Christmas Present Ala Observant Family

[soritan]

So, my family came into town for Thanksgiving. Being all knowing and all seeing, they noticed that I'm "into fish".

I was telling them that I couldn't quite afford fish yet, which is entirely true, and my father suddenly went *click* and told me he would buy me some fish as a part of my Christmas present this year.

Free fish!
Huzzah, and whatnot.

So now I have to get my 5 gal ready for my ADFs and make room for some actual fish. I hope I can convince them that I don't want or need too many. Like most non-fish people, he posesses the whole, "less may be more, but more is more than that," sort of mind set. He doesn't know a thing about overcrowding. He's the type that points and says, "That one's pretty. Let's get a few of those."

I wonder how fast I can cycle my 5 gal if I use seeded gravel?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You won't be able to cycle a 5gal if you don't have an ammonia source of some sort to keep the bacteria alive, there are very few fish that will go in a 5gal so if i were you i'd be very specific about what fish you want after making sure you've researched it properly as about 95% of fish available in lfs's will overstock a 5gal.

 

[paulthegreat]

seed the gravel and squeeze the filter medium from the 10 in the five, give it a few hours for the filter in the five to clear up the water then move the frogs over. Should do the trick, just keep an eye on the water stats in the 5 and if it is not looking good or if the frogs look troubled put them back in the 10.

 

[soritan]

Tokis-Phoenix:
I have ammonia, and seeded gravel. I cycled my 10gal fishless and still have the resources available.

The 5gal is intended for 3 ADFs and (possibly) 1 betta, nothing else. I might snare up a couple of my ghost shrimp and move them over, as well. My intent is to free up my 10gal for fish, not to cycle my 5gal for fish (see sig).

paulthegreat:
That's a good idea, I wonder how effective it would be?

When I started cycling my 10gal, I intentionally put in some rocks which I knew I was going to remove. The idea was, when my tank was done cycling, I'd remove all that gravel and rehome it to my 5gal. I would say that once added to my 5gal, about 1/4th of the total gravel will be 'seeded'.

Since I intend to fishless cycle with a UGF, that should get me there fairly fast, I think....

The next time I travel, I intend to purchase 2 things for my 5gal: a proper lighted hood, and a small box filter.

 

[paulthegreat]

Sounds good, I have never done a fishless cycle and have had no problems even with my 500 liter using water conditioner and filter squeezings. Have you decided what fish you are going to get?

 

[soritan]

No. I've been reading up and studying for months now, and yet I waffle.

My early bird favorite was a Dwarf Puffer species tank for the 10gal. I really dig those fish. I read up on them a great deal, for quite some time, and then my brain went kaput and now I'm not so sure they're the fish for me.

My other idea was 4-5 Dwarf Cories and some kind of 'show fish'... which leads me back to betta-land. I have two bettas, currently in bowls, so part of me wants to plunk one each into a new home.

However, my male is too old and too bad a swimmer to handle any type of current. When I was testing him to see if he could handle my 10gal, I put my finger into his bowl and gave it a little twirl. His fins flapped uselessly and he spun a light circle. He failed the finger test.

Many people suggest schooling fish for a 10gal... but I'm not terribly fond of schooling fish. They don't interest me as much as a 1-3 'show fish', you know?


I better decide quick.