Another One Of Those Stocking Questions...

[mantella]

Say you're walking home one night from a long day at work, and you get this tingling sensation in your spine as if someone or something is intently watching you. You tell yourself that this is surely nonsense and keep walking, but just the same something deep in your reptilian brain tells you that something is amiss. Inevitably, the urge to take a quick look back overcomes you. Your heart raises into you your throat as you catch a glimpse of the unthinkable, the silhouette of a ten gallon tank clearly outlined by the dim streetlights. Before you can analyze further the tank slides back into the darkness. A thought suddenly hits you, and you morbidly wonder if you were a college student looking to keep a ten gallon tank which tank (A, B, or C) would you most want to meet on a dark, sinister night with easy of maintenance, cheapness, and the fishes livelihoods in mind.

A: A trio of dwarf cichlids (Apistogramma trifasciata would be ideal) with a single oto (or some small invertebrate algae eater). I feel like the oto would be lonely in this situation, and the bio-load too heavy.

B: 5-6 Dwarf Pencilfish with some, probably invertebrate (could be oto), algae eater (unless the pencilfish are algae eaters in their own right).

C: 5-6 Checkered Barbs, and either a sincere hope that they will help me clean the tank or an invertebrate algae eater.

Thanks.

 

[Wills]

B - but I would do 8 Pencils and 6 Cherry Shrimp

Tank is too small for a trio of Apistos - the foot print is too small.

Wills

 

[mantella]

B - but I would do 8 Pencils and 6 Cherry Shrimp

Tank is too small for a trio of Apistos - the foot print is too small.

Wills

Nice. I was kinda partial to B and C anyway.
Also, quick question. Does anyone know how to use regular potting soil as a substrate?

 

[mantella]

After a bunch of debate I decided to create two different plans for the same fish tank. One is a trio of shelldwellers from Tanganyika and the other is the Dwarf Pencilfish plan. I will choose which one depending on what my water conditions will be when I move into my new house in September.

Three VERY important questions.
1. Food! I have no clue on what food is considered quality and what is not. For both situations what would a fully rounded diet consist of. (I plan to feed small insects that I can catch to the Pencilfish. Is this a bad idea?)

2. Water Changes. What should my water changing schedule look like for either one of these tanks?

3. Substrate. I plan on using the Fluval Nano Internal Filter in the Pencilfish tank because of the low turbulence, but I get the impression that I would be unable to place peat in this filter. Three options... Peat as a substrate in the long term, a bag of peat set in the aquarium, or a partially peat substrate.