I'm looking at getting a 1000+ L fish tank and stand. Without fish how much am i looking at? Needs to include pumps and heaters ect.

by far the cheapest way to get em is to check em out 2nd hand in teh classifies or hunt em down at garage sales

my mates dad would frequently bring home 6' and 8' tanks for like $120 :|

having said that, i got a 4x2x2' for $200 new (10mm glass) at a pet shop once and i thought that was a pretty good deal...

http://www.aquariumsrus.com.au/

Cheers that site is tops

pets galore is the best place for fish stuff.

I paid $500 for a 1500 litre (6'x 3'x 3'). I'm getting a custom metal stand made for it which I've ben quoted @ approx > $450 for frame an labour. Frame is galvanised (in case I decide to go Marine down the track).

*unfunny derogatory remark about fish tanks in the same style of HERMI's unfunny remarks about various sports*

If you have never owned a tank before you should probably go to a good store.

Clayfield Aquariums
Smith's Aquariums
both are pretty decent

If you are planning on keeping Cichlids. Join the Queensland Cichlid Group and go to an auction to buy your fish (they will be atleast a quarter the price if you know what you want).

Be careful buying secondhand tanks unless you know what you are looking for.

Some simple hints, for second hand purchases.
-ask them to make sure there is no gravel in it (gravel makes it heavy to move)

- When you ring ask to see the tank full (you want to be sure there is no leaks)

- Ask to see all "extras" working ie. heater, filter, lights

Other cost savings.

- Get the tank made yourself by a tank maker (this takes a little inside knowledge I guess)

- Get the stand made. If you go steel there is a few smiths around town that will do it (make sure you get it treated for rust). If you get wood... hmm no hints here, but I guess if you can find a good chippie you are set. Just make sure to tell the craftsmen how much weight it has to hold.

- You know that expensive gravel at the fish store ? ... its the same 3 mm golden gravel you can buy from landscape suppliers... All you have to do is wash it (put some in a bucket and wash it with a hose pour off the extra water)

-Expensive fish lights ? Unless you plan on having live plants (Cichlids usually dig them up so don't bother) normal fluros will do. And if you do plan on plants, don't buy your lighting from a fish store, a $40 fluro at a fish store is the same as $5 fluro from a lighting store, just have to pick the right type of fluro eg. tri-phoss daylight (you can get really technical with lights and get specific colours, described in kelvin)

- Most of those expensive red rocks at fish stores come from redcliff.

- Alot of those $1+ a pop plants (particularly "Val") come from local streams ie. the various crossings on the pine river.

- When planning your filtering, it should turn through at least 2 times the ammount of water there is in the tank (MINIMUM)

If you are going cichlids.
- Don't get undergravel filters
- Only get a tiny amount less then a cm of gravel (if any)
- Don't get plants, they will destroy them
- Don't mix and match related species of african cichlids if you plan on breeding


Also buy some books or go looking on the net first. Fish aren't as cheap as they look. Heating, lights, filters, food, chemicals all add up as a continuing running cost.

Obes is Clafield Aquariums the one at Eagle Junction, because it it is that place rocks. They have a big arse tropical tank in the store with live coral, its like looking at the Barrier Reef...

Oh and I forgot to mention make sure you think about where you are putting a tank. A 1000l tank with glass stand and extras is going to weight 1.1 tonne or more. And all that weight will be transfered through 4 or maybe 6 points. Might be a bit much for a wooden floor.

Yeah gumby thats it.. tho tropical usually means fresh water with a mix of fish that need heating (tetras, catfish, non agressive cichlids), you mean reef tank (if it has coral). He has some of the better marine and reef advice in town. I prefer smiths for fresh water.

ps. I have kept both, and I would strongly recommend against a marine tank unless you plan on spending lots of time (atleast an hour a day) caring for it. You won't need that all the time once its setup but definately for the first few months while it settles it self. Reef is harder again lighting,trace elements, salinity, ph, ca, temperature ammonia levels ugh it goes on and on. Frequently on marine and reef tanks you will need a chiller for sumemr and a heater for winter. They are amazing things, but I think a diving ticket is cheaper then a marine tank heh.

Go Aquariums R Us. They build the tanks you see at most pet stores. They also know there stuff and are heaps cheaper than petstores / aquarium shops.

I have one of their tanks, and am looking at getting an 8-footer in the no to distant future from them.

They can come with pine stands/hoods which are either raw, or you can get stained.

If you are going cichlids.
- Don't get undergravel filters
- Only get a tiny amount less then a cm of gravel (if any)

What's the go with only a small amount of gravel Obes? I always used to use neutral sand coz I rekn it looks better.. but most of the cichlids I had (american river cichlids mostly) really like deep sand to dig in. Especially Brasiliensis(sp?) & Jurapi (Earth Eater)... they go nuts if ya don't give em something to dig in.
I've been thinking about getting another aquarium lately... prolly get mid-sized central american cichlids as they are my favourite... convicts, firemouths, brasillis, etc...
I definitely agree about clayfield aquarium... it has always been good.
Also... large flat pieces of slate... get em from any rocky creek around the place... leave em in hot water in a laundry tub for while to kill any bugs... then make cichlid houses outta them! also, most of the sticky egg cichlids like slate for breeding on.

More gravel is more placefor biological material to build up ... means more water changes more often or it can mean lower water quality which means less healthy fish.

I used to be a big gravel fan, but I realized eventually "most" fish don't give a damn as long as there is some.

Some like the shell dwelling species from Lake Tanyika (spelling?) prefer more for breeding, but even they can do just fine without it.

Thanks Obes as you can probably tell I have NFI when it comes to fishes in tanks, while they are nice to look at could never be arsed getting one, requires too much of my time to maintain.

What have you got? Any chance of a piccy?

I used to have around 40 tanks. And I used to have piccies. NFI where they are now.

Gave away most of it.
I have 1 tank still setup at my folks place. And around 10 tanks empty getting in the road.

I used to enjoy the technical side of fish keeping, but couldn't be bothered with all the cleaning and crap that goes along with it.

*unfunny derogatory remark about fish tanks in the same style of HERMI's unfunny remarks about various sports*

For fish I'd look in big bodies of water.

For tanks I'd visit the closest army base.

Aquariums R Us are one of the cheapest... I bought mine from there too.. but instead of a pine stand I got a cabinet and hood.

The cabinet looks so much better imo. Plan your tank before you buy it.. there is so much work involved. Being a 1000L tank though, you wouldn't have to clean it once a week like you would small tanks at least!

You should also investigate your equipment. I highly advise against cheap arse equipment from China. For your filter, I would go Eheim or Fluval.. both very good and reputable brands both with 3 years warranty.

Make sure you're in the know with pH, nitrates, nitrites etc etc. Cichlid water isn't too picky, neither is tropicals... but you gotta make sure your chemical levels are stable.



last edited by Prophet at 15:51:50 30/Jun/04

I have a 6" tank, stand, hood, heaters, filters, pumps... all southside brisbane at an ex girlfriends house.