Just To Say Hello To You All

[curlyriff]

Hello All,

First of I would like to welcome myself to this forum, I have been luking on the pages the last few days and it seems a great place to get all the help I am going to need for me to look after these fish.

Please find below my first ever tank and questions I have to get going. Hopefully with all your knowledge I can get a really good little nano tank up and running.

I have just brought myself a new Fluval Edge 23ltr (6 gallon)and this is my first tank so am learning all the basics at the same time, I have set up a simple arrangement with a few rocks and plants (only plastic at moment). Although these will be changed later to proper planets in the next week or so (depending on the light situation). I am just wondering what I should look out for in regards to looking after, cleaning the tank etc...

I have no idea what fish I am going to put in the tank at the moment and it appears that around 6-8 fish is the ideal amount but depends on what I go for. I just want a few fish i.e a Siamese fighting fish 1x male and 2x female with a school of fish that are bright and coloured for the tank. Was thinking something like neon tetra, zebra danios or Galaxy Rasbora?

Although I have also looked at Kuhli Loach & African Dwarf Frog which look interesting and will be something different for my first tank. None seem to be super difficult to look after so shouldn't have a problem there but I don't know if these would all be OK in same tank or they require the same temp etc but are some that I liked the look of.

I know that I shouldn't get more than one male Siamese fighting fish and if I have females as well it is recommended to have at least two together in the same tank due their nature.

Would a selection of the above be too much for this size tank? I was thinking of a school of one of the Danios/Tetra(say 6x type) plus the 3x Siamese fighting fish total. Based on the fish above I would need to keep my tank around 24-26 degrees C for them to be happy.Or a combination that includes either the Kuhli Loach or African Dwarf Frog.

Also people seem to be saying that the lights that come standard are not that bright and at the same time run hot so evaporate the water due their location in the tank. Is there an alternative that I can use that would both produce better lighting while not heating the water up to the point that it is evaporating at such a high rate? Ideally something that is a direct replacement would be best but if I need to do a little DIY to install this shouldn't be a problem.

Also as I mentioned at the top of the post (should you have managed to read this far!) some are saying the light's are not good enough to keep the plants alive?Should this make any difference to my choice/type of plant that I would like to have in the tank?

Plants themselves I have no idea on and what I should be looking at I would like to have about 3/4 littl plants at the front with 2/3 mediaum to larger plants at the back in referance to the tank size.

I haven't got a heater yet as I am not sure what to go for. Allot of people are having problems with the specific heater that is designed for this and I don't want anything that stands out or is too small to heat the tank suitably. Any advise would be appreciated. I did find a Interpet Deltatherm Heater for a good price (£8.00) but not sure if this is any good.

People seem to say place the heater at the back but the lights are directly above would this not cause a problem with the temp gauge reading wrong? Can I place the heater anywhere in the tank and is there any that could be hidden more while still working effectively for the tank?

I am aware about the cycle period and I have used water from a friends larger tank that has been running for about a year now anyways so I think the cyc;e will be OK for plants but didn't want to risk killing anything by being overzealous with sorting it all now.

Sorry for all the questions but hope to learn and make the most out of this great little tank.

Thank you for any help.

Kind Regards,

Adam

P.S please move accordingly if I posted all this in the wrong section.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum CurlyRiff.

I have no idea what fish I am going to put in the tank at the moment and it appears that around 6-8 fish is the ideal amount but depends on what I go for. I just want a few fish i.e a Siamese fighting fish 1x male and 2x female with a school of fish that are bright and coloured for the tank. Was thinking something like neon tetra, zebra danios or Galaxy Rasbora? The galaxy rasboras are probably a good choice for a tank your size.

Although I have also looked at Kuhli Loach & African Dwarf Frog which look interesting and will be something different for my first tank. None seem to be super difficult to look after so shouldn't have a problem there but I don't know if these would all be OK in same tank or they require the same temp etc but are some that I liked the look of. You have a tank that is far too small to start thinking about much more than a minimal stocking level. Try saving these occupants for a new larger tank in the future.

I know that I shouldn't get more than one male Siamese fighting fish and if I have females as well it is recommended to have at least two together in the same tank due their nature. You cannot expect to have a male Betta splendens an any number of females live together in a tiny tank like yours. You must choose a single male or maybe a couple of females for such a small tank.

Would a selection of the above be too much for this size tank? I was thinking of a school of one of the Danios/Tetra(say 6x type) plus the 3x Siamese fighting fish total. Based on the fish above I would need to keep my tank around 24-26 degrees C for them to be happy.Or a combination that includes either the Kuhli Loach or African Dwarf Frog. Se above. The Betta splendens can not be kept in a mixed colony at all. The danio or tetras can actually be kept if you are careful to first cycle your filter .

Also people seem to be saying that the lights that come standard are not that bright and at the same time run hot so evaporate the water due their location in the tank. Is there an alternative that I can use that would both produce better lighting while not heating the water up to the point that it is evaporating at such a high rate? Ideally something that is a direct replacement would be best but if I need to do a little DIY to install this shouldn't be a problem. The light that comes with any standard tank kit will work fine for the fish in your tank but are completely inadequate for growing plants. If you decide to get into growing plants, please wait until you have a thriving fish tank before branching out that way. Any tank can become the home for real plants but learning fish and learning plants are two entirely separate subjects that should not both be tackled all at once.

I haven't got a heater yet as I am not sure what to go for. Allot of people are having problems with the specific heater that is designed for this and I don't want anything that stands out or is too small to heat the tank suitably. Any advise would be appreciated. I did find a Interpet Deltatherm Heater for a good price (£8.00) but not sure if this is any good. A heater is often required for tropical fish so you need to look for a proper model for your tank. Some basic information that we use is to get a heater that is about 1 watt per litre or 5 watts per gallon for your tank. We all favor fully submersible heaters because they are far less trouble in actual use than heaters that are not fully submersible. In the US, this means that I favor the visitherm product line but lots of other people have comparably good heaters.

People seem to say place the heater at the back but the lights are directly above would this not cause a problem with the temp gauge reading wrong? Can I place the heater anywhere in the tank and is there any that could be hidden more while still working effectively for the tank? Lights and heaters can be placed almost anywhere without really affecting the outcome very much. As long as the heater gets good water circulation, it will do fine at controlling the tank's water temperature.

I am aware about the cycle period and I have used water from a friends larger tank that has been running for about a year now anyways so I think the cyc;e will be OK for plants but didn't want to risk killing anything by being overzealous with sorting it all now. Water contains almost nothing of value in a new tank. If you can talk your friend into it, get a sample of their filter media instead, or have them clean their dirty filter in your newly set up tank. Either one will provide your new filter with a nice clone of the bacteria they have in their filter. That can be quickly moved forward into becoming a thriving bacterial colony in your own filter.


Po

 

[curlyriff]

Thank you for the reply Po.

Some good info for me to digeast and work towards. Interesting you mention putting fish in first and establishing.

I was told before to get some plants in, try and get them in and established well to keep the oxygen levels right as the tank has a sealed top bar a 3" square and was advised planets will help to make sure the chenical levels are balanced (similfied explonation).

Heater wise this is a fully submersible one etc so sounds like I should be fine. It is 25watt and tank is 23 ltr so should heat it ok based on this.I am going to get the heater and put it in for a week and see how easy I can control the tempurature and how well it works.

Then I was going to add the plants once the tank had cycled in accordance to the requirements. But maybe I shouldn't then. I can't imagin some simple plants to grow will be too difficult for this size tank.

Also I thought there was some plants you can get to stop/reduce algy growth in the tankbut I am unsure iif I can get one that will fit in the tank.

In regards to cycling I will ask about the filter media and see what he can do. I am not sure exactly how this will work as the ones for the edge are pre-bagged and sit in a special container and he has a rather large 550ltr tank so not sure how to get the filter media to work with mine.

Fish wise I understand what you mean about the Betta so will probably hold of this for this size tank. I will to just getting a shoal of tetras or Galaxy Rasbora.

Then I would like something that is bottom dweller. Only 1 or 2 as this would otherwise overcrowed the tank and that would help to keep the gravel clean etc.

I am happy to do as many water changes a week as required. It is a small tank and easy to do so have no problem with that.

Thanks for the help so far. More input always welcome.

Kind Regards,

Adam

 

[Flagtail]

Hello and welcome to the site.

 

[curlyriff]

Hello and welcome to the site.

Thanks Flagtail

 

[Carlovel1]

 

[curlyriff]

Thanks Carlovel1

After reading all about posting it appears that I probably should of posted most of my first post in the newbie section, sorry about that.

Plese feel free to move if one of the moderators wish. I don't really want to repost it in another board and clogging the site up with double posts all over the place cause I am incapible of reading properly.