is because i'm in the transition point of my life where i stop depending on my parents (even though i never really have) and am starting to define my own life how i want it. eventually i would like to get a dog, but i'm afraid right now that I don't have the total responsibility that it would take to take care of a dog. I take care of the dog at my parents house, which i picked out when we went to the shelter, but i'm not there all the time to feed her and walk her and that stuff. I feel that by having a fish i can demonstrate to myself that i will ultimately have the responsibility required to succesfully raise a dog.

why didnt you ask the people at the store?

anyways, one thing you need to check out is if the fish can live in harmony with eachother. some fish will eat other ones so make sure you only put fish in that won't eat your ohers.

Saltwater is more difficult to keep, but has more variety of colorful fish and some are poisonous, that being said I keep fresh water fish and my son keeps saltwater. I have had saltwater in the past, but there have been many more advances in the environment of saltwater for the home. Look at fishheads.org and there you'll find a plethora of information about this set-up, and find many selling set-ups and equipment. Hope this helps, btw... many commercial stores have fish that have not been properly quarrantined before they are put on sale. Buyer Beware...

why didnt you ask the people at the store?

lol :iamwithst

I have a 150 gallon marine lobster tank at work. Maintining it can be difficult, and it does require frequent filter changes and carbon changes. If this is kept up, the water never needs to be changed.

Not only the temperament of a certain fish needs to be considered but also its grown size. The larger the fish, the larger the tank needed to keep it successfully (and happy). By the way, that bala shark (not a true shark) is a fresh water fish and gets fairly large I believe. Do your research before you get wet.

There is a very limited number of fish that you can put in with a Beta. They are very agressive and will kill most anything you put in with it.

It can be tough to maintain a fish tank. I would take a look at other things first. Do you keep you place organized, are you a procrastinator? If your messy and you procrastinate I would reccomend not getting one because they will turn into a smelly disgusting mess. And yes you do have to watch out for what kind of fish you get. I bought two cichlids two piranahs (red belly) and two Oscars and it was an all out brawl until only the Piranahs were left (seemed like a good idea at the time).

bala sharks aren't something you want as a starter fish. neither is a saltwater tank. saltwater fish are typically less hardy than freshwater fish and have very specific needs when it comes to water quality, pH level and such. just because petsmart has a 14 day guarantee also doesn't mean its ok to be a little less careful with your fish. they can and will refuse to sell you another one if you return too much with dead fish.

another thing to keep in mind is if you get something that requires feeder fish, keep a separate tank for the feeders. like mentioned before, some fish have very specific water quality needs and adding a lot of fish to a tank can drastically alter the water's pH level and kill your more expensive fish. not cool.

think about starting with a betta (keep it in its OWN bowl, they kill other fish happily). other good starter fish are guppies, goldfish, tetras and the like. there are sooo many different varieties of those that petsmart carries and they are also cheaper to replace. getting easier fish and keeping them alive is a better way to show your responsibility than getting a bigger fish and keeping it alive for a month before accidentally killing it.

Ok some information needs to be corrected here!

Bala Sharks are freshwater and they ARE good starter fish, they are very hardy and relatively peacefull. They grow up to around 17 inches long and are very strong jumpers so you'd need a 125+ gallon tank with a tight lid.

As for Betas if you decide to put them into a tank with bigger fish I would suggest nothing smaller than 10 gallons and be careful what you put in there...no fin nippers and nothing with long flowing fins like the Beta because they will KILL it thinking it's another male Beta (unless of course you're lucky enough to find a female Beta). I suggest nothing smaller than a 10 gallon tank because changes to water chemistry happens much faster and you could leave for a day or not pay attention to your ammonia levels for a day or two and you wake up in the morning and your fish are all dead...bigger tanks are easier if you have the room for them.

If you (or anyone else) needs any freshwater aquarium info feel free to IM/PM me anytime, I'm happy to help.

i think i'm gonna get ONE beta fish for right now

Just how is a 17 inch fish a good starter fish? Since it will eventually will need a LARGE tank, (if you keep it alive that long) it is not. Start with fish that will not outgrow your set up until you decide that this hobby is for you. I have been running several tanks of various sizes for over 30 years. I agree with the advice of not getting anything smaller than a 10 gallon tank, and definitely not starting with salt water.

The most common causes of problems are over feeding and over stocking. Especially when new, a tank needs to be stocked lightly until it is established. Using some water and gravel from a tank that is already established will speed up the process of building the beneficial bacteria that breaks down the ammonia.

A properly stocked and maintained tank is NOT a lot of work. I only do partial water changes once a month, using a gravel vacuum hose. This sucks the gravel clean while also taking out about one third of the water on my larger tanks, and almost half on a 10 gallon tank. I have successfully run tanks for over 10 years without a total teardown. I have several fish that are over 10 years old, the oldest being a Locatta Botia who is about 15. This fish is only 3 inches long and looks as healthy as ever.

Just how is a 17 inch fish a good starter fish? Since it will eventually will need a LARGE tank, (if you keep it alive that long) it is not. Start with fish that will not outgrow your set up until you decide that this hobby is for you. I have been running several tanks of various sizes for over 30 years. I agree with the advice of not getting anything smaller than a 10 gallon tank, and definitely not starting with salt water.

The most common causes of problems are over feeding and over stocking. Especially when new, a tank needs to be stocked lightly until it is established. Using some water and gravel from a tank that is already established will speed up the process of building the beneficial bacteria that breaks down the ammonia.

A properly stocked and maintained tank is NOT a lot of work. I only do partial water changes once a month, using a gravel vacuum hose. This sucks the gravel clean while also taking out about one third of the water on my larger tanks, and almost half on a 10 gallon tank. I have successfully run tanks for over 10 years without a total teardown. I have several fish that are over 10 years old, the oldest being a Locatta Botia who is about 15. This fish is only 3 inches long and looks as healthy as ever.


You don't need a bigger tank. Eventually all you'll need is a bigger frying pan.

Just how is a 17 inch fish a good starter fish? Since it will eventually will need a LARGE tank, (if you keep it alive that long) it is not. Start with fish that will not outgrow your set up until you decide that this hobby is for you. I have been running several tanks of various sizes for over 30 years. I agree with the advice of not getting anything smaller than a 10 gallon tank, and definitely not starting with salt water.

The most common causes of problems are over feeding and over stocking. Especially when new, a tank needs to be stocked lightly until it is established. Using some water and gravel from a tank that is already established will speed up the process of building the beneficial bacteria that breaks down the ammonia.

A properly stocked and maintained tank is NOT a lot of work. I only do partial water changes once a month, using a gravel vacuum hose. This sucks the gravel clean while also taking out about one third of the water on my larger tanks, and almost half on a 10 gallon tank. I have successfully run tanks for over 10 years without a total teardown. I have several fish that are over 10 years old, the oldest being a Locatta Botia who is about 15. This fish is only 3 inches long and looks as healthy as ever.

the bala sharks that petsmart sells are 3 1/2 to 4 inches typically

[SIZE=2]Just how is a 17 inch fish a good starter fish? Since it will eventually will need a LARGE tank, (if you keep it alive that long) it is not.


Like I said in my first post a bigger tank is actually better to start off with. It's easier to maintain a large tank than a smaller one (it might take more time to clean but it's easier). They are a good starter fish because they are VERY hardy fish and it's hard to over feed them because they are pigs and will suck down food like a vaccuum.

The Bala Sharks pet stores sell are usually around 3-4 inches but they will grow to about 17 inches, in less than 2 years if they are well taken care of.

The most important part of starting a new tank is cycling the tank (getting the bacteria growing that will break down ammonia). You can buy the bacteria from pet stores, you can buy BIO balls from the pet stores (don't buy any from their tanks if you have an already established tank), or you can buy some cheap fish that don't produce a hell of a lot of waste like a few zebra danios to get your tank cycled.

My point of discouraging getting fish that will grow large, is they will eventually require large ($$$) tanks, (ok, large pan for Fred!) Why commit yourself to this when you're not even sure you'll enjoy the hobby?

Still, Andy's advice is sound, larger tanks are more stable. Anyway, the Betta is a good choice. They stay small and are hardy, but only have a short lifespan. (two years tops after mature)

-------> practices the "catch and relese in the grease program"....lol

Now Im interested in getting a fish lol. Bala sharks or anything a little more exotic(sp) sound really cool, and I dont mind putting more effort into taking care of a salt water tank. Can anyone give me a website or a quick run down on procedures and how important temperatures and pH levels are?

Now Im interested in getting a fish lol. Bala sharks or anything a little more exotic(sp) sound really cool, and I dont mind putting more effort into taking care of a salt water tank. Can anyone give me a website or a quick run down on procedures and how important temperatures and pH levels are?


aquariumadvice.com is a great fish site, for saltwater, freshwater, and brackish.

get some turtles, they are great pets and alot cooler than fish, red eared sliders is what i have, they are cool little guys. They actually have personalities, one is very inquisitive and likes to explore, likes it out of the tank and running around the apartment, the other is very shy and just likes to be left alone. They are cool pets, you can get a baby red eared slider at a pet store for like 10-15 bucks each, they are about the size of a quarter if not smaller then, but they can grow to be much bigger. Ive had mine for about a year now and they are about 3-4 inche diameter in there shells.

I feed mine food pellets, they are in a 20 gallon long tank. I want to get a bigger one soon. They are easy to take care of a well feed turtle can live for up to a week without food. If i go away on vacation i make sure there are fish in the tank, usually fancy tailed guppies so that if they want to, they can eat the fish. Which they do if they can catch them. You also dont need to worry about water quality as much, since turtles in the wild normally live in swampy murky water areas, even though i still keep my water as clean as i can. I usually change the water once a week with a gravel hose, i change about 75% of the water. Takes me about 15 minutes to do from start to finish. I do recommend a really good fitler, for turtles they recommend to keep the water clean that the filter be able to filter all the water in the tank 3 times an hour. So if you have a 20 gallon tank you need a fillter that flows 60 GPH or close. Turtles poop alot, they are little poop machines, which is the reason needed for a good filter and frequent water changes.

Also if you decide to get turtles, if you plan on using gravel for the bottom, use a large size gravel, for some reason turtles like to eat sand and small rocks, no idea why, i see mine eating them all the time. SO far they havent been affected by it and they just pass the rocks. I try to pick out small rocks in the tank when i see them.

If you want i can post some pictures of my turtles and the setup.

andydg... goto fishheads.org there you'll find advice and epuipment for sale.