I think my tank is 90 gallons. I'm perfectly happy with the size. It's easily manageable. We upgraded from a 20 gallon when the fish started getting big.
It's in a basement where I have a utility sink + toilet nearby. When it looks green I drain 10-20 gallons and dump into toilet. Refill the buckets in the utility sink, add a cap of treatment, and dump into tank.
Running a marineland 400 biowheel filter.
Last filter had the wires corrode internally and failed. $70 to replace.
I got a nice air pump that runs 2 outlets into air splitters, when I first set it up I fine tuned the air delivery to all the air stones, the treasure chest, the skeleton pirate, etc. Looked great until the fish knock it all over and screw it up.
I have a spongebob theme with the pineapple house, the krusty krab, the easter head, and all the characters.
We have 3 gold fish we won from a county fair. They're each about 6" long now. Also some crawdads my kids catch out of the creek.
I got gravel from home depot and washed it out in a wheel barrow to clean out the mud. Got the big rocks from creek.
Didn't really cost too much. You could have like, 2 regular size turtles, 2-3 oscars, etc. Which is totally plenty to have fun with. When your fish get older and have a major sickness of ick or hole in the head, it's really hard to go through and you may want to shut down the tank at that point. I raised a red tailed cat fish to be about a foot length. I was thinking about making a pond for him to live in.
I was away on a trip when his filter failed and he passed away. Sucks coming home and finding your fish floating. Felt burnt out at that point and sold the setup. I was feeding him chopped up hot dogs and worms.
Years later, and now with my kids, I rebought another setup.
I trained my gold fish to touch so they have to rub my finger first before I give them the shrimp. They're supposed to live for 30-40 years so hopefully they'll be around a while.
I'm using a treasure chest for the tank stand. With the simplicity you don't really even need a cabinet.
I guess my recommendation would be to evaluate what type of fish you want to raise and be sure to check out their mature size. A red tailed cat fish can be 6ft + length in the amazon wild.
Maybe some people have luck, I dont know, but I would not do salt water. The fish are $$$, they're delicate and die easy, and it's a lot more work. But the water is clear and doesn't grow algae. Fresh water is much easier.
150 gallons is pretty epic. But with tank sizes, they can be thin + tall or short + deeper. So you may get the same effect with a smaller tank. Also have to think about the floor structure of your house because it's a lot of weight.
