Fish Lovers 3.0 [new poll]

[PeachFuzz]

I think that was a no

Probably no more room XD anyways...bleep. And I'm planning to do a full tank wash tommorow. Veterans day no school yay! Here's the steps I'm going to use please tell me if it's right or wrong
- Five gallon tank
- One shrimp one fish
1. Net out the fish and shrimp and put them into the temporary bowl.
2. Save 50 % of the water in the tank.
3. Take out all the gravel and put them on a newspaper. ( Will ink affect it? )
4. Get the tank to the sink.
5. Dump out the rest of the water.
6. Scrub the tank with a toothbrush .
7. Check to make sure the fish didn't eat the shrimp in the small area.
8. Wash with no soap. ( Should I use soap? I'll wash it away afterwards )
9. Remove all the nasty stuff in the filter, then put it back in.
10. Pour in my new water and put back Step 2.
11. Stir well. ( Sounds like a recipe )
12. Wash the gravel and then put it back in. Same thing with plants.
13. Put in fish and shrimp.
Total time- 30-45 mins
Tell me to make adjustments, that I'm doing it totally wrong, absolutely fine, or what can I do to speed it up. Also, tips on catching a tiny speedy fish?

I would say no to the newspaper. Ink runs when wet and could cause problems if it gets on the gravel.
No soap. Only hot water.

[flyteck]

I think that was a no

Probably no more room XD anyways...bleep. And I'm planning to do a full tank wash tommorow. Veterans day no school yay! Here's the steps I'm going to use please tell me if it's right or wrong
- Five gallon tank
- One shrimp one fish
1. Net out the fish and shrimp and put them into the temporary bowl.
2. Save 50 % of the water in the tank.
3. Take out all the gravel and put them on a newspaper. ( Will ink affect it? )
4. Get the tank to the sink.
5. Dump out the rest of the water.
6. Scrub the tank with a toothbrush .
7. Check to make sure the fish didn't eat the shrimp in the small area.
8. Wash with no soap. ( Should I use soap? I'll wash it away afterwards )
9. Remove all the nasty stuff in the filter, then put it back in.
10. Pour in my new water and put back Step 2.
11. Stir well. ( Sounds like a recipe )
12. Wash the gravel and then put it back in. Same thing with plants.
13. Put in fish and shrimp.
Total time- 30-45 mins
Tell me to make adjustments, that I'm doing it totally wrong, absolutely fine, or what can I do to speed it up. Also, tips on catching a tiny speedy fish?

I would say no to the newspaper. Ink runs when wet and could cause problems if it gets on the gravel.
No soap. Only hot water.

I'd just suggest leaving the gravel in, it's unnecessary to wash it. You can just rinse it inside the tank or use a siphon to suck gunk out of it.

But yeah, no soap; residue left behind can make fish sick even if you wash it well.

[Dakotak]

For a double-tail goldfish the minimum tank size is 40 gallons, correct? I really want one >.<

20 gallons for the first and 10 for anyone you add after that.
Don't forget 2x the size of the tank in filtration and 10x the size of the tank in gph. :3

[scuttlefish]

Thanks for those who answered my question! I have some brown stuff sticking to the walls of my tank. What is it? One player said it was a light problem, but I've tried switching off the light for a week and it still didn't go away. My shrimp hasn't been helping.
So no soap
no ink

[Hime]

I think that was a no

Probably no more room XD anyways...bleep. And I'm planning to do a full tank wash tommorow. Veterans day no school yay! Here's the steps I'm going to use please tell me if it's right or wrong
- Five gallon tank
- One shrimp one fish
1. Net out the fish and shrimp and put them into the temporary bowl.
2. Save 50 % of the water in the tank.
3. Take out all the gravel and put them on a newspaper. ( Will ink affect it? )
4. Get the tank to the sink.
5. Dump out the rest of the water.
6. Scrub the tank with a toothbrush .
7. Check to make sure the fish didn't eat the shrimp in the small area.
8. Wash with no soap. ( Should I use soap? I'll wash it away afterwards )
9. Remove all the nasty stuff in the filter, then put it back in.
10. Pour in my new water and put back Step 2.
11. Stir well. ( Sounds like a recipe )
12. Wash the gravel and then put it back in. Same thing with plants.
13. Put in fish and shrimp.
Total time- 30-45 mins
Tell me to make adjustments, that I'm doing it totally wrong, absolutely fine, or what can I do to speed it up. Also, tips on catching a tiny speedy fish?

...I'd reconsider doing all that. Since the good bacteria lives on every single surface of the tank(filters, walls, gravel, decoration) and not in the water, deep cleaning the tank like that just migh crash the cycle. At least don't clean the filter under tap water(use the tank water you are doing to throw away). And try not to rinse out the gravel too heavily.
And most definetly no soap. Vinegar if you absolutely must use something.

Thanks for those who answered my question! I have some brown stuff sticking to the walls of my tank. What is it? One player said it was a light problem, but I've tried switching off the light for a week and it still didn't go away. My shrimp hasn't been helping.
So no soap
no ink

What kind of brown stuff exactly? Like is it dark brown, covering lot of things, short, but kinda 'fluffy', or something else.

[Charchar2]

Had anyone here had Swordtails before? I'm a bit hesitant to go for platys since they seem a bit common/uninteresting, but swords seem like a slightly more interesting substitute. Just wondering how interesting/colorful they are in person?
I'm hoping to add some colorful fish to my tank; either 3x turquoise rainbow fish or 1male sword + 2 females + maybe a GBR to deal with fry (unsure if my angel will be large enough to eat them). I'm also super tempted by gold barbs but afraid they might nip >.<
If you have any other suggestions for a colorful fish I could get a couple of do let me know! They'd have to be able to get along with an angel in a 30G though.
//askstoomanyquestionsonheresorry

[Lonin]

I think that was a no

Probably no more room XD anyways...bleep. And I'm planning to do a full tank wash tommorow. Veterans day no school yay! Here's the steps I'm going to use please tell me if it's right or wrong
- Five gallon tank
- One shrimp one fish
1. Net out the fish and shrimp and put them into the temporary bowl.
2. Save 50 % of the water in the tank.
3. Take out all the gravel and put them on a newspaper. ( Will ink affect it? )
4. Get the tank to the sink.
5. Dump out the rest of the water.
6. Scrub the tank with a toothbrush .
7. Check to make sure the fish didn't eat the shrimp in the small area.
8. Wash with no soap. ( Should I use soap? I'll wash it away afterwards )
9. Remove all the nasty stuff in the filter, then put it back in.
10. Pour in my new water and put back Step 2.
11. Stir well. ( Sounds like a recipe )
12. Wash the gravel and then put it back in. Same thing with plants.
13. Put in fish and shrimp.
Total time- 30-45 mins
Tell me to make adjustments, that I'm doing it totally wrong, absolutely fine, or what can I do to speed it up. Also, tips on catching a tiny speedy fish?

Yeah, it's generally better to do partial water changes rather than complete ones. Not only can you crash your cycle that way it can also really stress the fish out to be dumped back in totally different water. Don't take the fish or shrimp out as lots of netting can stress them out and/or injure them. They're better off staying in while you remove 25-50% of the water. Rinse the filter media in the dirty tank water. While most of the filter bacteria live in the filter it's not necessary to do a complete water change and deep clean everything with every water change.
If you haven't already, look into a gravel vacuum. You can get mini ones that should be fine for 5 gallon tanks. You just stick it in, start the suction then swirl it around in the gravel. Sucks up water and nasty stuff so all you need to do is get rid of any algae on the sides or plants or whatever.

[PeachFuzz]

For a double-tail goldfish the minimum tank size is 40 gallons, correct? I really want one >.<

20 gallons for the first and 10 for anyone you add after that.
Don't forget 2x the size of the tank in filtration and 10x the size of the tank in gph. :3

20? Really?? :o I might be able to get a goldfish sooner than I thought! I'll wait until the $1 per gallon sale at Petco then get one c:

[.Lupin.]

Had anyone here had Swordtails before? I'm a bit hesitant to go for platys since they seem a bit common/uninteresting, but swords seem like a slightly more interesting substitute. Just wondering how interesting/colorful they are in person?
I'm hoping to add some colorful fish to my tank; either 3x turquoise rainbow fish or 1male sword + 2 females + maybe a GBR to deal with fry (unsure if my angel will be large enough to eat them). I'm also super tempted by gold barbs but afraid they might nip >.<
If you have any other suggestions for a colorful fish I could get a couple of do let me know! They'd have to be able to get along with an angel in a 30G though.
//askstoomanyquestionsonheresorry

Platys are always busy around the tank and are one of my favorite fish. They act nothing like they do in the display tanks once you get them in a bigger area. (:

[scuttlefish]

Probably no more room XD anyways...bleep. And I'm planning to do a full tank wash tommorow. Veterans day no school yay! Here's the steps I'm going to use please tell me if it's right or wrong \
snip
Total time- 30-45 mins
Tell me to make adjustments, that I'm doing it totally wrong, absolutely fine, or what can I do to speed it up. Also, tips on catching a tiny speedy fish?

Yeah, it's generally better to do partial water changes rather than complete ones. Not only can you crash your cycle that way it can also really stress the fish out to be dumped back in totally different water. Don't take the fish or shrimp out as lots of netting can stress them out and/or injure them. They're better off staying in while you remove 25-50% of the water. Rinse the filter media in the dirty tank water. While most of the filter bacteria live in the filter it's not necessary to do a complete water change and deep clean everything with every water change.
If you haven't already, look into a gravel vacuum. You can get mini ones that should be fine for 5 gallon tanks. You just stick it in, start the suction then swirl it around in the gravel. Sucks up water and nasty stuff so all you need to do is get rid of any algae on the sides or plants or whatever.

I only do this once every half year, so don't think that netting would be a problem. As for siphoning, there's some stuff I can't get out! And the brown stuff. It's kind sticky, light brown, and sticks to the side of the tank. That's mainly why I'm doing it. I can't get it out with a siphon.