Simple Set Ups? Biorbs, Nanos, And All-In-One Systems?

[karin]

Hi.

I'm interested in some feed back on the most simple small aquarium set-up. Small would be 5-10 gallons. Simple would be one where, once cycled, maintenance would as simple as possible. I'm wondering if these all-in-one unit set ups are the way to go? Would love it if you gave me some complete system ideas if the Biorbs and nanos are not the best option.

What is going on is that I have an 8 year old client (I'm a mental health therapist) that LOVES my 29 gallon fish tank. She wants me to help negotiate to get one from her parents. I've talked to the mom about using this as a reward for the work we will in therapy. Mom is reluctantly willing to consider this. Apparently they have had a tank before and mom experienced lots of fish death and maintenance responsibility she did not want.

What I'm thinking of is if I could come up with a set up that is as simple as possible and then a contract where the 8 year old has to take full responsibility for the tank, I might get better buy-in from mom.

I know goldfish would be hardy and simple but this is a smart little girl and she could handle something a bit more "tropical".

Please give me some good options.

Thanks and Happy New Year

 

[Wills]

Hi for a tank set up the all in ones are usually quite hard to work with for example the fulval edge or biorbs as getting your hands in to clean all the edges is not that easy. As a rule I would always advise go as big as you can So if we take a 10g as the biggest I would recommend something like an Arc 35 - which is a complete tropical set up with a small filter and heater - though I would say get a bigger filter like a Fluval U1 As new this set up would cost around £60 but you might be able to find some of these items second hand for cheaper as they are popular stuff.

As for fish I would really stay away from Goldfish, to keep them humanly required a big tank or pond. And raising fish correctly is the same no matter how fragile, weekly water changes and a filter = success. A good small fish for these tanks are Siamese Fighting Fish or Bettas. Or there are quite a few other fish that will work I guess it depends what she likes.

As for setting up a maintenance routine. If you got the equipment like the syphon and buckets for her with clear markers on to empty to and fill to and set up maybe some kind of reward system for when she cleans them out? In a 10g tank if you got a 3g bucket and say fill so you can carry it then top it back up then put a few ml of dechlorinator (mum might need to help here) and fill up the tank again.

Hope thats helped
Wills

 

[Honeythorn]

First off, get your tank second hand if you can. it's so so much cheaper. Either way, a plain rectangular 10 gallon long is a great simple starter tank.


Ebay is a great place to source a tank, and also to get equipment for it such as filters and heaters. Fluval 1 or 2 plus internal cannister filters are very easy to use and very reliable IME. I use Elite heaters in all my tanks and have found them to work fine too, most fish stores and pet stores ( who sel fish ) sell them but again, you may find one cheaper on Ebay.

Some plain gravel and silk plants ( look more real than plastic ) will fill the tank out and make i look great. Try to get quite a lot of plants rather than one or two, as this looks more natural and give fish places to hide.



If this is for a child who likes goldfish ( who are not as easy to keep as you may think and are as unsuitable for a 10 gallon as it is possible to get , so please avoide them at all costs ) then you should keep the stocking low, as 10 gals is a small amount of water and will need to be kept stable, so trying to cram a load of brightly colourded fish into that an hoping it will work...won't work.

Just stick to one species... two at a real push to keep things easy.



Gold Barbs are a great choice and are a very easy tropical fish that a competent child could easily handle. They look quite similar to goldfish in shape and general colour, but won't outgrow a 10 gallon like a goldfish would.


They will eat most basic foods, and in a ten gallon you could have a group of 5 or so.



Another choice thata child would like if you don't want to go for bog standard guppies, is Endlers Livebearers.

A groups of males only will ensure you don't get a population explosion, they are pretty hardy little fish and very brightly coloured.

Again, easy to look after, very small and simple to keep.

In a 10 gallon you could easily have 10 of these.



Water changes are easy with a syphon, but you should teach her how to use it correctly and how to be careful of sucking up fish accidetally!!

If this does prove too much of a hassle, then using a jug and bucket will work just as well.

With dechlor, again this is easy and a simple matter of measuring to a mark on the little cup provided. Mark the little cup on the outside with pen to make it really clear, and there should be no problem with adding too much.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I think in this situation a betta would be a very good choice- small, low bioload, and much more personality than most other fish you're going to get in a small tank. There are quite a few nice 5-10g cube-type tanks available, they seem to be easily available second hand now and would be good in terms of maintenance- water changes aren't going to be massive, so the water taken out will be light enough to carry. They tend to come with everything you would need bar a heater.

 

[OpalineAqua]

Maybe a pair of dwarf gouramis would be good for a 10g setup as they are easy to care for and hardy. Plus they are very pretty.

 

[GAB99]

Gold Barbs[/b] are a great choice and are a very easy tropical fish that a competent child could easily handle. They look quite similar to goldfish in shape and general colour, but won't outgrow a 10 gallon like a goldfish would.


They will eat most basic foods, and in a ten gallon you could have a group of 5 or so.

i would stay away from gold barbs as well, i have 5 and each averages at about 2.8 inches and they are active so i would say a 20 gallon minimum for a school. i would change these with cherry barbs as they stay smaller but again they are active little guys and some might say they need 20 gallons as well.

good fish to keep would be platies,guppies,endlers,dwarf gouramis,bettas,shrimps and certain tetras and cories.


and then everyone else got things covered quite well , just this small bit i saw. and the fact i see noone has mentioned cycling


btw, what do you have in your tank?