Designed By A 4 Year Old - 10 Gallon

[jmiller]

Here is my grand-daughter's 10 gallon tank:

She sure does like color!

But what else would you expect from a 4 year old. It's a "Aquaculture: Starter Kit 10 Home Aquarium" that can be bought at any major department store. About the only thing good I can say about it is it doesn't leak. I let her pick out everything from the neon rocks, to the neon plants (notice a trend), to the neon decorations. I should mention that I had already removed the neon yellow coral formation and replaced it with the tree stump. I told her the fish broke it.

There were a couple of mishaps in the beginning but it's been about 6 months since it was first started. With the advice of a LFS (Feeder's Supply) about quanity and compatibility it is currently stocked with 2 male guppies, 3 neon tetras, 3 ember tetras & 1 julii cory. Maintenance has been weekly water changes 25-50% depending on water, light gravel vacuum and adding 1/4 cap of Prime (advise of LFS) at each water change. Things have been going okay with no problems or deaths for about the last 4 months.

I originally found this site while doing research on setting up a bigger tank. At one time she had picked out some black skirted tetras that I really liked but unfortunately they were involved in one of the earlier mishaps. But the more I read the more I realized I had no idea what I was doing and had no business starting a larger tank until I educated myself more.

With what I've read so far I'm surpried that any of the fish have lived. It seems that I have several problems. So tonight on my way home from work I stopped and bought an API Freshwater Master Test Kit, here are the results:

PH 7.6
High range PH 8.0-8.2
Ammonia .25-.50
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 10-20 (about 15)

These were taken right before my weekly water change. Due to the high ammonia I did a 50% change, major gravel cleaning and a double dose of Prime. This was my first test so I'm still learning.

The plan is to take another ammonia reading tomorrow night and then go from there. I've got a lot more reading to do.

 

[fish_tank0311]

Firstly welcome to the forum.

Good job so far. You've coped very well for the little resources you have, and well done to your little 4 year old. Just about the water changes, not sure if your doing it but if your on city water, you need to do something about the chlorines and things in the water. Good luck...

Good job to your grand daughter

 

[shi24137]

awesome tank! props to the 4yr old! btw i have the same plants and stump! the plants glow in the dark i believe...

 

[bitteraspects]

thats awesome. she will be designing her first neon iwagumi in no time.

 

[indigoj]

Firstly welcome to the forum.

Good job so far. You've coped very well for the little resources you have, and well done to your little 4 year old. Just about the water changes, not sure if your doing it but if your on city water, you need to do something about the chlorines and things in the water. Good luck...

Good job to your grand daughter

The prime is a dechlorinator so no other treatment necessary.

 

[Assaye]

Heya jmiller!

It's great you have a test kit! Not sure why you have ammonia showing up in your established tank. What kind of filter do you have in there? It might be that your filter isn't big enough, or the filter might be a big clogged and in need to a clean. When you clean your filter, you need to remember not to clean it under the tap as the chemicals in tap water will kill the bacteria. This is also why Prime should be added to the bucket rather than adding the water to the tank and putting the Prime in afterwards. I'm sure you don't do either of those things but they are common reasons for getting ammonia readings.

As for the stock in your tank - this is a delicate one as you've had the fish for a while and I'm sure you grand-daughter loves them. However, neon tetras, ember tetras and corys need to be kept in larger groups - about 6 or more in fact. They are shoaling fish and need to be kept in groups in order to exibit natural behaviour and feel safe. It's a delicate thing to ask, but would you consider re-homing some of the fish? It's not the end of the world if you can't and I wouldn't want to upset the little lass but it would make the fish happier. If you wanted to keep your current fish and add extras to boost the shoals you'd have far too many fish, unfortunately.

The best way to re-home the fish is to find fishkeepers in your local area. It can be risky to take them back to the shop as you never know what will happen to them.

Some ideas for your tank:

8 x guppies

or

2 x guppies
6 x neon OR ember tetra

or

6 x guppies OR ember tetra OR neon tetra
6 x small shrimp (cherry shrimp are a pretty orangey-yellow)

or

6 x pygmy corys (as 6 x julis would be really cramped)
4 x guppies

I hope I've not come across too intrusive! Just some ideas for happy fish and happy grand-daughters.

Check out the Beginners' Resource Guide that is stickied at the top of the Your New Freshwater Tank forum

 

[jmiller]

Thank you for all the replies. From what I've read so far I think my biggest problem is not enough filtration. The tank came with a Aqua Tech 5-15 and according to aqadvisor.com it is just barely big enough so I'm thinking about an upgrade to an Aqua Clear 20. The two local shops carry Marineland Penguins and Tetra Whispers but from what I've read on here the Aqua Clear is a better filter and cheaper to run. Any other suggestions before I buy?

As far as the stock in the tank goes I understand that I was given some pretty poor advice in the beginning but I am planning on adding a larger tank so all of the will be worked out shortly. Minimum size will be a 38 gal. Right now I'm trying to decide between a 38, 46 bow, 50, 58 or 65. I've only got an area of 36" to work with since the tank will be set up in my bedroom, along with the 10 gal and a 2 gal beta tank.

Me and the grand-daughter had been talking about redoing some of the decorations a few weeks ago so last night while at the LFS I picked up a few new more natural looking fake plants and some dark gravel. I'm wanting to tone done the color a little and make it appear a little more natural. The way it is now you have a hard time seeing the fish. So this weekend if I can get the water problems figured out I'll be changing the gravel and maybe adding some rocks or more plants.

As far as the ammonia problem should I do a test sample on my tap water to see if there was something else I need to be adding ?, what about the high PH ?, should I be adding more Prime to water or changing water more often that every seven days?

 

[VictorMeldrew]

That tank is lovely, love the colours

 

[Assaye]

Don't worry about the pH, it looks fine to me. You'd want to avoid keeping very low pH fish but that's about it. Most fish will adapt to a wide range of pHs.

Definitely test your tap water that'll let you know what you have to work with.

 

[Squid]

Don't worry about the pH, it looks fine to me. You'd want to avoid keeping very low pH fish but that's about it. Most fish will adapt to a wide range of pHs.

I agree. Just to add to that, a stable PH is a positive in my opinion, and would serve the fishies better than an altered and therefore fluctuating one.

Cheers

 

[jmiller]

Thanks, I'll test it tonight and post the results.

 

[jmiller]

Here are the results from tonights tap water test:

PH 7.6
High range PH 8.0-8.2
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 5 ppm

Tank water 24 hours after 50% water change was still ammonia .25, so I did another 50% water change and added some rocks. I had removed that Octopuss thing last night during the water change but the fish were acting like they needed more cover. So here's the latest.

 

[Assaye]

Looking much better!

Keep up with those water changes and you'll be golden

 

[jmiller]

Took another ammonia reading tonight and not quite at 0 yet but really, really close. I went ahead and did another water change and gravel cleaning. Hopefully this will take care of it. I think I'm going to go ahead and order that Aqua Clear 20 and keep my current one as a back up. I think the majority of my problem is poor filtration.

 

[K-Holed]

I think I'm starting to warm to old school neon tank decoration (I never thought I'd hear myself saying that!). I guess it has retro/kitsch value.