Not A Complete Beginner

[guidedbyechoes]

Hello TFF,

My name is Josh and I recently inherited a 25 gallon tank set up for saltwater. I've had mollies, guppies, platies, angelfish, silver dollars and a beta. So I'm not completely novice. OK my set up is comprised of a Marineland Penguin 150: 30 gallon filter bio wheel system.( I was recommended this by a sales assossiate at petco) My light is a 15 watt ocean sun bulb 18 in. And my heater is a 200 watter.

The thing is all of the fish I had, except the beta, had been raised by a grandparent. This was 10 years ago when I was avid. I have been researched quite heavily the last week about do and don't and such and have come to a conclusion that my ideal setup which is a clownfish and sea anmea(s) won't work due to the reccomendations of most online retailers that I would need a 30 gallon in order to have an anmea. Which would be quite costly if I didn't set up correctly.

Therefor I have decided to go for a freshwater setup. I am currently cycling a completely empty tank. I figured I might as well get some opinions before I start adding.

Firstly I wanted to add live plants to my setup as most fish enjoy places to hide and I don't really like the gaudy plastic or ceramic stuff I've seen while browsing. But I figure the amount and type I add might drastically effect the ph balance.( an onion for instance) I was looking at water lilies and bamboo in particular. I'm not too familiar with the ferns and other options.....

As far as fish are concerned the live bearers were really easy to manage a little too easy. The tank was about 30 gallon the Guppies thrived to the point where I had to start removing some of them. They went to good homes. This time I wanted to try some thing different the Discuss, Cichlets and Gourami intrigue me. The Gourami being the only ones I could house in my tank according to the online retailers.

This is where I can finally get to the questions. I was under the impression that if you kept a fish in a small aquarium it would remain smaller than if put into a 150 gallon tank. Is that an urban myth? As for the recomended number of gallons for a certain fish...... What I for instance had 2-4 fish intended for a 30 gallon in my tank?

I tried reading the faq's to find my answers but no dice. Any help is more than welcomed.

 

[kittycat12]

Hello TFF,

My name is Josh and I recently inherited a 25 gallon tank set up for saltwater. I've had mollies, guppies, platies, angelfish, silver dollars and a beta. So I'm not completely novice. OK my set up is comprised of a Marineland Penguin 150: 30 gallon filter bio wheel system.( I was recommended this by a sales assossiate at petco) My light is a 15 watt ocean sun bulb 18 in. And my heater is a 200 watter.

The thing is all of the fish I had, except the beta, had been raised by a grandparent. This was 10 years ago when I was avid. I have been researched quite heavily the last week about do and don't and such and have come to a conclusion that my ideal setup which is a clownfish and sea anmea(s) won't work due to the reccomendations of most online retailers that I would need a 30 gallon in order to have an anmea. Which would be quite costly if I didn't set up correctly.

Therefor I have decided to go for a freshwater setup. I am currently cycling a completely empty tank. I figured I might as well get some opinions before I start adding.

Firstly I wanted to add live plants to my setup as most fish enjoy places to hide and I don't really like the gaudy plastic or ceramic stuff I've seen while browsing. But I figure the amount and type I add might drastically effect the ph balance.( an onion for instance) I was looking at water lilies and bamboo in particular. I'm not too familiar with the ferns and other options.....

As far as fish are concerned the live bearers were really easy to manage a little too easy. The tank was about 30 gallon the Guppies thrived to the point where I had to start removing some of them. They went to good homes. This time I wanted to try some thing different the Discuss, Cichlets and Gourami intrigue me. The Gourami being the only ones I could house in my tank according to the online retailers.

This is where I can finally get to the questions. I was under the impression that if you kept a fish in a small aquarium it would remain smaller than if put into a 150 gallon tank. Is that an urban myth? As for the recomended number of gallons for a certain fish...... What I for instance had 2-4 fish intended for a 30 gallon in my tank?

I tried reading the faq's to find my answers but no dice. Any help is more than welcomed.

ok you have a saltwater tank? and u have silver dollars? and others? im confused

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I had them about 10 years ago. I just got the satwater tank from a family friend this week. It has crushed coral and the salt mix with it in the event I want to do saltwater. Currently I just have water in it, haven't even added rocks yet.

 

[rdd1952]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

First, the thing about fish growing to the size of the tank. Here is a thread I started a while back about stunting. It has some pretty good info in it. The gist of it is that fish release hormones and as the number of hormones in the water rises (due to lacj of water changes) the fish growth slows or stops. There are a lot of sites that have fish profiles and list the minimum size tank. I use this one most of the time. Of course, different sites may have different numbers (one saying 30 gallon and another saying 40).

I agree with you about the plants. iIjust don't like fake ones although I have seen some that look very real. they have gotten better over the last few years. The Foster and Smith site that I referenced for fish profiles also has a plants section (see tab at top of that page). I think their prices are a little high though. I have ordered twice from this site and been very pleased with what I got both times. Keep in mind that you may have to upgrade your lighting for live plants. Generally, you need at least 2 watts per gallon for most plants and that is almost impossible to get without going to power compact lights.

Also on plants, there are a llot of plants sold as aquatic plants that really aren't. They are fine in and around water but can't be fully submerged or they die. As a general rule, anything with varigated leaves isn't good for an aquarium. I would imagine that bamboo would fall into that catagory as I don't think it can be fully submerged. Water lillies will float so they aren't a problem but you would have to leave the water level down far enough in the tank to give them room. There are definitely some plant experts in the Planted section. I know just enough about plants to be dangerous although all of my tanks have live plants which are doing fine.

Edit: Unless you decide to keep something that likes a high pH such as African cichlids, you will probably need to change the substrate as the crushed coral will buffer the pH into the 8s which is too high for most community fish. There will also be some salt in the substrate that you probably don't want in a freshwater tank.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I'm not using the corral. It just came with the tank. I'm planning on using some stones.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I forgot to mention I have had a live water plant. It was called myrio

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Welcome to the forums!

Okay so when it comes to fish choices...you are a bit limited by the size of the tank, but there are still some fun choices that you can put in there. In terms of SA (south american or new world) Cichlids there are several dwarf species that would be suitable such as Bolivian or German Blue Rams, and several species of Apistogramma. I believe there are also some smaller community Africans, but I'm not familiar enough to list any. Rams are fairly common in pet shops, but Apistos are not. Also, definately check out the "Recomendations for a 10 gallon" stickied thread. There are some very interesting fish listed in there that work well in smaller tanks.

If you just want a few plants it's easier (and less expensive) to start with fairly undemanding low light plants like java moss, java fern, crypts and anubias. Java moss is fantastic for decorating a tank with since it can be bound to rocks, driftwood, and other decorations via fishing line. Lots of members make their own decorations and caves using slate and other stone either stacked carefully or glued together via aquarium safe epoxies or silicone. More heavily planted tanks will require a bit more investment in lighting, substrate, CO2 systems, and ferts...it's easier to start simple and build up IMO.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

So I don't have to do a completely new thread I was looking more into the clownfish setup that I've been wanting since my older brother had one some years ago. Will the 5 gallon difference really affect the aneome that much? I know the clown doesn't need it but I know it helps. Also I was looking into marine crabs there was a really nice looking one in that shop, unfortunately there were several in the tank along with including the decorator crab and I don't know what it was called. It was black and red almost like a spideresque in shape. It was not an arrow, those things barely resemble crabs.

 

[Musho3210]

no... no... no.... no clown hosting anemone... until you get at least a years experiance and until your tank that its going to be in is 6 months old. These things arent supposed to be played with....

 

[guidedbyechoes]

no... no... no.... no clown hosting anemone... until you get at least a years experiance and until your tank that its going to be in is 6 months old. These things arent supposed to be played with....

The tanks well over a year old looks to be from the 80's. Can I just get a clownfish one of those crazy crabs and a artifical anemone? I know clowns can be aggressive, can it coexist with a crab?

 

[Musho3210]

im talking about maturity, have you owned it and has it been the same since the 80's?

anyway yes, a 25 gallon tank you could put 2 clowns, a crab, and an artificial anemone. You could probably fit maybe one more small fish if its a 25 gallon.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

im talking about maturity, have you owned it and has it been the same since the 80's?

anyway yes, a 25 gallon tank you could put 2 clowns, a crab, and an artificial anemone. You could probably fit maybe one more small fish if its a 25 gallon.

I misread what you were saying. Sorry its late.... no I just received this tank. It is almost exactly the same as the one I had. But I hear saltwater is a different ballgame. It was used for saltwater before so I was thinking it was a bactiral issue not a patience and attention to detail issue. I had 4 years of freshwater expirance. I had to move out of state so someone else got the fish as I didn't think they could make it. Thats when I was Sans internet. Right now I'm cycling and weighing my options. I thought clowns were extremely territorial almost like betas?

 

[Musho3210]

no, not really, i think you are mixed up with damselfish. Some clowns can get pretty territorial.

I think you should check out the marine section on this forum, start a new thread. Freshwater and saltwater tanks are very different, only similarities is the nitrogen cycle (btw different bacterias so you are cycling your tank now in freshwater, doesnt mean the bacteria will switch over to saltwater)

 

[guidedbyechoes]

no, not really, i think you are mixed up with damselfish. Some clowns can get pretty territorial.

I think you should check out the marine section on this forum, start a new thread. Freshwater and saltwater tanks are very different, only similarities is the nitrogen cycle (btw different bacterias so you are cycling your tank now in freshwater, doesnt mean the bacteria will switch over to saltwater)

No I'm talking about a clown, the one my brother had would charge and jump out of the water. If you tried to got your hand near the water. He may have been a special case. He some how got enough speed to jump out of the tank one day, and he was found too late. But I'll start in the marine section. They may also be able to figure out what type of crab I spotted. I already screwed up and have to start over with the salt water. I didn't rinse the coral thouroughly enough.

 

[Musho3210]

well there are some much more informative people in the sw section than me, im just a beginner, so you will get more help there.