Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dodge7]

I just moved into my new house with my wife, and since we'll be here for a while, I want to make it look nice. We just spent 6k (dollars) on all new appliances, furniture and accessories for the house...I mean everything!
Now there is one empty place by my couch that would be perfect for a nice-sized tropical fish tank.
She's allergic to cats and dogs (and I don't want them ripping up the new furniture either), so fish would be a great alternative.

The only problem is price.

I feel as though we got hosed on some of the necessities we needed for our home to furnish it but just had to bite the bullet bc, well, this is Korea, everything is overpriced. So I'm looking to keep the price as close to around 300,000 as possible. I saw some prices on-line that were close to that, just wondering if that price would be double in Korea, like most other things are.

Anyone have any experience buying good-sized fish tanks, or seen any prices recently?

Thanks

[Modernist]

I like fish myself, so I can appreciate this goal. I'm going to get one for my place as soon as I finalize my contract renewal.

The key issue, however, is what you mean by 'nice-sized.' In America, I would have been looking for at least 26 gallons or so, one of those cool bowfront tanks that sit nicely in the corner. Or, one of the slick Osaka tanks from Fluvial, very Modernist if I may say so

Those tanks would actually be a bit on the small side by American standards--in a bigger house I would want a nice 55-75 gallon tank like my father had.

In Korea, though, to get a tank above say 20 gallons would be quite a job. To get a 50 gallon tank would probably be over a million and you might have to hire some specialist company on top of that. I don't think 'real' tanks are common here, only small things basically bought for kids--goldfish, bettas, some tetras and stuff like that. If you want to do it right and well, like a serious hobbyist back home, you are going to pay for it in my opinion.

I personally am sticking to the 10 gallon-ish boxes at EMart, ~100,000. The 'specialty' places I've checked have been pretty nasty, expensive, with cheap and junky filters, aerators, decor.

Be careful about buying tanks online. Can't necessarily trust the quality of the sealants or the condition of the glass. Something like that, I like to see for myself in person.

[12ax7]

Go to Naver.com, click on the shopping (쇼핑) icon in the bar, and then enter 수족관. Then, click on 높은가격순 (it will order the search results from the highest price down). A 530 liter (140 gallon) tank goes for about 2 million won and one half that large goes for half as much.

[pkang0202]

I had a 55 gallon tank back home. I can give you some pointers.

I think a 20 gallon tank would be a good size. I think the rule of those is 1 gallon for every inch of fish.

I would strongly recommend a Biowheel type filter. Get the necessary water treatment chemicals. Tehre are ones out there that are "all in one". They will dechlorinate, take care of ammonia and all other bad stuff all at once. Get a heater that is rated for a 20 gallon tank. whatever you get, be sure to get a hood/lid. Fish like to jump.

You will want to start off with starter fish. Buy the cheapest ones you can find (not goldfish). Those fish will die. But more importantly, they will introduce bacteria, poop, ammonia, and all the other stuff needed to create an environment suitable for sustaining aquatic life. After a month or 2 of the starter fish (if they are still alive), then you can start introducing the fish you want for the tank.

You don't want to just buy any ol fish and throw them in. Some groups of fish go well together and others don't. Plenty of resources online about which do well with that.

Personally, I would stay away from any goldfish.

My old tank had:
Tiger Barbs (5 or more to keep their aggression down)
A Bala shark
Rainbow Shark
Pleco
2 Clown Loaches (my favorite)
Neon Tetras
1 Siamese Fish
Black Banded Leporinus


I like Cichlids, but I couldn't buy any for that tank because they don't get along with those fish.

Anyways, taking care of the tropical fish was fun. Once the tank is setup it requires very little maintence. Just check the water every now and then, change the filters regularly, and enjoy watching the fish swim around.

[Dodge7]

Thanks pkang for the details (and everyone else) I have some studying to do on raising tropical fish. Never owned fish in my life before, but looking forward to it.

[pkang0202]

[Dodge7]

ALL tropical fish require salt water, correct? Seems like a rhetorical question, but I'm serious haha. I'd rather just jump straight to the saltwater fish and enjoy it. I hate waiting for the learning curve.

[pkang0202]

[Mix1]

GET ONE! You won't regret it, and if you do you can always sell it to a neighbor or friend.

Pkang has some good info. First of all don't stress. Learn a bit little by little. You'll hear loads of advice, but I recommend you start with a basic freshwater tank. If you set that up right, there will be very little maintenance. Some people get crazy into the hobby, others just want something cool to look at that doesn't take a lot of work. I'm the latter type.

As for size, don't go too small or too large. Too small looks cluttered and the water gets dirty easily, too big takes some work setting up and managing too. I don't know the unit size of my tank but it's about as wide as a drawer and a foot and a half tall.

Sounds like you are going for aesthetics. In that case, setting up a tank that looks cool and natural is a good bet. Natural colored gravel and interesting rocks and a few plants toward the back makes a nice picture. One thing I did that I really recommend people try is get some larger bamboo sticks (with the leaves on top) and put them in the gravel towards the back. The leaves stick out the top of the tank and the bamboo grows taller slowly. Looks cool IMO.

As for fish, be careful what you mix together. Some will pester others. avoid cichlids (shit-lids): pretty, but aggressive and kind of stressful to watch IMO. Go for peaceful at first for fewer problems. Or maybe if you get a big tank, get some schooling (grouping fish) like tetras that swim in a group. That looks cool. And be sure to get a fish like a pleco that eats algae to clean the glass. Guppies have some cool colors and are pretty low maintenance and peaceful, but they may breed like crazy under the right circumstances so watch for that (some people like that though). Also, cory cats (cories) are cute peaceful bottom feeders that help clean up the bottom gravel. Get a small group of them for variety. They hang out together on the bottom mostly.

Whatever you do, make it your own and have fun with it! Start basic but the sky is the limit in terms of creativity.

There is a pet/fish tank street near jongno. Have the wife look it up. Plenty of good deals there, just make sure to choose a shop with clean looking tanks with healthy fish and buy from them. There is one with a white cat and a husky inside and they were way cool and knew what they were doing. Other shops were hit and miss.

[Dodge7]

Thanks.
All I really want are some colorful fish: Blue, yellow, red and green and purple.
I am totally clueless about fish at the moment, but I am pretty stoked about getting started.
I need to do research I'm sure for a many hours, but in terms of the colors of fish I said I wanted, are those saltwater or freshwater fish?

[Modernist]

[potysgsxr]

There are a lot of great places to get fish here in Seoul.
I've had a small 24g salt water tank with a few fish and a lot of corals for about 4 years now and it's been great.

It seems like you're wanting to go the freshwater route though. In that case, I recommend buying your equipment online (emart tends to package everything and you really don't need everything they throw at you).

www.trofish.net
www.selvas.co.kr

You can try Aquaria Central too (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/forum.php)
It's not a korean site, but it should get you started in the right direction and most of the equipment you can learn about on AC, you can find here in Korea.

As for the price, be prepared to pay a premium. On the plus side though, there are all sorts of fish and plants here that would normally cost an arm and a leg in the States, but are quite affordable here in Korea.

HTH!

[Captain Corea]

I had a 120 gallon and a 150 gallon tank back in Canada - and really miss owning them.

I had one tank full of piranha, and the other one had stuff like Amphiuma and Bikers.

I also bred Cichlids for a time.

[Dodge7]

I'm getting some conflicting information. I want those bright colored fish but am hesitating on the maintenance.
Is it worth it to get those beautiful colored fish and coral/background??

[Mix1]