Starting a Freshwater Aquarium… fish, plants, decorations, gravel…?! Help!?
by Aquaboy on Friday, March 26th, 2010 | 8 Comments
Alright so my friends and I were thinking about starting a new FRESHWATER aquarium. We have a tank with a filter… I can’t remember if it’s 5 or 10 gallons…. pretty sure its 5… anywho. We want fish! lots! Well, not lots but more than 3. And we were hoping for something else like a snail or a frog or even a water snake. So Im wondering what type of fish would be good. (and other creatures) And now i need good deco ideas! Gravel is a given, what else?
Details, details! thanks allot!
Alright lets just say i get a 20 gallon. Now what.
PS NO GOLDFISH or bettas!
OH! and fish that breed would be just FANTASTIC!
So now its a 20 gallon, lol …
here we go again.. =D
There are 3 ranges of fish; Top, Middle, and Bottom Swimmers. . . to get the most out of your tank you want to buy fish from each category.
For a 20 gallon I would suggest:
Top:
7 Danios
Middle:
5 Tetras (neon, ghost, black, etc etc.)
or
3 Molly’s
Bottom:
3 Cory’s (Ghost, Peppered, assrted, etc. etc.)
or
1 Rubberlip Catfish (or any other 6inch catfish)
Danios swim at the top and are very active and encourage tank mates to swim around a lot. Cory’s are a GREAT bottom dweller, very active.. .. ..
–Edit–
Danios, Tetras, and Molly’s breed VERY often .. especially mollys =D
In a 5 gallon tank, I would not put more than 2 fish. The fish’s pee will kill each other if you put too many in there. If you’re getting small fish, get a plant or two, they like to hide.
in a ten gallon:
you could have some neon tetras. they look gorgeous and you could have like, 9-10 (10 is max. try to stay below) you can fit 1 inch of fish per 1 gallon. if you stay at like 7-8, you could maybe fit a snail???these fish also get closer the more fish you have, and look spectacular at feeding time. I would suggest hikari betta bio gold pellets. i know it sounds weird, but betas and neon tetras have the same appetites, and beta pellets are made healthier. you would have to get a heater for tetras, they are tropical.
here is a good neon tetra website:
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/000tropfishcareguides.htm and click on “neon tetras”
for a 5 gallon:
you could still go for some neon tetras. you could put in like 3, and then add another fish that is considered compatable by the WEB AND your pet store specialist. the web is normally more correct, since the pet store person doesn’t always know what they are talking about.
GOOD LUCK!
in a 5 gallon,
First you figure out what you actually have. Then you set it up and do a fishless cycle to get it ready. You can google that. Next you add the fish no more than 2 or 3 at a time. If the tank is 5 gallons then you are really limited to only having a couple of fish. 20 gallons would allow you to have a nice set up with any of the livebearers.
**
Sarah,
We just started a 29 gallon tank about a month ago, and the fish breeder wouldn’t let us have more than 6 tetras until the tank cycled. This means that the ph, nitrites, nitrates, etc. are at optimum levels, and there is NO ammonia present. We found out that our water had more ammonia in it than what the chemicals allowed, so we had to get ammonia lock and ammonia chips to bring it down, and also did several water changes a week in about 1/3 of the tank. It was tedious for a while, but well worth it. If you don’t let the tank cycle, you are asking for problems later.
The general rule of thumb for amount of fish is one inch per gallon, but some fish being fatter than others take up more mass space. When you buy your fish, make sure they are compatible with each other and calculate based upon their adult size, not the size you bought them. Once your tank cycles you can have 6-10 fish, but please don’t put a snake in there; your fish won’t like it very much. The frog may be fine, but remember that pee and dead animals and uneaten food create ammonia, which can kill your fish.
Buy a vacuum siphon to clean the bottom of the tank about once a month, and buy test kits for everything the fish man tests for so you can monitor the tank without running to the store with a sample once a week. You’ll not only save time, but gas is so high, it’s better if you can do these things at home.
Once your tank cycles, you can add plants, too! Plants help put oxygen into the water and give the smaller fish a place to hide if the larger fish get in the mood to chase them.
Make sure you have a heater and a thermometer in the tank, and clean your filter once a month using the water from your tank, not tap water. A partial water change once a week is great, and the fish appreciate it.
Oh,, and don’t leave the light on all the time, it encourages algae growth. Our fish guy told us 4-6 hours a day was optimal. We put a timer on the plug to turn it on twice a day for a couple of hours when we know we’ll be in the room to enjoy them.
I hope all this helps. If you need to talk with someone about compatibility, see the fish guy that sells you the fish. He will know better than anyone because he takes care of them every day. Don’t go to a general fish store for anything until you get your tank cycled and all your questions answered. You don’t want to get New Tank Syndrome and have to start all over.
To save money, we used my father in law’s glass marbles. They recommended 1-1 1/2 lbs flooring per gallon. Any kind of pottery can be put into the tank as long as it has been washed really good. I used a clear drinking glass for a while so I could see the fish even when they thought they were hiding. They found it curious and liked going in and out of the glass. If you want exotic fish and “shock factor”, make sure that your fish are not in danger. My daughter’s tank has a small baja shark and a betta along with several tetras. I’m waiting to see what happens there!
Having an aquarium is indeed a lot of work, but when you can finally sit back and enjoy it, it’s worth all the care you can give them.
Check out this guys rock/ caves. They are all real and if you don’t see anything you like they will make you one to fit your tank
http://www.kavatica.com/products.html
Starting a Freshwater Aquarium… fish, plants, decorations, gravel…?! Help!? | Aquarium B…
Starting a Freshwater Aquarium… fish, plants, decorations, gravel…?! Help!? | Aquarium B…