Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[Lonin]

Hello!

Soo I just recieved a 30 litre (+-10 gallon) freshwater fishtank as a gift from a friend. It came with gravel, plants, two ornaments, a air pump and air stone, a heater and a filter. I was hoping to get some advice here, as I've only kept fish a long time ago and I'm a beginner.. The fish I owned in the past were mainly guppies.

1) I would like to have a community tank but I also don't want the tank to be overcrowded. I prefer small to medium sized, brightly coloured fish and maybe one that will help keep my tank clean by eating algae. The fish also shouldn't be too large as the tank is quite small. I also don't really want any babies either, so no breeding as far as possible. The fish will also have to be warm water fish as I do have a heater. (Do you have any ideas on what fish I can get that will get along in my tank?)

2) is it better to have real plants or the fake ones?

3) is it better to have LED light, a normal florescent tube light or no light at all?

4) How often should I clean my tank and test the water?

5) How much gravel/ pebbles should I use? (I have quite alot!)

6) I read somewhere that you should let your tank settle for a few weeks before adding fish. How long should I wait?

I know the basics of keeping fish and my father is helping me set up my tank in the right way. I can't wait for the tank to be finished and to go buy my fish! Feel free to PM me if you prefer it! ANY advice will be greatly appreciated!!

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
xx00xx
SilverFox12578

1. 30 litres is around 8 gallons so it's pretty small for a community tank. You ideally want at least 20 gallons/75 litres for that.
There aren't many options unfortunately. You could have a really lovely betta tank maybe with some shrimp and/or snails depending on the personality of your betta. Or you could go with a few male guppies or endler's livebearers.

2. There are advantages to real plants and there's a few species that are really easy to look after so it'd be worth throwing some in. Look into java ferns, java moss, anubias, cryptocoryne, cabomba or a few hygrophila or ludwigia species c:

3. If you're going for plants then some light is necessary. Some plants need more powerful lighting than others but anything will be fine for things like java fern/moss.

4. Do a partial water change every week, how much depends on how stocked your tank is.

5. Enough to cover the bottom of the tank c:

6. That's called cycling and it's a little bit more complicated than just leaving it for a few weeks. You can read about how to do it here: http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_5 ... rticle.htm
Basically you need to add an ammonia source daily then wait for various bacteria to grow that can eat the ammonia, then the nitrite so it's safe for fish c:

[Hime]

Hello!

Soo I just recieved a 30 litre (+-10 gallon) freshwater fishtank as a gift from a friend. It came with gravel, plants, two ornaments, a air pump and air stone, a heater and a filter. I was hoping to get some advice here, as I've only kept fish a long time ago and I'm a beginner.. The fish I owned in the past were mainly guppies.

1) I would like to have a community tank but I also don't want the tank to be overcrowded. I prefer small to medium sized, brightly coloured fish and maybe one that will help keep my tank clean by eating algae. The fish also shouldn't be too large as the tank is quite small. I also don't really want any babies either, so no breeding as far as possible. The fish will also have to be warm water fish as I do have a heater. (Do you have any ideas on what fish I can get that will get along in my tank?)

2) is it better to have real plants or the fake ones?

3) is it better to have LED light, a normal florescent tube light or no light at all?

4) How often should I clean my tank and test the water?

5) How much gravel/ pebbles should I use? (I have quite alot!)

6) I read somewhere that you should let your tank settle for a few weeks before adding fish. How long should I wait?

I know the basics of keeping fish and my father is helping me set up my tank in the right way. I can't wait for the tank to be finished and to go buy my fish! Feel free to PM me if you prefer it! ANY advice will be greatly appreciated!!

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
xx00xx
SilverFox12578

1. 30 litres is around 8 gallons so it's pretty small for a community tank. You ideally want at least 20 gallons/75 litres for that.
There aren't many options unfortunately. You could have a really lovely betta tank maybe with some shrimp and/or snails depending on the personality of your betta. Or you could go with a few male guppies or endler's livebearers.

2. There are advantages to real plants and there's a few species that are really easy to look after so it'd be worth throwing some in. Look into java ferns, java moss, anubias, cryptocoryne, cabomba or a few hygrophila or ludwigia species c:

3. If you're going for plants then some light is necessary. Some plants need more powerful lighting than others but anything will be fine for things like java fern/moss.

4. Do a partial water change every week, how much depends on how stocked your tank is.

5. Enough to cover the bottom of the tank c:

6. That's called cycling and it's a little bit more complicated than just leaving it for a few weeks. You can read about how to do it here: http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/articles_5 ... rticle.htm
Basically you need to add an ammonia source daily then wait for various bacteria to grow that can eat the ammonia, then the nitrite so it's safe for fish c:

While I agree with most Lonin said, I'll add few cents in. c:

1) There are some very very tiny schooling fish species, mostly rasboras, that might be okay in 30 liters. I think I've seen their tank recommendation go as low as 25 liters(but also in 40-50 liter range), but I also know few people who've had such fish say they feel the fish were bit too active for such tank. Here's couple species that grow only 1.5-2cm long: Boraras brigittae, Boraras maculatus, Boraras merah, Boraras micros, Boraras naevus, Boraras urophthalmoides. You might want to do some research on them, I don't know much about them as I'm not that into tiny tanks. lol
But other than those, it's like Lonin said, 30 liters is too small tank for good community tank.

3) You'll probably want some light, even if you don't get any live plants. When the lights are out on my tank I can't really see the fish...

4) In the beginning I'd do daily/every other day testing for the first week or two you have fish. That way you make sure the cycle is working and can maybe figure out water change need based on the nitrate levels(though if you get live plants, it can be misleading due plants eating nitrate). Then maybe once a week for month and then when ever I'd feel like or there would seem to be a problem.
You'll probably need to do partial water change at least once a week, maybe twice if you want to do smaller change at the time. As Lonin said, it depends how you stock the tank. But small tanks are generally harder to keep in balance.

5) If you don't get plants that need to dig their roots in it, as little/much as you like. Just not so much it's hard to clean. XD Plants need at least good 4-5cm imo

[SilverFox12578]

Thanks for all the advice guys!! It helps a lot!

[dark dragon]

Hey guys I was cleaning out my container of extra filters, filter parts ect. And I found three heaters! A 200w a 150w and one I had for a ten gal with no label (it wore off long ago) I'm testing them to make sure they still work. Sadly nothing I'd use for a twenty gallon but it's nice to know i have spares.

[Kat]

So, my little "rescue" betta's fin rot isn't clearing up. If anything, it appears to be getting a lot worse. I've purchased some aquarium salt, and I've read that I will need to change his water daily, but what about the temperature? He is currently in a heated 3 gallon. If I am doing full water changes each day, how do I maintain a good temperature? Won't the inconsistency stress him out?

Here is the brand and aquarium salt I purchased. Is it any good?


And these are some pictures of Finnick and how his fins look now. Sorry if it is too picture heavy.

[PeachFuzz]

Hey Kat,

I don't see any signs of fin rot on your boy. It just looks like he took a few good little chomps out of his fins. Fin rot would include black or red edges where the fins are receding. It would be a pure pitch black - not grey or clearish. Is there a specific spot of colour on his fins or tail you're concerned about?

Now if he DID have fin rot, aquarium salt wouldn't do any good. It's a common myth that aq salt cures rot. It can be used to sterilize open wounds, so it is good for a fish who has any tears or holes in its fins/tail. Once fin rot sets in however its too late for that and you need medication to treat it.

[Kat]

Oh, you said a few pages back that it looked like he might have the start of fin rot on the tip of his caudal fin when I posted an earlier picture. Maybe he bit it off? o.O

It's the very tips of his fins which are concerning me, since they are a bit dark.

If aquarium salt is good for fish who have torn fins, should I still use it for the bitten fins? Thanks for your help!

[Keletheryl]

One of my mums black skirts in her 10gal, I've noticed now has these weird.. bumps growing on him.
It's kind of gross to look at, theyre by the base of his body (near the tail fin), and they look like bumps/boils growing on him. I have no idea what that could be, if it's infectious, or if it's just cause he's really old.

Any ideas?

[Autumnlp99]

One of my mums black skirts in her 10gal, I've noticed now has these weird.. bumps growing on him.
It's kind of gross to look at, theyre by the base of his body (near the tail fin), and they look like bumps/boils growing on him. I have no idea what that could be, if it's infectious, or if it's just cause he's really old.

Any ideas?

Sounds like Ich, are they white?
The picture below is what Ich looks like.
It tends to be very infectious, or at least in my experience it is.

[misted]

One of my mums black skirts in her 10gal, I've noticed now has these weird.. bumps growing on him.
It's kind of gross to look at, theyre by the base of his body (near the tail fin), and they look like bumps/boils growing on him. I have no idea what that could be, if it's infectious, or if it's just cause he's really old.

Any ideas?

Sounds like Ich, are they white?
The picture below is what Ich looks like.
It tends to be very infectious, or at least in my experience it is.

It could also be lice, if the bumps are reddish?