eschaton
Fishaholic
Hello all,
While I've in the past maintained a tank together with a roommate, I recently decided to set up a tank of my own after a few years. I followed the following steps.
1. Bought a 20 gallon tank and set up the physical elements: gravel, water, etc. Added water conditioner, filter, etc. Let the tank sit for several days.
2. After around a week, I added aquatic plants. These came with a cargo of smal snails which seemed to do just fine in the water.
3. I know from experience zebrafish are hardy fish and good tank-starters, so I bought five of them.
4. Yesterday morning, I picked up a bunch of fish at the local independent aquarium place, this included:
7 Neons
6 Glowlights (immature, same size as the neons)
6 Tiger Barbs (immature, several around the same size as the neons)
3 Guppies
1 Pleco (around two inches long)
1 dwarf aquatic frog
5. There were a few problems with the existing tank setup. Mostly because the local place didn't have much in the way of bottom feeding and/or algae eating animals at the moment. My tank had started to develop a large algae growth choking one of the plants, so I wanted a few more fish for that purpose in the ecosystem. In addition, the Zebra Danios were attacking the three guppies, who seemed stunned and kept hanging out by the tank side and displaying to their reflections, so I thought I should pick up another few. So that evening I went to the local chain store and picked up three more guppies, three corys, a golden algae eater, a mystery snail, and a shrimp.
Anyway, having done some reading today, the tank load seems to be too large for a 20 gallon tank (around 40 living animals, not counting the little snails, which are quickly getting eaten), and I'm worried about nitrite buildup, though the tank is also full of plants which should lessen this to some degree. Most of the fish, with the exception of the Neons, the Zebras, and some of the Guppies, are not full-size, so the buildup isn't as bad as it sounds. I can take some tank shots if you guys want to see pictures.
I'm worried about losing half the fish within a couple weeks though. I'm guessing people will advise me to remove some of the fish and return them if at all possible. Which fish should I consider removing from the tank?
While I've in the past maintained a tank together with a roommate, I recently decided to set up a tank of my own after a few years. I followed the following steps.
1. Bought a 20 gallon tank and set up the physical elements: gravel, water, etc. Added water conditioner, filter, etc. Let the tank sit for several days.
2. After around a week, I added aquatic plants. These came with a cargo of smal snails which seemed to do just fine in the water.
3. I know from experience zebrafish are hardy fish and good tank-starters, so I bought five of them.
4. Yesterday morning, I picked up a bunch of fish at the local independent aquarium place, this included:
7 Neons
6 Glowlights (immature, same size as the neons)
6 Tiger Barbs (immature, several around the same size as the neons)
3 Guppies
1 Pleco (around two inches long)
1 dwarf aquatic frog
5. There were a few problems with the existing tank setup. Mostly because the local place didn't have much in the way of bottom feeding and/or algae eating animals at the moment. My tank had started to develop a large algae growth choking one of the plants, so I wanted a few more fish for that purpose in the ecosystem. In addition, the Zebra Danios were attacking the three guppies, who seemed stunned and kept hanging out by the tank side and displaying to their reflections, so I thought I should pick up another few. So that evening I went to the local chain store and picked up three more guppies, three corys, a golden algae eater, a mystery snail, and a shrimp.
Anyway, having done some reading today, the tank load seems to be too large for a 20 gallon tank (around 40 living animals, not counting the little snails, which are quickly getting eaten), and I'm worried about nitrite buildup, though the tank is also full of plants which should lessen this to some degree. Most of the fish, with the exception of the Neons, the Zebras, and some of the Guppies, are not full-size, so the buildup isn't as bad as it sounds. I can take some tank shots if you guys want to see pictures.
I'm worried about losing half the fish within a couple weeks though. I'm guessing people will advise me to remove some of the fish and return them if at all possible. Which fish should I consider removing from the tank?
