cheehoo62
New Member
hey there let me help with some of your questions.. welcome to the forum by the way!
as far as the lights go, you should have the lights on to replicate morning and night in your tank. since the corys and tetras are considered to be tropical fishes, tropical areas of the globe usually operate under 14-hour periods of sunlight so in turn you should strive to keep your tank lighted for about 14 hours each day. the white clouds, although originating in china, do not seem influenced too much by the amount of light they get so im guessing if you leave your lights on for 12 to 14 hours a day you should be good either way.
the lighting of your tank depends on what kinds of flora you plan on using, the positioning of the tank in relevance to outside sunlight, and how much gallons in the tank. rule of thumb here that ive heard of in regards to fluorescent bulbs is 2.5 watts per gallon. try to make sure that the lights are dispersed through out the tank equally and read up on the types of plants you have and whether they're low light or require more "sun".
yup. make sure you have enough substrate/gravel in the tank to accomodate your types of plants and the length of their roots. nuff said.
there are many ways to obtain the amount of gravel a freshwater fish tank should have. the method ive frequented is by multiplying the length of the tank by the width of the tank and then dividing by 10 to get the approximate amount of gravel pounds you should add to the tank to get a "healthy" two inches of depth. in your case, divide the pounds by 2.2 and you get your approximate kilos give or take a few.
most definitely. rocks (or other obstacles, toys, pirate ships, etc.) can be beneficial for fish as they can provide hiding spots to shy away in or places to explore and dampen their curious little minds. im sure you know also that adding rocks and other things to your tank helps with tank aesthetics and presentation. from personal experience, the more the better but that's just me. OH AND BEFORE I FORGET... DO NOT USE ROCKS FROM OUTSIDE OR AROUND THE HOUSE!!! using rocks, even the ones you have outside that look pretty, are NOT safe for the fish tank as they can be toxic with all kinds of chemicals regardless of washing them off or not.. just go down to the LFS to get something suitable for the tank that is guaranteed non-toxic and ready to placed in the tank.
give them places and necessary things to hide in. provide them with what they need and im sure theyll take care of the hiding part on their own.
make sure you cycle your biofilter and control the ammonia levels the tank first off. a lot of beginners bypass the whole cycling process, get excited, and fill a tank up with too much fish right off the back and yet they wonder why within a span of a few weeks most of their fish died off. make sure you read up on cycling your biofilter and ensuring that the necessary ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels are in line as you maintain your fish. i suggest a fishless cycle to start off your tank but you can utilize the white mountain minnows to help cycle you tank with the fish-in cycling method as they are known to be hardy fish...
other than that good luck with your tank and make sure to ask all the questions you can to keep your fish alive and healthy!
as far as the lights go, you should have the lights on to replicate morning and night in your tank. since the corys and tetras are considered to be tropical fishes, tropical areas of the globe usually operate under 14-hour periods of sunlight so in turn you should strive to keep your tank lighted for about 14 hours each day. the white clouds, although originating in china, do not seem influenced too much by the amount of light they get so im guessing if you leave your lights on for 12 to 14 hours a day you should be good either way.
the lighting of your tank depends on what kinds of flora you plan on using, the positioning of the tank in relevance to outside sunlight, and how much gallons in the tank. rule of thumb here that ive heard of in regards to fluorescent bulbs is 2.5 watts per gallon. try to make sure that the lights are dispersed through out the tank equally and read up on the types of plants you have and whether they're low light or require more "sun".
yup. make sure you have enough substrate/gravel in the tank to accomodate your types of plants and the length of their roots. nuff said.
there are many ways to obtain the amount of gravel a freshwater fish tank should have. the method ive frequented is by multiplying the length of the tank by the width of the tank and then dividing by 10 to get the approximate amount of gravel pounds you should add to the tank to get a "healthy" two inches of depth. in your case, divide the pounds by 2.2 and you get your approximate kilos give or take a few.
most definitely. rocks (or other obstacles, toys, pirate ships, etc.) can be beneficial for fish as they can provide hiding spots to shy away in or places to explore and dampen their curious little minds. im sure you know also that adding rocks and other things to your tank helps with tank aesthetics and presentation. from personal experience, the more the better but that's just me. OH AND BEFORE I FORGET... DO NOT USE ROCKS FROM OUTSIDE OR AROUND THE HOUSE!!! using rocks, even the ones you have outside that look pretty, are NOT safe for the fish tank as they can be toxic with all kinds of chemicals regardless of washing them off or not.. just go down to the LFS to get something suitable for the tank that is guaranteed non-toxic and ready to placed in the tank.
give them places and necessary things to hide in. provide them with what they need and im sure theyll take care of the hiding part on their own.
make sure you cycle your biofilter and control the ammonia levels the tank first off. a lot of beginners bypass the whole cycling process, get excited, and fill a tank up with too much fish right off the back and yet they wonder why within a span of a few weeks most of their fish died off. make sure you read up on cycling your biofilter and ensuring that the necessary ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels are in line as you maintain your fish. i suggest a fishless cycle to start off your tank but you can utilize the white mountain minnows to help cycle you tank with the fish-in cycling method as they are known to be hardy fish...
other than that good luck with your tank and make sure to ask all the questions you can to keep your fish alive and healthy!
The tetras are best off in groups of 6 though, and I don't see that number being a problem either
