My hubby and I are re-doing the flat at the mo, and what with 4 inquisitive cats taking a liking to playing with leads running too/from our fish tank (which is a small 2x1 type tank on some well built draws) we have decided it is time for an upgrade.

Not sure at the moment, whether we are going to get two small tanks with stands (he could keep what he wanted in one, and me the other) or one big tank, but the main question I have is..

I'm after something different to mollies guppies and neons, don't get me wrong there nice fish, but all our friends have sucking loch, mollys, guppies and pleckos etc (excuse spelling) and I was hoping for something a little different I want something a little more unique (maybe that's the right word)

I was looking at marine fish, and stuff like that and know the upkeep of them can be a lot more costly and time consuming, so has anyone out there got any suggestions for something that will cost about the same as what I have at the moment to keep running (maybe a little more) but with more exotic type fish. A little more time looking after them isn't to much of a problem at the moment...


Thanks in advance for any replies.

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Hi and nice to see you back on the forum after a very long time.

I used to keep fish - many years ago but just basic cold water and tropical.
I know marine fish take up lots of time and money and probably need larger tanks.

My suggestion would be to go to a very good aquatic store near you and speak to them. Sorry i cant be more help.
IF you know Cold Blooded in Rainham go see Paul or one of the guys in there they may be able to help you or even suggest a reputable aquatic shop.

Seahorses are great but not sure how difficult they are to keep

Hi i wouldn't bother with seahorses until you have more experience,if you really want marines then go for live rock as a filter and an oversize protein skimmer to remove other wastes,you will still need to do a fair bit of reading on the subject and you could ask experienced marinists in some of the shops what works for them and so on,on the other hand if you want to stay with freshwater then there are plenty of small to medium oddball species to keep,i'd recommend zebra spiny eels,dwarf snakeheads(not with smaller fish),reedfish,butterfly fish,smaller species of bichir or blackghost knife fish,it all depends really on what size tank you intend to go for

My nephew professes to know loads about fish keeping etc, but he never mentioned any of the one you suggested. (Tis the gospel according to Tony lol).

Anyway, off to get a new tank on the weekend, gona wait till we have set up tank and got it all going for a while, then get the fish, so should be plenty of time to source some unique fish.

Thanks for the advice, going to look into some of the fish you mentioned online then may go and see what they say at a large aquatic shop in Southend.

ok if looking at dwarf snakeheads then get as much info as poss where they came from as some are temperate species and don't last long at normal trop temps(75-82f),also i found 48"x18"x18" a good size tank that's not too big,most of the oddballs i mentioned will live with most community type fish that are platy/swordtail size and up,also be aware that spiny eels will be difficult to feed if kept with fast moving fish that are always hungrey(e.g barbs) and butterfly fish i wouldn't keep with fin nippers,good luck hope all goes well for you

hi why dont you look into malawi cichlids, ive been keeping fish now for nearly 8 years and ive found that if you want to stick to freshwater fish these are the closest your going to get to marines. theres absoloutely loads of different colour varietys in the. just make sure that you use a good filtration system and overstock your tank as they are very aggressive. if you decide to go into malawi's and have any questions feel free to ask. ive been keeping and breeding them for about 4 years now.
thanks
jb

to be honest all fish are interesting it just depends what you want out of the experience,i have kept many species of all colours,shapes and sizes etc over nearly 30 years and i prefer fish with big personalities e.g medium/large cichlids(mainly central and south american) and oddballs,the majority of these type of fish are predators but not all are! even when i kept marines i had lionfish,triggers,morays etc,but that's just my personal opinion! i found that malawis were nice but not a lot different from regular fish,that's when i got into fish like snakeheads,tigerfish,knifefish etc as not everyone keeps these at home

i own a large oscar myself now and i love the personality that they have, i also house it with a jaguar cichlid and a giant gourami. though unless youv kept them before id go for the oscar to gain some expierience with larger cichlids.
as my giant gourami will soon have an 8x3x3 tank to himself and the jaguar cichlid will be getting a 6x2x2 tank to share with a male.
the oscar though is happy in a 4x2x2 tank.
thanks
jb

i wish i had the time to look after all them cichlids ! maybe when i get my 'tropical house' in the garden i will have but it's a dream at the moment!

they are absoloutely great to own as long as the effort is put in to caring for them properly, which im sure you could provide
thanks
jb