Where should I buy a fishtank

Seaxwyn

We have four goldfish in a small tank. I want to get a bigger tank - but not huge, as our house is very small.

I've tried Freecycle, but only huge tanks seem to be on offer there.

The only petshop round here is Pets@Home and the prices they charge for tanks seems very high for what's essentially a glass box.

Can anyone tell me the best place to get a fish tank without paying the earth?

Thanks!

helping_hubby

I actually think pets at homes plain glass tanks are reasonably priced.

You can buy them online, but most of the fish places I used to use charged delivery. And there's the risk of it turning up broken...bit too much of a hassle for my liking.

The general rule for goldfish is 10 gallons of water per goldfish, so perhaps a larger tank would be best anyway?

Notsosharp

Hiya,

Its a good thing that you want to buy your fish a bigger tank, so many people just stick them in a small tank thinking they will be Okay.

What kind of fish are they? If they are fantailed fish (two tails) they will need at least 40l per fish so you would probably want a tank thats 160l if not more. If they are single tailed comet type goldfish they will need probably 80l each. Its because they are quite dirty fish and produce a lot of waste.

It might pay you to think about rehoming a couple of them if you can only have a small tank. Or maybe switching to tropical fish, I don't think they are as hard to look after as people think and there is more variety.

I think fishtanks do tend to be expensive. P@H are probably one of the cheapest I have seen but then again I am fairly new to the hobby myself......do you have a local fish shop or a garden centre you could try?

Seaxwyn

Thanks both of you for replying.

They are the ordinary single tailed fish. My children won them at a fair (yes, I'm sure that's illegal and I'm not condoning it). They have been living in their small tank for over two years now with no obvious ill effect - but definitely it's beginning to look cramped. I'd rather not rehome them as they do seem happy together.

I'll go and have a look at the tanks in Pets at Home again, I don't know of a fish shop around here.

ZootHornRollo

so long as you stick to the plain tanks (i think they are made by clear-seal) instead of the 'branded' tanks like fluval and jewel then the P@H ones should be cheap enough.

Notsosharp

The Op is probably right, I don't have a clue when it comes to how much fish tanks are, I was given mine....long story!

Are you going to cycle the new tank? I don't know much about cycling but I know you have to do it. Its so the bacteria that changes the ammonia from the fish waste into nitrite and nitrate can have a chance to become established before the fish go in.....but then again I am probably telling you stuff you already know seeing as you have had fish longer then I have!

ixwood

Ebay, local collection within 10 miles or whatever. By far the best place for fish tanks.

PS Anyone with or thinking about keeping fish, please read up a bit re filters, cycling (establishing) the tank etc. It's not really fair on the poor fish not to know the basics.

Seaxwyn

Yes we have a pump and a filter and we change the water every three or four weeks, using rainwater rather than tapwater. The fish seem pretty healthy. I will look again in Pets at Home. The tanks seemed really expensive but I was possibly looking at the wrong ones.

ixwood

Ebay. Still.

2nd hand ones, not new btw. There's always 100's.

sodamnfunky

Try www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk I bought a Fluval Vicenza 260 set up for marines, 3 months old for £250

ailuro2

when you are in pets at home looking, buy a bottle of simple decholrinator, it's only about 3 pounds and will last for ages.

It will take the chlorine / chloramine out of your tap water, and is much nicer for the fish than rainwater that has been through car exhaust fumes etc. on the way down.

Freecycle and ebay are possible places for cheap fish tanks, I didn't find any when I was looking, but you never know your luck. Have you thought about having an outdoor pond for them? It might work out cheaper if you can pick that stuff up second hand.