Tank Questions

[Naigamii]

I recently bought myself a little 5 gallon tank and it's currently set up with two guppies. However, I bought my tank as a kind of 'starter kit' but the setup instructions were a little vague. My first concern is my filter. It's an undergravel filter but in my mind it lacks filtering components. it just a black sqaureish thing at the bottom with a airstone( I think is what my kit called it) inside, a tube going up attached to a smaller tube attached to an air pump. is this gonna filter my tank properly? How often should I change the airstone? I fear waking up to a green tank >_>. I'm also not sure if the top of the filter should be out or under the water. I've never had a tank before so I really have no idea what I'm doing. Does my tank need a heater? I don't have one right now and the kit said nothing of needing one but I'd like to be sure. How long will it take to cycle my tank before I can add more fish and (since I don't have much room) what would be some fish that arn't going to get very big?

Thanks~<3

 

[bitteraspects]

youre better off getting another filter if possible. otherwise, just get yourself a good gravel vac for your weekly W/C

 

[timbruun]

pick yourself up a small aquaclear model. one good enough for a ten gallon tank. heater depends on the fish that you plan on having. someone else will have to pick up on that in regards to stocking a small tank like that. and from what i've been learning, the under gravel filters aren't really worth it. just take it out and run the aquaclear. air stone is probalby not need if there is enough surface agitation from the filter. air pumps add alot of noise. and someone else will also have to come in on cycling a 5 gallon and what fish to use. not sure if 2 guppies will work right.

 

[OldMan47]

Your filter's lift tube should end below the water level so that you get good water flow through the lift tube. You change the air stone when the air bubble flow slows down. The undergravel filter works by using the gravel in the tank as the filter, the lift tube and the square plate are tools to move water through the gravel for filtering. Your tank will not hold many more fish at all. Two guppies is almost a full tank when you only have 5 gallons to work with. Something that you have not mentioned is water testing. You should be testing your water at least daily so that you will know when to do water changes and how big the water changes should be. You need to test for both ammonia and nitrites and maintain both at less than 0.25 ppm at all times. We do this by performing water changes.

 

[Naigamii]

O_O so many things I didn't know about... so what do I use to check the levels? Is there a easy test anyone can recomend and if I do ditch the UGF for one that goes on the side, can I do all this with my fishies still swimming or should I move them to a bowl while I renovate? I was probably just gonna have the guppies... would I need a heater still and in the future, what kind of fish are good for cycling?

 

[OldMan47]

Guppies can do OK in unheated tanks in most of our homes. We tend to warm our homes for comfort and the guppies will be OK as long as the water temperature stays at or above about 72F, 22C. The heater can make the temperature a bit warmer and can stabilize the temperature but is not essential, especially during the summer months. If you choose to remove the undergravel filter, you will lose whatever progress it may have made to cycling the tank but that is probably not much yet. The chemical measurements are made using liquid reagent type test kits, the kind with little test tubes. They can be bought at a local fish shop or at places like E-Bay. One that most people here use is the API master freshwater test kit but others work about as well. Once you have the kit, you add drops of test chemicals using the directions in the kit and match the resulting colors to a color chart that the test manufacturers provide. The fish can stay in the tank while you change filters on a new tank. Because the tank is new, there will be no buildup of nasty mung under that UGF plate so it can just be lifted from under the gravel and removed. A guppy is fine for doing a fish-in cycle but in the future it would be better if you avoid fish until the tank has been cycled. Doing a cycle with fish in the tank is much more work that doing one before getting fish.

 

[Naigamii]

How do you cycle with out a fish in the tank?

 

[OldMan47]

There are instructions in the beginners resource center for fishless cycling. I also have a link in my signature area to take you there. The link is called Fishless Cycling.