Hello and thanks for all the great info :-)

[itZme]

Hi,
I recently got a 5 gal. complete kit "for my son" on his 4th b'day in November. I went through the same mistakes that everyone makes when starting out and taking the advice from someone at Walmart fish dept. We overstocked a brand new tank and had a major kill-off but it cycled really fast and we had one Gourami and a Cory that made it through. A couple of weeks later I had a brown algae problem. Probably due to my kids turning the light on at 6am and me turning it off at about 3am when I go to bed. I got a Pleco and an Apple snail and they cleaned the entire tank in one night!.
Now I have had the small tank running smoothly and added 4 small zebra danios. The gourami was very aggressive and beat up on everything so I asked the LFS to find him a good home for me instead of the all-too-common flushing treatment for aggressive fish. They didn't give me anything for it but did thank me for not taking the easy way out (the toilet)
Now I have the aquarium bug. I found a really nice 20 gal. hex with hood and oak stand for $75 including a Whisper power filter, a 24 pack of filter cartridges, 20 lbs. of red gravel, assorted chemicals, a 100 watt submersible heater and a Whisper 600 air pump!
I set it all up on Saturday and then went to the LFS Sunday to get another $75 in supplies. I needed a test kit, plants, a nice long net (the tank is 20" deep), and some occupants. I resisted the urge to get a large quantity of fish and left with just 2 very small plecos and 6 zebra danios. They are all doing great and I am getting practice with the test kit. My levels are as follows: PH 7.8, GH9, KH5, Ammo .25mg/l, Nitrites <.3mg/l. I did not get a Nitrate test in the kit and didn't notice until I got home.
I am on day 3 and wondering if I should run out and get a Nitrate kit or if it can wait a few more days.
Well... I did mean to just say "Hi!" but now you know my whole life's story.
Thanks to all the helpfull people here and keep up the great work. Even if you don't hear it all the time there are LOTS of us out there just reading and learning from you all.
Thanks again and Happy New Year to all!
itZme

 

[Tempestuousfury]

to the forum.

Glad to have you with us.

Yeah, lots of us have been been hit by MTS.

I started off with 17 fihs in my 5 gallon, thanks to Walmart, only three survived.

Brown algae: because you no doubt have incandescent lights, since that is what I had on mine.
Incandescent lighting is very bad, especially for small tanks, because it causes temperature fluctuations and does not provide the proper lighting to view your fish, not to mention that the lights are not condusive to plant growth.

If those are common plecostomus, they get to 15" in length. I would suggest giving them away to that lfs. A better choice of suckermouth cats would be otocinclus. They do a nice job of cleaning up algae, and they are interesting additions, especially if you add a group of them, since they are social.

Your setup looks good otherwise, and once your tank gets cycled, I would add a few more danios, since they are shoaling fish.

Join our school.

 

[Aquamick]

Welcome, enjoy your time here!

 

[Sasha]

Hi itZme and to the forum!

 

[dirtydogg]

Hello and welcome itZme.
There is a program to help with MTS:
Step 1: Hi my name is DirtyDogg and I'm addicted to fish keeping.
Step 2: Buy more tanks.
Step 3: Cycle more tanks.
Step 4: Fill said tanks with wonderful fish.
Step 5: Watch tanks for hours.
Step 6: Repeat until a bigger house is needed!

See you around the forum.