We just bought our little girl a fish tank.  we need some place like this to ask all questions about fish.

Thanks

1. How big is tank?
2. What sized/type pump or filtration unit.
3. What will be in tank besides fish?
4. What kind of fish?
5. How many fish do you want?

1 & 2 Bigger is better in terms of happy healthy fish (always).
3. Gravel, plants, filter, certain water creatures can all add or hurt the tank's healthy life cycle.
4. Certain fish like goldfish are dirtier than other fish, but also can survive in neglected tanks easier.
5. Generally, the rule of thumb for little fish (beta's, teras, etc) is one inch of fish per gallon of water. Larger fish need more.

I always tell people who want to attempt raising a few fish to buy bigger than they think. 30 gallon minimum, even if it's just for a couple fish. Why, because fish will do much better in a bigger tank in terms of health. The maintenance will be the same as a tiny 10-15 gallon, but your margin of error for mistakes is much better. Plus, if you decide you dont want the fish, it's much easier to sell a larger tank. Also buy a larger pump/filter versus smaller for the same reason you get a larger tank. The BIOWheel type hang-on-tank filters are very good.

Basic steps that "should" be used for new fresh water tanks.
1. Fill tank with gravel (2-3 inches at bottom is a good amount), plants, decorations, and pump/filter (after rinsing with clean water). Fill tank with water and either dump in a bit of bottled bacteria, or just a "pinch" of fish food that will settle and rot (food for the bacteria).
2. Let set for 3 days minimum (a week is better, two weeks better still) with everything working, but no fish. This gets the bacteria life-cycle going. These bacteria break down the waste products of fish crap/piss and extra food. They are ESSENTIAL for a good healthy low-maintenance tank, but take time to grow on all the stuff inside your tank.
3. Add a single fish and let him be for a week. Feed him "once" just a tiny bit. (the good bacteria need time to adapt)
4. If he is still alive at end of week, add more fish, but one one or two at a time. Since this is a new time, the bacteria must be given time to expand to compensate for each of the extra fish.
5. Feed fish once every day at MAX and only a "very" tiny bit. Overfeeding kills fish, underfeeding just keeps them small.
6. Do NOT change out the floss filters every couple of weeks like the instructions say (they are just trying to sell you filters). The old filters are full of good bacteria and you should only change them when the are absolutely falling apart. If they get too clogged, you can swish them out with clean water, but you want that bacteria in them and new filters have zero bacteria.
7. Enjoy watching your fish, but don't feed them except that tiny bit one a day at MAXIMUM!!
Note: If tank gets cloudy during the break-in, the clouds are all the new bacteria. The tank will subside to back to clear after a while (the bacteria count balances out), but you might kill a fish or two getting it there.
8. Once it is well balanced, you shouldn't have to do much of anything to the tank. Just a top off of water once in a while. Keep it out of direct sunlight if you don't want green algea everywhere.

Don't tell her I took the gourami.

Funny... I almost posted this EXACT question ("What is the ar15.com of freshwater aquariums?") last night.

After years of being out of the hobby, I'd like to set up a 10 - 20 gallon FW tank (leaning towards a 16 gallon glass bowfront right now, or maybe a 12 gallon acrylic bowfront).  Yes, I know... bigger is better/easier, but due to space limitations, I need one that is less than 13" deep (I mean deep as in front to back, not top to bottom).

Anyway, here's a forum I found that seems to have lots of activity and good information...

aquariumadvice.com/index.php

--Mike

Thanks for that link Mike (well, my checkbook won't thank you that's for sure).

Been out of it for years myself and would just love to blow the dust off the old 55 sitting in my basement.

Quoted: Don't tell her I took the gourami. www.thaifishingguide.com/images/freshwaterfishing/phuket_10.jpg

That is a huge gourami dude. In fact, I have never seen one that big even in displays.

Oh yeah, advice on FW tanks, bigger is better as far as maintaining it. You can also have a larger varity of fish.
As an aside, I sold my 60 gal. when I noticed it affected my gun allowance. Fish ain't cheap.

Quoted: Quoted: Don't tell her I took the gourami. www.thaifishingguide.com/images/freshwaterfishing/phuket_10.jpg That is a huge gourami dude. In fact, I have never seen one that big even in displays. Oh yeah, advice on FW tanks, bigger is better as far as maintaining it. You can also have a larger varity of fish. As an aside, I sold my 60 gal. when I noticed it affected my gun allowance. Fish ain't cheap.

+1 as to the bigger the easier to maintain.   Having an 110 gallon one with all kinds of little fish under 2 inches lon and some 3-4 inches can be quite entertaining if you do not provide a place for the fish to hide that was my first mistake!    Secondly having adequate filtration is a must!  never cut filtration close it is far better IMHO to usee 1.5 to 2 times the amount of water flow filtration than is suggested for a certain size tank!

My pet store set me up (loaned) with 4 or 5 goldfish to get the inital batch of water "dirty." He claimed goldfish are "dirty" fish and it worked well enough. This was for a 20 gal. tank. After a couple of weeks or so I took them back and traded them in for other tropical fish.

Quoted: Funny... I almost posted this EXACT question ("What is the ar15.com of freshwater aquariums?") last night. After years of being out of the hobby, I'd like to set up a 10 - 20 gallon FW tank (leaning towards a 16 gallon glass bowfront right now, or maybe a 12 gallon acrylic bowfront).  Yes, I know... bigger is better/easier, but due to space limitations, I need one that is less than 13" deep (I mean deep as in front to back, not top to bottom). Anyway, here's a forum I found that seems to have lots of activity and good information... aquariumadvice.com/index.php --Mike

Great site...

Thanks

Tag. I will take and post pics of my 125 gallon fresh water planted aquarium tomorrow.

Quoted: As an aside, I sold my 60 gal. when I noticed it affected my gun allowance. Fish ain't cheap.

No doubt about that. I just sold my AR-10 not long ago to pay for my 125 gallon tank. Fish are cool for sure, but I'm not sure they were worth the AR-10. Of course, some of the expensive ones are breeding, so that might get me back a little (40 or 50 bucks) at a time.

Quoted: Tag. I will take and post pics of my 125 gallon fresh water planted aquarium tomorrow.

Plants are AWESOME in an Aquarium. I also had my 125 set up planted, but due to my larger cichlids destroying them frequently, and the difficulty of getting appropriate light in such a large tank, I moved all the plants to the 55. The plants are ALMOST cooler than the fish!

Quoted: Quoted: Tag. I will take and post pics of my 125 gallon fresh water planted aquarium tomorrow. Plants are AWESOME in an Aquarium. I also had my 125 set up planted, but due to my larger cichlids destroying them frequently, and the difficulty of getting appropriate light in such a large tank, I moved all the plants to the 55. The plants are ALMOST cooler than the fish!

I agree. lighting alone cost me $200. 175 watt metal halide isn't cheap to run.

I just moved up from a 75gal. tank so my plants are just getting started.

I'll get pics up tomorrow.

Actually, I think I just found another forum that probably better qualifies as the "arfcom of aquariums"...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/

The problem with this one is that you apparently have to register just to READ posts.

--Mike

Quoted: Actually, I think I just found another forum that probably better qualifies as the "arfcom of aquariums"... http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/ The problem with this one is that you apparently have to register just to READ posts. --Mike

Thanks for the heads up, I just registered over there.