I don't know what I want for fish! I know I definitely want guppies, but what size tank do I need? If I clean the tank weekly, do I need any Plecos or cories to keep it cleaner? The biggest I can go is a 20 gallon, what kind of fish could go in there? I would prefer at least 2 different species of fish in the tank. I'm a beginner, so I'm not sure what. Any help would be extremely appreciated! Thank you!

Just edited to say I like some types of tetras and mollies, too!

This post has been edited by claudettebillie: Jun 28 2008, 10:44 PM

firstly hi & welcome


rite 20g would be fine for most fish your asking about guppies, platy's, swords and most tetra's

u dont need corry's or plec for any tank but they do make a nice addition just if u go for a plec make sure it's 1 of the much smaller species if only a 20g tank:)

and it's important 2 make sure the tank is cycled (FISHLESS cycle) theres a very good pinned topic on this forum some where just do a search

hope this helps


jen

For a pleco I was thinking a rubberlip

They should be OK for a 20g

to TFF BTW

Rabbut

Thanks!

A 20 gallon is a wonderful size for a first tank! Excellent choice. I agree with the others - good for those fish but be very careful about plecs.

Another think to look at even more important is what a filter is and which one to buy - they are not all alike. When you buy a filter, it is just a raw bit of hardware - even after you follow the instructions and set it up it is not ready for fish. It takes weeks and weeks for it to be ready for fish. The store never tells you this part because it would be bad for business.

As soon as you add fish, the process of their gills getting oxygen out of the water begins to produce ammonia in the water. When you feed them, the leftover food turns to ammonia and the fish pee turns to ammonia. In nature the water spaces are so huge that the fish never feel the ammonia, but in an aquarium it is a deadly poison to them, burning their gills and causing permanent damage in even small amounts and death in larger amounts.

So in an aquarium, the core of the life support system becomes this contraption called a filter. It turns out that the filter, for beginners, is not anything like what they thought it was! What aquarists do is actually get busy and -grow- two different species of bacteria in their filters in order to process away the poison ammonia. One species eats ammonia and produces nitrite. The second species eats nitrite (NO2, yet another deadly poison for the fish) and produces nitrate (NO3) which is a substance that is not desirable but is not an immediate poison to the fish and so can be removed by periodic water changes in the typical home scenerio.

Anyway and I hope this web forum interests you and you become a happy member here,

~~waterdrop~~