Ahhhh.... well actually i've just had a look at the size of a 10 gallon tank.
10 gallon 20 x 10 x 13 tall
15 tall 20 x 10 x 17 tall
15 long 24 x 12 1/2 x 13 tall
20 long 30 x 12 3/4 x 13 tall
and the 10g are actually the size that i wanted.
i just imagined one gallon to be a lot bigger than it actually is.
So that's perfect! Those were the dimensions i had in mind anway. 20x10x13.
I'll start with a 10-15 gallon tank. so that's about 10 little fish? So what would the littlest fish be?
The one inch of fish per gal is just a rule of thumb or guideline, not a rule set in stone so to speak as there are many situations where it does not apply.
Also in newly set up or cycled tanks, you need to stock them very lightly rather than to the max.
There are many things to take into consideration when stocking for fish, for example here are a few important factors you need to take into consideration;
a. How big does the fish grow? Is it going to be outgrowing my tank at any point?
b. What are its activity levels like? Is it going to need lots of space to swim in, or is it going to prefer spending its time dwelling in caves or grazing algae etc?
c. What are its social requirements? Is this fish happiest in a group, or does it prefer to be alone? Is it agressive or peaceful, territorial or not etc?
d. How fragile is the fish? Is it going to get ill in a cycling or newly established tank, or will be it be hardier enough to thrive in such conditions?
e. What habitat does it need? Does it prefer to spend its time dwelling in heavily planted area's of the tank, or will it prefer to be swimming about in a sand substrate- or is gravel better for it etc?
f. How much waste does the fish produce? Are you going to need some pretty hefty filtration and be doing loads of large regular water changes or substrate cleaning sessions, or is the fish going to be fine with adequate filtration for the tanks gallons and normal tank cleaning regime?
g. What does it eat? Are you going to need to be making regular visits to your lfs for live food like feeder fish or bloodworms, or is the fish going to need a regular suply of veg and algae? Will it be ok on a fish flake or dried food orientated diet etc?
h. What temp does the fish thrive best in? Does it prefer more sub-tropical temps, or will it do better in warmer tropical temps?
Cycling question:
so i read the cycling article and it seems pretty straightforward although a bit lengthy.
once i've done this will i need to do it once a month? or once every two weeks?
Which article did you read about cycling?
No, you wil not need to cycle your tank every month or 2weeks etc, once the tank is cycled its cycled, unless you do something to destroy the benneficial bacteria (like forgetting to dechlorinate the tank water or washing the filter sponge in plain tap water etc) or add too much to the bioload than what it deal with.
Cleaning:
How often do i clean? And is it possible to make an aquarium self cleaning with the proper plants etc?
I'm also beginning to realise that it's going to take at least a month or two of aquarium preparation before i can get any live fish.
And i'm also beginning to think that it might be a good idea to have fewer fish in a larger tank with lots of plants.
I'm so glad i found this forum.
Very informative.
Unfortunately its imposible to make an aquarium self cleaning.
Cleaning mainly revolves around;
1. Water changes: its imortant to do at least a 30% water change a week although its not advised to take out more than 60% of the tank water in a single day. Water changes help;
a. Keep the water clean.
b. Help prevent large build ups of nitrates
c. Help remove unwanted toxins from the water
d. Help prevent ph crash in old tanks, where an excess of minerals build up in the tank due to evaporation in the tank over long periods of time, causing the ph to crash which can be lethal for the fish.
2. Cleaning the substrate;
a. To help prevent build of waste in gravel substrate, which would otherwise rot and cause ammonia problems or harbor deseases like columnaris.
b. To help prevent build up of anorobic bacteria which causes pockets of toxic nitrites to grow in the subtrate, wether it be sand or gravel (sand is more prone to this than gravel, while gravel is more prone to trapping rotting waste than what sand is).
c. To help keep it clean- dirty substrate is particually bad for bottom feeding or dwelling fish like cories, loaches or pleco's.
Unclean substrate can bring on bacterial infections in fish particually if they spend much time around it (corys for example are prone to get bacterial infections in their barbels/whiskers from dirty substrate).
3. Cleaning the filter sponge;
a. To help prevent the filter clogging up, and in worst case scenario, stopping completely. Your bennificial bacteria lives here and to survive needs a constant source of waste/ammonia, water and oxygen to survive.
If the filter gets clogged up and stops working, that means the water stops flowing which prevents the bacteria from getting the oxygen it needs, and so dies/suffocates.
If the filter is over-cleaned, you remove its food source completely or too much and so starves.
If the filter sponge is cleaned in untreated tap water, the chlorine will kill the bacteria. So most people clean their filter sponges in old tank water from water changes as this is most likely not going to upset it.
To have your filter and benneficial bacteria working and growing properly and efficiently, you should roughly out clean your filter sponge every 10days to 2-3weeks in water from water changes. You should definately clean the filters pad out if they are clogging up with muck to the point the filter current is being affected.
Make sure you don't overclean the filter sponges, you should just clean them out enough so the filter runs smoothly
.
edit: sp.
Theres a basic rule for keeping fish, which is a safe starting point, and that is an inch-per-gallon. If you take that as a rule, you'll be able to have 1.5 inches of fish to your 1.5g tank.... so you're looking at a betta... or a betta. LOL. No, seriously, harlequins grow to 1.75 inches and should be kept in groups, so they'd be no good. Neons grow smaller, but again should be kept in groups. Have you considered a larger tank?
