This might not go here, but...

[octavian]

Sorry if Im posting this in the wrong section, but right now i have only a 10 gallon tank. Ive been asking my mom to let me have another tank but shes worried i wont take care of it. What are some tips or hints as to convincing your parents that you can handle a bigger tank?

[zackish]

Stick with the 10 until she will believe you ahaha. There is really no other way than showing interest in it.

[octavian]

my brother also wants a new tank so maybe she will give in eventually

[cocoa_pleco]

my mom always hated my tanks but my dad didnt mind, so what he used to do was just take me for them and brought them homed, filled them faster than hell and just say "well, its filled, cant return it". lol

just keep up with the 10g, show interest, and maybe work to pay for a larger tank yourself to show that the aquarium wont be something rotting in the attic after using it for a month

[Coleman4i]

Do chores and earn the tank. They are not cheap so you have to show that your really want, and deserve it.

[Lady Hobbs]

cocoa_pleco

my mom always hated my tanks but my dad didnt mind, so what he used to do was just take me for them and brought them homed, filled them faster than hell and just say "well, its filled, cant return it". lol Your dad and I think the same.

just keep up with the 10g, show interest, and maybe work to pay for a larger tank yourself to show that the aquarium wont be something rotting in the attic after using it for a month Good advice here. Gotta let the folks see you will care for one before getting another. It is an expensive hobby and she probably wants to make sure you don't lose interest in it in 6 months.

(Also increases the electric bill!)

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, man do i love the way my dad does that. when he got me my motorcycle, we bought it and tore up the reciept after we knew it worked, that way- NO return!

yep, as long as you show interest, they should let you get one.

[zackish]

I would like to point on in Hobbs post about the electric bill......
Going to raise it a lot depending on what kind of setup you have.

If your brother wants another tank too you should both stay on top of things and then see if she'll let you get a 29 or something.
I found that 29 is probably an ideal size for someone like yourself, that is what I got about 3 months ago and I love it. If you come home with something much bigger than that she probably will be pretty mad. A 55 in comparison to a 29 is huge lengthwise and I am sure she would be flabberghasted. However, a 29 still seems like a regular squarish type tank but there is a wide variety of fish you can have and do a lot with a 29.

[MeganL3985]

Sort of similar to what Zackish said. Stay on top of things for a bit with your 10 gal. Then maybe down the road when you've shown your mom you can be responsible, maybe pass your 10 gallon on to your brother and get a larger one for yourself?

[~Erik3.8.07~]

agreed work hard and maintain it and show you can do it all on your own. thats how i got mine. i had a 10 gallon tank that i took care of in my room for about 5 months and then i was able to get a 46gallon.

and if your concerned about length but want something bigger then a 29, a 46 is a very nice tank to have, there not as long as a 55 so it doesnt look as big but still offer lots of space for lots of differnet fish. i absolutley love mine

[Dave66]

My parents gave me a ten when I was six (had danios, neons, cories). When they saw I didn't kill anything and the plants in the tank grew, they gave me a five. The goldfish (red and white and gold and white comets) in it grew and grew and I got 20 bucks for them from the pet shop.
Fast forward eight years, and I bought my first big tank - a 200 gallon - with money I earned mowing yards. Man, I mowed a lot of yards for that tank setup - eight a day for two months.
I had the advantage as my dad already had a tank, a 29 he bought in 1947, so once I'd passed my 10 gallon test, I had a green light.
Sorry, just woolgathering.

Dave

[Kuli_Loach]

My parents broke in as soon as I got my first tank, a 5g. I made it all purty and stuff so they wanted one. Then I got another and gave my 5g to my brother. Then we had 2 10g and 1 5g. My dad wanted a larger tank so he got a 30g and made me do it. My mom wanted saltwater so she got a 29g and had me make it saltwater. I then got a 55g and made it fresh and my dad made his 30g salt or well I did, he just said that is what he wants so I did it. Within a month I had seven tanks. Make it as purty as possible and show your parents alot and tell them how much more purty it could be if you had more room and what kind of fish you could have.

[zackish]

My mom wants me to do a salt too haha
I think I am gunna start a 10 gal salt here at my dorm and get 20 gallon stuff for it like bigger lighting and this coming summer transfer everything to a 20 gal. However, I have no job now at college and I went from about $300 a week to $0 and now I have been spending money on books and blah blah.

Sucks

[cocoa_pleco]

lol, saltwater is expensive. im lucky for my 20g high salt that im starting i have leftover parts like lighting, skimmers, etc. all i need is more LR and fish and corals

[tweaks]

i think youd benifit from a 30 or a 33 not too big not too small perfect for a beginner looking to go bigger I have 3-33s and 1-30 and really can keep a variety of fish and easy to maintain because its not TOO big

[Dave66]

Marine tank startup is exponentially more expensive than freshwater. For example, I could completely equipt and stock a freshwater planted ten gallon for about 250 dollars. A 10-gallon reef; 750 fully equipted and stocked.

Dave

[cocoa_pleco]

daves 100% correct. my 33g salt has been about 1200$ now, and i bought the tank and stand alone for 40$, so the rest was high-end lights and LR and equipment.

[YaYgoldFish]

Like the others suggested, try getting your mom into the hobby. Get a job and keep sure you take good care of your tanks. Try talking to your mom about your tanks, telling them random things you learned..heres an example(for me i had 2 res and wanted a big tank for fish)

Did you know that my turtles could deat live fish?
Did you know i can feed them vegetables?
My turtles tore out all my plants

Things like that, keep them updated, she might start caring more and more and be interedsted! She even bought me a 25g lol. Except i had to pay for better filters and fish and junk but ehh free stand and tank.

[Futureboy]

The best way is getting them into it aswell like everyones said

i did it with my parents and now ive got around 8 tanks laying around

a bonus is you show the parents the really cute expensive fish and buy the regular ones yourself and if your a good boy you get treats!

[cocoa_pleco]

[QUOTE=Futureboy

a bonus is you show the parents the really cute expensive fish and buy the regular ones yourself and if your a good boy you get treats![/QUOTE]

lol, cute fish like clownfish

[Futureboy]

Exactly!..

[Ark6ie]

i got around that when i moved back to my mums by finding new homes for my rabbits instead. she couldnt really tell me to get rid of my fish aswell!
now i just bring more fish home and set more tanks up, as long as i pay a third of the electricity bill shes cool.
she doesnt come into my room anymore though, she thinks the tanks might be so heavy they will go through the floor!!!! so i have 4 in here at the moment