Newbie about to buy a 10 gallon tank..

tdnp · Mar 21, 2003

I use internal filters in both of my tanks and I find them very easy to use and it's not hard to clean the medium or replace. Make sure you get one that is big enough, I would say get it one size bigger and then if you do decide you want a bigger tank ( which you will ) it won't cost you to much and it won't cost much more than the smaller one but this way you'll only have to buy 1 and not 2

Elisabeth · Mar 22, 2003

If you want an aggressive fish how about an African butterfly fish? Have you seen James Bond Thunderball? Well an African butterfly fish has a mouth just like the boat with the huge drawbridge door that swallows submarines. It'll eat guppies and tetras and, well anything under 2" long
Its not a chichlid but it is a very impressive looking fish and it doesn't get too big (4") so you could get easily have one or two in a 20G tank.
Here's a link so you can see what it looks like:
Link

Great Lakes · Mar 23, 2003

Boy, I don't know where to start here.. :lol:

First, you will need a 100 watt heater, and the largest filter you can afford. Overfiltering is a good thing!

On aggressive fish, 20 gallons is just too small of a tank, sorry! The more agressive a fish is, the more territorial they become. It is just a recipe for to disaster to attempt this in a tank under 50 gallons or so. I don't mean to disappoint you, but better me doing it than your finding out the hard way.

Very Fishy · Mar 24, 2003

AquaClear filters made by Hagen are good inexpensive filters and do a good job.

carey · Mar 24, 2003

I did a water change in a record time a few days ago, i sucked out 4 gallons and refilled it in 7 and a half minutes! Don't forget to check the ph, hardness, remove the chlorine and leave the water standing for about 24 hours so that any chemicals can evaporate but try if you can to use rain water. With about 2 clean buckets (not paint or any thing but the ones you can but that are colored green or red or something) and they *might* well try to get the ones with the litre measurments on them so you can know exactly how much to put in of a product and you will need a vacum for the gravel which really speads up the job and if you can afford it get two, one to clean and one to drain, draining the tank takes longest. When you fill the tank you might want to place clean paper with no ink or anything on it on the gravel and pour the water on it so the water stays clear. Careful not to leave bits of it in there and DO NOT turn on ANY of the HEATERS,PUMPS,FILTERS and such until the tank is full. To start the tank cycling you can put in a little crushed fish flakes that will just disslove and start bacteria and stuff. You should not setup the tank in sun either. Hope that helps,

Carey

cichlid_freak · Mar 24, 2003

I have read over your post, and I think you are getting the 20 gal. from your friend.

If this is true, I would recomend Mbunas. They are good hardy fish. They are agressive, and actually do well if over-stocked. I would recommend about 5 or 6 of them in your tank. Provide plenty of hiding spots. I use two small pieces of slate to form a teepee or A-frame, along with various rocks and slates to form caves along the back. this leaves plenty of swimming room across the front. Mbunas are available in many MANY colors and patterns. You can have a very cool setup with these. They eat anything about the size of guppies, but not too often as they can't have too much protien/fat. Also, they are very easy to feed with a stable of cichlid pellets, and any number of frozen/freeze-dried foods, and blanched veggies. Remember a varied diet is the best for all fish. The fact that you want agressives, means that you WILL have to do water changes regularly. Mbunas give you the variety of having a larger # of fish in the same body of water. The only drawback, if any, is this does mean you will have more waste. But this is greatly surpassed with the enjoyment of these cool fish. I have 7 in a 29 gal. and will probably be adding one more.

I have a Penguin 330 on it. This cycles the water 11+ times an hour and has two biowheels. This benefits the overstocking, but I still do water changes about once every 2 weeks, but monitor the water closly. And it cost me less than $40. I would recomend any filter with some type of Bio-filtration. I have heard that Whisper has a filter with a flow gate giving a sponge access to oxygen and works about the same as bio-wheels. I haven't seen these in action and haven't had any experience with them. Beyond that, you just need a heater, gravel cleaner/syphon tube, themometer (don't trust heater settings), and water.

I love cichlids and really love my Mbunas. They aren't expensive (most aren't) and they're easy to start off with for agressives.

Oh I almost forgot, these are mostly top/mid water fish. This allows you to add a cool cat or other bottom-dwellers. I would recomend more than 2 or so. Also don't worry too much about the setup. These fish will pretty much like anything other than plants. They dig a lot, and I use filter gravel. It gives a nice natural look, and doesn't look as bad when they dig.

Good luck!!!

Kryten · Mar 24, 2003

Is it just me or have you not really read up on much of anything to do with the hobby. You want the most aggressive fish, but do't want to have to dedicate any time really to cleaning, the cheapest equipment is not always the best and may not be good for the fish. I think you would be wise to consult the books and not to just buy the cheapest without knowing your subject.

Does anyone else get the general concensus or is it just me?