Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: rabdoc on June 09, 2013, 11:00:24 AM
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Hi I am looking to get into Fishkeeping for the first time and have been looking to buy things one piece at a time until I have everything I need to set the tank up but anything I have seen so far are complete ready to go set ups and while they are very convienant I really don't want to have to splash that kind of cash in one go if anyone could point me in the direction of some suppliers that would be fantastic.
Thanks
Rab
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Most of the tanks on sale are complete set ups I'm afraid.
Clearseal do make tanks with and without lids. Some of the tanks with lids don't have lights in them so you have to buy them separately as well.
When I got my 125 litre several years ago, I did look at a tank that was just the tank, lid and T5 lights. It was a Polish make if I remember correctly, but I've forgotten the name. There are some around, but you'd have to visit all your local shops to find them.
I assume you'll also be wanting to buy separately a stand or other piece of furniture to put the tank on? Make sure it is strong enough to support the weight of the tank and water. And that it is also the same size or slightly bigger than the tank. If even a tiny part of the tank overhangs it will damage the tank.
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Thanks Sue for your reply looks like I will have rethink the way I am going to go about this but there is no rush which is why I thought about doing it one piece at a time
Rab
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Maybe advertise in free local sheets etc for someone moving/ giving up or upgrading and try for second hand?
Unless you were confident it was OK, you would need to thoroughly sterilise with ammonia and start the bacteria up again from scratch though.
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Hi Rab,
One thing to think about is the size of your tank. I bought a 55L and within half a year had bought a 200L due to the 55L limiting the fish I could have.
Secondly I was able to get my whole set-up (tank, cabinet, filter, lights, heater, sand, wood, plants) all on 0% interest free finance for a year from maidenhead aquatics. This may be a route to think about too rather than getting bits here and there?
Happy shopping!
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Hi I am looking to get into Fishkeeping for the first time and have been looking to buy things one piece at a time until I have everything I need to set the tank up but anything I have seen so far are complete ready to go set ups and while they are very convienant I really don't want to have to splash that kind of cash in one go if anyone could point me in the direction of some suppliers that would be fantastic.
You should be able to get everything you need individually at more or less any internet or local fish shop. The exception would likely be the tank, not everywhere will stock bare tanks. There will be two main problems; firstly, a lot of the sites that do sell bare tanks, won't deliver them outside of their local area for some reason. They seem happy to deliver kits but not bare tanks. There must be some logic to this, but what it is escapes me! The major problem though is cost. You will find it very difficult to put together a list of individual items that is competitive in price terms with the kits that are available.
If I were you, I would save up until you could afford a kit. In the meantime, keep on eye on places such as freecycle, your local gumtree, aquarist-classified.co.uk and perhaps even fleaBay. Bargains crop up on these sites, on freecycle they are even... well... free!
Whilst you are waiting, do lots of research on cycling and on compatibility and decide what fish you want to keep.