Birthday Surprise for my girl!

[surgeVel]

First off, I'd like to say Hi everyone, I'm completely new here.

Now, to get down into why I joined:

I want to buy and set up an aquarium for my girlfriend for her birthday. We've had a bare spot in our apartment living room and she's been begging for a fish tank. So far all we have is a beta fish that lives in it's nice big vase with a plant at the top for decoration.

Anyways, I've never had anything more than a fishbowl before and need to know what all I need to buy, where I need to buy it, how to set it up, etc. I've read a few guides and saw that once the tank is set up, you shouldn't put fish in immediately and should give it a week or so to stabilize. So I'm not worried about buying the fish right away, but I would also like suggestions on what fish I can get sooner after that first week. Her birthday is in July so I have a little while to plan and learn and buy the different parts.

Basically she likes fish that are very bright and colorful as well as energetic and get along with other fish. She also likes those little african frogs, so preferably fish that get along with those as well. I have the spot in the living room picked out, I can get a powerstrip for all outlets needed, and can get a shelf to put the tank on. All I need are your best suggestions and instructions on everything I need to buy and where. Recommended decorations would be great as well. I'd like to have the tank set up as a surprise for her on her birthday and then we'll get the fish later.

Thanks for your replies!
-surgeVel

[pokefan]

First off, search locally for used tanks. Much Cheaper! Craigslist is a good place to start. It will be a little longer than a week before you can stock if you take the proper steps.

Beyond that it's kind of hard to give you something to look for without first knowing what size tank you will be getting. I'd suggest a minimum of 30 gallons though it's a bit easier to keep your water parameters stable the bigger you go.

As far as decoration, it depends on what you want. Planted or fake? If planted you'll need the proper lighting and maybe even co2

[surgeVel]

As far as plants go, I was thinking fake as it is somewhat far from windows. Also, the space is about 5 feet wide and 8 feet high so with a shelf that takes it to about 5 by 5. I don't know how big of a tank would fit in that size of space but something big enough for probably 5-10 fish eventually?

[pokefan]

The windows wouldn't matter for plants. You'd actually want to keep it away from the window so you didn't have to deal with algae growth!

You could probably get up to a 90 gallon in there and much more than 10 fish if you went with schools of small fish. Or you could do Cichlids and probably just have a few. I'm not the expert there so someone else would have to chime in.

[Obsidian]

You will need to be aware that it can take up to 6 weeks to properly cycle a tank, so a week is not enough time for it to stabilize without some other interventions. When you are ready to learn about that look into the "nitrogen cycle." There is information on this site and on many others about how to make this happen.

[COM]

I hope that you and your girlfriend have discussed wanting pets. It is never a great idea to "surprise" someone with an animal that they will need to care for.

I had a girlfriend give me a chinchilla for my birthday when I was in college. She and the chinchilla swiftly went a-packin.

[pokefan]

I hope that you and your girlfriend have discussed wanting pets.

You missed it Chris...

Originally Posted by surgeVel

We've had a bare spot in our apartment living room and she's been begging for a fish tank.

And to side with Obs please read up on the cycle process first!

[trashion]

Hello and welcome to FF! We can give you all the help you'll need. What kind of fish are you interested in? I'd browse some fish profiles and find what you're looking for first. Then we can help you put together equipment and a tank that'll suit your needs.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/
There are a bunch on that site, though run the stats by us first, as many websites give out incorrect info.

As always, I'd suggest a pair of Kribensis cichlids, as they are gorgeous and entertaining fish

[emc7]

Buy a beautiful tank, stand, lid and light, heater, and a nice filter. Read up on fishless cycling and start the process. Choose the fish together while you wait for it to cycle.

[Good Wolf]

You should find a reason to go to a pet store and see what fish she OOOOs and AWWWWS at. Then you can plan your tank around the fish that she wants.

One of the biggest parts of gift giving is being observant of what the person your giving to shows interest in year around. The best gifts are ones that you didn't ask for, but you always wanted.

If she just oogles some little Cardinal Tetra then you don't need to go out spend hundreds on a 90g set up, but if she wants spends a lot of time in front of Electic Blue Cichlids your looking at a completely different set up.

If all else fails ask her. It would suck to get her a tank that isn't sufficent for the fish that she likes.

[emc7]

It would suck to get her a tank that isn't sufficent for the fish that she likes.

In this case, you just buy another tank. Can't have too many. But get the biggest you can easily afford. If she falls in love with neons and you have a 125g, you can get 100 of them. A 75g is 4ft x 1.5 ft. It would give you a lot of options. 55 gallon tanks are common, cheap, and will hold a large variety of fish.

[JustOneMore20]

Buy the biggest fish tank you can afford (she'll love it) and then let her choose the fish. The tank is the present...so let her choose what goes in it (you can help, of course).

It would be very sweet of my boyfriend to buy me a fish tank, but if I didn't get to stock it myself, I'd be a little hurt....haha.

[Ghost Knife]

I have come to find out that it takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to cycle a tank so please be sure do that first. Were you thinking salt or freshwater fish? Are you leaning more toward vertebrates or invertebrates or both? I would definitely start with at least a 29G tank. You can acquire a new one with all of the accessories (minus plants, fish, and stand) for less than $100 at Wal-Mart. I would look around for a sturdy stand as well.

[trashion]

Normally it takes up to 6 weeks to cycle a tank. But you can carry out that process while choosing fish with your girlfriend. When the tank is cycled, you should be good to go

[COM]

I seem to be saying this a lot lately...

Why bother going through a 6 week agonizing cycling process? Let technology be your friend. Add the bacterial colonies immediately. Either get some from a friend with a well-established tank or buy a bag of BioSpira or a similar product. You'll be cycled in a few hours and can get the fish you want.

Ghost Knife is right about the cheap tank kits at Wal-Mart. Here's my two cents on those: the tanks themselves are OK, not quite to the standard of an All-Glass or a good old O'Dell (out of business, you won't find one). The kit will have a junky filter, a junky heater, a cheap noisy air pump, and the low grade lighting. The 55 kit actually has a double strip with a decent reflector which is pretty good but the other kits are all of the cheapest items you can put together in a box. I recommend avoiding any store kits at Wal-Mart or the chains. You can actually get top-of-the-line brand new equipment from the online retailers for about the same amount of money as one of those kits will run you. You can't get the tank online - the big shippers won't accept glass aquariums.

[Buggy]

COM: Not everyone knows someone with an established tank to borrow from and if you don't have a decent lfs that carries the stuff, Bio-Spira can be very hard to get. I can't get it anywhere within 150 miles of me so I would have to order online. Then you can't be sure it will arrive fresh and in good condition.

[COM]

^^ Obviously not everyone has an established tank to borrow from. These are suggestions to help new hobbyists skip a tedious and difficult step of establishing the tank. I've done the traditional cycle thing in the past. Not fun.

As for ordering BioSpira online, it is no different from ordering fish or plants online. It is actually easier to ship. The only limitation on shipping it is that you don't want it to freeze. A responsible shipper would simply put a heat pack in the box with it if shipping during a cold season. It also can be handled non-refrigerated for periods of 4 to 5 days.

[trashion]

Also, then you have to get the BioSpira and fish at the same time which they might not want to do.

[COM]

Right because lots of people enjoy an empty tank. If you use the BioSpira, you could literally set up the tank and have it completed and surprise your gal with it.

[trashion]

Well, I was just saying that maybe they'd like to pick out the fish together, and not all in one day? But I guess they could add fish slowly with the Bio-spira, as long as SOMETHING's in there when they first put it in.