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Anonymous
I'm buying a 10 gallon tank tomorrow. What advice do you have for me?

What does /an/ think the best way to turn an ordinary 10 gallon tank into something cool is?
>> Anonymous
>>328230
put a TV in there
>> Anonymous
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Put in a fuckload of triops.
>> Anonymous
aquahobby.com


Learn EVERYTHING you can before you buy fish or learn to waste a lot of money. Most tropical fish are sensitive to ordinary water and it will kill them.
>> Anonymous
>>328252

Hey asshole, the OP is getting triops. No one is talking about fish. Fish aren't for the OP. He's better than that.
>> Anonymous
planting it with different types of plants.creating a underwater landscape using rocks and bog wood.after checking PH levels select a fish species that will enhance visual effects.
>> Anonymous
>>328263
Could you recommend any plants?
>> Anonymous
Java ferns, java moss, anubis, anarchis...

Buy a few fish at first because you are going to go through a cycle. I suggest getting the cheapest fish they have that aren't feeders, something like 4 zebra danios. Let the tank run a few weeks with those fish, then start getting more and get rid of the zebras. Dwarf puffer fish are really nice and attractive to keep, but they are for more experienced hobbyists. Do research on fish before you buy them, but since you are a beginner, you can't really go wrong with various tetras. I recommend black neon tetras, glo light tetras, and cardinal tetras. Neons generally don't do to well. They are inbred to put out high numbers for the tropical fish trade, which means their immune system is horrible and they die easily.
>> Anonymous
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I second the recommendation for a planted tank. 10 gallons isn't very big for fish... at most you could have a few small tropical fish or a single Betta. But you could get it planted up all nice and then drop in a few fish later. I suggest guppies. They're beautiful and they're easy.

http://www.plantedtank.net/
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/
>> Anonymous
>>328363
guppies are easy but only the special fan tails are nice and after awhile loose breeding lets all colors run riot. black lyre tail mollies or sailfins are peacefull.
>> Anonymous
Planted tank, fuck yeah. Don't buy a brightly colored cheap substrate, those look ugly as hell. Get a nice, dark, naturally colored gravel. How much money do you want to spend? If you only get a regular (15 watt or so) light, you could keep java moss/fern (sometimes sold as "tropica fern") and other low-light plants (google low-light aquarium plants or something like that; there are lists people have made of 1 watt per gallon plants).

Of course, you can get a lot of beautiful plants if you get a better light fixture. If you wanted to do this, make sure you pick up plant ferts or root tabs, and maybe look into a co2 system.

What kind of fish are you getting, OP? A fun little fish for a 10g is a dwarf gourami. They're like regular gouramis, but squashed into a 3 inch fish. Their colors are also very beautiful, my favorite is the powder-blue kind. They're light iridescent blue, with very faint copper bars on their back half. So beautiful.

But of course, research stuff before you buy it blah blah blah. I would recommend getting a high-quality food for your fish, to get the brightest colors possible. Good luck..
>> Anonymous
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Get some eco-complete or fluorite
at least 30 watts of lighting
a diy c02 system
plant some hemianthus callitrichoides and some java fern tied to drift wood
get some cardinal tetras some rummy nose tetras and some cherry shrimp
your tank would look awesome
do frequent water changes
>> Anonymous
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If its your first tank, dont try to do anything cool with it, just try to make fish and plants survive their lafespan.
If its not your first tank, then why do you ask? You know what to do - aquascaping.
>> Anonymous
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>>328487
I haven't made a final decision as to what kind of fish to put in it yet. I want a tropical community, and I know I can't put all that many fish in a 10 gallon tank.

What does /an/ think of the lists found here? http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Stocking_a_10_Gallon_Tank

Also, I'm not sure I feel comfortable with aquascaping. This is >my< first tank, though there have been many in my family. They have just never been kept well and almost look disgusting because they are not cared for.

I want the tank to look nice, I'm thinking a gray color gravel, a piece of driftwood resting against the right side of the tank, and something almost like a Greek column or a rock formation in the picture to the left.

I want some plant life there, but something inexpensive and easy to plant. Any suggestions?
>> Anonymous
>>328697
>>http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Stocking_a_10_Gallon_Tank
>>This is, by no means, a definitive list, but we have tried to include the most often found fish in fish stores, we have not included very rarely found fish.

Lol they then go on to list some barely obtainable fish.
Thats a good list of some less common, less thought of, options. That link may save me from listing many of those off here in the future like I do once a week.

Many of those are not the most hardy fish, and your first lesson in fish keeping may well be how expensive dead schools of small exotic fish can be. I think I went though 25 or so embers to get a school of 16 lol. True pygmy cories will probably cost at least $9 each, and corys are usually the first to die from noob mistakes. Probably 8 out of 10 otos from PetXYZ end up dead in a week.

Start out with small cheap danios, white clouds, and tetras would be my advice

>>328349
>>I recommend...cardinal tetras. Neons generally don't do to well. They ...die easily.
Wow somebody sure got that one backwards. Ask a Petsmart employee why neons go on sale for $1 and cardinal tetras are almost $5. I rememeber getting my first school before they were being raised in florida and holy fuck, you bought 30 and hoped 15 lived, actually you hoped 10 didn't go belly up on the way home in the bag. Florida raised ones are much better but it is still not uncommon for LFSs to get a whole shipment of them in DOA.
nice advice otherwise.

good luck op, have fun
>> Anonymous
>>328697
It's an alright list. They go a little overboard with what size fish you can have in the tank, since pretty much every specie is "dwarf" or "pygmy". A lot of these fish are hard to find at some stores, not sure what kind of stocking options you have access to. Usually you can fit 4-5 2" fish in a 10g, as long as they aren't notorious waste producers.. you could get a lot of the common tetras, like black neons, glow light, pristella etc. I would avoid the overly nippy ones, and there are a few species that grow to 3"+.

If you want any specific kinds of fish that do well in a 10g, tell us more info... like, do you want bottom-dwellers? Do you want algae eaters, or carnivorous fish, or even what kind of colors you would like.

As for easy plants... I find Amazon Swords to be really easy to plant and care for. They usually appreciate a high light setting, however they do fine in my low-light tanks (they don't flourish, and generally grow pretty slowly). They're pretty easy to prune.
>> Anonymous
>>328744
>continued
Are you going to get gray gravel, as in, a natural stone-gray, or the ugly painted gray gravel? I would decide what fish you get, before you decide on what your tank looks like, and try to compliment them a little--for instance, bright reddish fish look best on a dark, natural substrate, with bright green plants. Black fish look really pretty with a lighter substrate, maybe sandy, with piles of gray rocks etc. in their tank.

As for actually going about aquascaping... remember... you can continually change and revamp your tank. For instance, my 10g was bought with a few corydoras, and had bright red gravel with flower pots and some other tacky decorations. Now, it's got a sandy substrate, driftwood with java moss on it and the ground is covered with amazon swords... it's also got 3 otos and a gourami in it (moved the cories to my 20L, they love it).
>> Anonymous
When you turn the lights on for the fish, adjust it slowly. take the ballast off the tank and turn it on, and very slowly place it over the top. Fish don't have eyelids, so they cant close their eyes. ever been in a dark room for hours to have the light suddenly turned on? now pretend your eyes are glued open when it happens
>> Anonymous
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>>328230
>What advice do you have for me?

Go freshwater, not saltwater, as a marine tank is more complicated and expensive (you need special kinds of filters, water conditioners, additives and stabilisers as well as a refrigeration unit).

Don't mix cichlids, barbs, bettas and some of the more aggressive tetras with other species - you'll wind up with a tank of dead fish.

Get an airstone w/airpump AND a filter - the airstone and compressor will keep the water aerated and give the fish bubble streams to play in, and the filter will obviously clean the crap out.

Feed them flakes that have natural colour enhancers in them. This will help them look better.

Run the tank for a week before you put fish in it, let it filter through and stabilise completely otherwise the fish will get sick or die.

Don't add fish all at once, add them a few at a time and wait for them to adjust.

Pic related, it's my 34 litre tank. Occupants are:

4 blue coloured widow tetras
2 pink coloured widow tetras
2 shubunkins
1 ryukin fantail
3 dwarf gouramis
5 black neon tetras
2 colourful male guppies.

Had a black moor but he carked it.
>> Anonymous
fishforums.net

Look there for info for people new to fish keeping.

I would advise a fishless cycle. If you just toss in some fish they'll probably die from ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
>> Anonymous
>>328842
nice excessively overcrowded tank
>> Anonymous
>>328842
Dude, I am sorry, but your tank looks and sounds like utter crap. You gave some nice suggestions for fish newb, but your tank is what anyone should try to avoid. I am raging so hard right now, I cant even swear at you.
First, your design. To each is own, but I believe clown puke gravel and plastic castles do not belong in a tank.
However, thats not a very big problem. What is more worrisome is your choice of fish.
>4 blue coloured widow tetras
>2 pink coloured widow tetras
You should have stopped here, well, maybe add one dwarf gourami in the end. But what the fuck did you do?
>2 shubunkins
>1 ryukin fantail
Dude, goldfish do not belong in one tank together with tropical fish. They are coldwater fish, they have different temperature settings. Plus, each young gold need at least 20 gallons for itself, when they grow up (and in your case they will die before growing to their potential) you will have to deal with foot-long fish. All you do is tormenting the fish. Hey, maybe you also someone who keeps a husky in a bachalor appartment and lets it to go out once a month?
>3 dwarf gouramis
Gouramis swim on top, they compete for the top space. 10g tank has space for 1 dwarf, not 3.
>5 black neon tetras
>2 colourful male guppies.
Will work in 10g, but you are already more than severely overstoked with all your goldfish and other tetras and gouramis. Plus, guppies tend to be nippy and will harras gouramis and tetras.

Give goldfish to someone who have a pond or an empty bigass tank, give 2 dwarf gouramis, guppies, and some tetras back to fish store, change gravel, throw away shitty castle, get life plants, then come back and we can talk.
If it was trolling, its at least 9/10.
>> Anonymous
>>328844
Not neccesary, if OP will start with good plants than they will take care of all nitrites before biofilter kicks in. Of course he has to start slowly, 1-2 fish at the beginning.
>> Anonymous
>>328851
Not true unless he has very few fish and a shit load of plants, injects co2 and doses ferts.
>> Anonymous
>>328854
Not true what, that plants will start to consume nitrogen products from day one? Cause they will. Actually, IIRC Walstad found that in heavy-planted tank plants fix more nitrogen than bacterias, and actually prefer to take ammonia instead of nitrites or nitrates.
I am not saying that he can jump-start fish tank with no cycle, this is more for seasoned aquarists with expertise and all nessesary equipment, I am just saying that cycling with fish is safe (or safer, as cycling can be in the hands of unexperienced impatient user) if you have planted tank.
>> Anonymous
>>328849
>Give goldfish to someone who have a pond or an empty bigass tank, give 2 dwarf gouramis, guppies, and some tetras back to fish store, change gravel, throw away shitty castle, get life plants, then come back and we can talk.

How about you take a sugar-frosted fuck off the end of my cock, asshole? For starters the tank is being upgraded to something about 5 times the size of this one very soon, and I've got it on good authority that:

a) the goldfish will be more than happy in a community tank.
b) the tank is not overcrowded.

Maybe you want a massive tank with two fish the size of 50c coins in it but we want a tank that actually looks decent and has some colour to it.

You can take your advice and stick it in your asshole, right after you fuck yourself and the horse you rode in on.
>> Anonymous
i'm not that guy but
>>328857
>a) the goldfish will be more than happy in a community tank.
yeah sure once you you move everything to this magical gigantic tank and your goldfish get the size they're supposed to, they'll be totally happy eating your bite-size fish

>b) the tank is not overcrowded.
thanks for cluttering the thread with your bad advice
>> Anonymous
>>328857
Now you are just being rude. You not only lack any taste or compassion for animals, but you also dont have any manners. I puty your parents.
>he tank is being upgraded to something about 5 times the size of this one very soon
Thats just a talk. You are upgrading, somewhere in the future, for sure, someday, really, and its going to be 5, no, 10 times bigger than it is now. For now your fish have to live in their own wastes and die one by one.
You gave me the photo and a description, and I told what it is - shit. Post another pic when you upgrade, then we can talk.
BTW did you even measured ammonia/nitrates in your tank? I would extremely interested to find out exactly how fucked your fish are.
>the goldfish will be more than happy in a community tank
You either keep temperature down, comfortable for goldfish, or up, comfortable for tropical fish. Temperature in the middle would be usualy uncomfortable for both goldfish and tropical fish.
>the tank is not overcrowded
For people like you, a "rule" 1 inch of fish for 1 gallon of water was created. You can do the math.
> but we want a tank that actually looks decent and has some colour to it.
Decent? I would love to see that. Please post pictures of your decent-looking tank as soon as possible.
>> Anonymous
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>>328860
> Decent? I would love to see that. Please post pictures of your decent-looking tank as soon as possible.

Post pics of yours first, faggot. All I've seen from you is a bunch of shit-talk with nothing to back it up. If you're such a fucking genius with tank aesthetics and fish population, then prove it.

Also, where the fuck do you get off telling me how to decorate the tank? It's not your fucking tank, they're not your fucking fish and it's really got nothing to do with you.

Go eat a dick you arrogant elitist whore.
>> Anonymous
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http://www.aquascapingworld.com/
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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Moss makes tanks look great.
>> Anonymous
>>328895
>>328897
>>328903
Has anyone here tried something like this?
>> Anonymous
>>328895
flying fish? now that's awesome.
>> Anonymous
u can't go wrong with robofish and plastic plants.
>> Anonymous
>>328944
and use mineral oil instead of water.
>> Anonymous
>>328842
Wow this tank is bad.
>> Anonymous
>>328842
I appreciate the advice, really I do. But even though it is >MY< first tank, I know that yours is just way to over crowded. I could tell simply by looking at the image. Then I took a look at your list and was utterly shocked to find out you had that many fish in such a small tank.

Now I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, but you really should do something about the over crowdedness and fast.

Anyways, I'm not too worried about cycling. There is a tank downstairs I'm going to take water from and toss a few plants in. I'm gonna have the tank run for about a week before I add any fish in. I already have some PH strips, and I'm gonna test it every day until its 6.6 - 7.5.

As far as plants go, I just wanna ask a few more questions before I go out and get them. So the recommendation or a beginner's tank is Amazon Sword, right? How about Java Moss? Is that stuff easy to plant/maintain? Do I more or less just put 1 inch of gravel, bury the root, then add more gravel to cover it or is there something else I need as the middle man?

Also, I plan on getting a piece of driftwood. How safe would it be if I got driftwood from a lake, boiled it, cleaned it, did whatever I had to do to make sure its safe vs just buying a piece from a pet store or something?
>> Anonymous
>>328857
You have GOT to be a troll. Please tell me that you're a troll.

You got it on good authority from who? A blind retard? I could see from the thumbnail that your tank was overcrowded.

Goldfish don't need cool water. The other fish need warm water. That's why you don't need to have them living together. Ever, no matter how big this future tank is going to be.
>> Anonymous
>>328977
Java Moss is super easy to grow. You can just throw it in there and it will take off after a while. It doesn't have roots, so you can let it float, or tie it to something and let it sink, but I think it looks best when it's tied to driftwood. It will attach itself to the wood and grow.
>> Anonymous
>>329041
Er, I mean goldfish do need cool water.
>> Anonymous
>>328868
i love how defensive this guy is getting over his ugly ass tank
>> Anonymous
>>328977
Putting gravel partially in, and than planting to put more gravel later sounds like a pain in the ass. I would simply put gravel, put water, slope or do whatever you want with a gravel, place big rock or a driftrwood, plant into the gravel. It would be good if you could afford a speciality aqurium gravel, the ones that have some nutrients in them and can hold new nutrients. This way you can have>>328897, otherwise if you use simple gravel you will have to rely on root tablets, or a long process of natural goo buildup. Reliable brands are the likes of Eco-complete, Flourite. Search it on planted aquarium forums, they often have whole sections about substrate. I would advise against mixing the gravel for your first tank yourself though (like mixing potting soil, clay, sand, crashed shells, etc), to avoid getting into any trouble.
Regarding driftwood, make sure it has no rot on it and sinks completely - otherwise you might have to sit it weighted in a bathtub full of water for couple years trying to let it sink. If you pick it up from the nature - boil it. Besides, its not easy to find a good looking driftwood in the nature, at least its not cold and windy in the petstore. Even if buying from petstore, make sure to clean it. And dont buy wood that is not labeled "aquarium safe", or the one that is used for reptiles - its often covered in chemicals that might make your fish sick, and reptile wood might not sink properly.
>> Anonymous
>>329098
Boiling any driftwood would be beneficial, even store-bought. Gets out the tannins that will darken the water, kills anything bad that might be on it.
>> Anonymous
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>>328842
>> AnonymousPrime !/RDa1B/y1o
Don't get any fish bigger than 2 inches full grown. Also get 5 at very most.

Plan your way through this and do some research on the fish you want to keep before you go to any fish store.
>> Anonymous
you can buy green neon tetras. They look like neon tetras but half the size of a neon tetra. They're tiny and would do great. You could throw 20 in a ten gallon and they would be fine
>> Anonymous
>>328977
In my experience.. buying from the petstore is a MUCH better idea. What kind of driftwood do they have? My favorite is mopani--it's very dense, so it sinks without having to pre-soak it. Our perstore also has pre-soaked driftwood (I think it's Malaysian?) which works pretty well. When you gather your own driftwood, sometime you can pick up parasites and fungus etc from it. It may also have a lot of chemicals in it, from fertilizer runoff into the lake and so on.

As another person said... java moss is very pretty when you tie it to driftwood. Use cotton thread, because it disintigrates after a while. Java fern is also pretty for the same use.

When you plant the swords, make sure you prune out dead roots and leaves first. Get a sharp pair of scissors, and snip off the brown roots. Watch out for the rhizome, however, it's a dense little brown clump where the leaves grow from. You can usually just pull the leaves downwards off the plant. Fully bury the rhizome, but not too deep as to retard the growth of new leaves.

Don't be alarmed if most/all the leaves fall off when you put it in your aquarium, many sword plants "shed" when introduced to new settings. Because swords can't regenerate their leaves, if one starts to brown, just prune it off to allow for new growth.

Also, OP, as a sidenote, do you have an aquarium liquid test kit (for ammonia, etc)? You can buy them for about 30$. Seems a little steep, however you get hundreds of uses from each bottle, and the test is much more accurate than the strips you can buy.
>> Anonymous
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Well, I've got my tank set up. 10 gallons. Right now this is what I have in it Store bought driftwood, soaked and boiled it for a few hours to sterilize it. 2 rocks from the beach. I boiled those as well. Once with regular water, another time with a bit of bleach then I scrubbed them with a wire brush.

I have 2 types of plants in there right now. 3 Amazon Sword, and 3 Java Fern. The local pet stores didn't have any java moss. I also have a 6 inch round bubbler. Its a pretty simple setup, but for the most part it looks nice.

After looking at the tank, what would you guys put in it? I was thinking maybe tetras and some white clouds, but I haven't made any final decisions. Gonna let it run for a week before I buy the fish. The pet store gave me some charcoal/bacteria stuff for my filter to help cycle it.

So what does /an/ think?
>> Anonymous
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This was the tank with just the gravel.
>> Anonymous
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The tank was a but dark when I first added the water. This is the only pic I have of it, my girlfriend decided she wanted to document it with pictures, but ended up tanking more of the dog.

The cloudiness of the water seemed to clear up. Should I do a half-water change before adding the fish next week?
>> Anonymous
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Said dog in question.
>> Anonymous
>>329320
Looks good for now, probably you should buy different plants in the future. Or not. The one thing I would be concious of is the placememnt of tank - its standing right against the window. If its a sunny side and you have a habbit leaving blinders open, you might have a serious algae problem.
Your water will be getting darker with time, as driftwood will leach out tanins. They are not harmful to fish, but might be unpleasant to look at, but dont worry - IIRC the wood likes of yours dont leach out that much, after about a month there will be almost no tanins left.
Its a good idea to let the tank ran for a while without fish, but be warry that you will not get a biofilter started unless you put fish or ammonia in. Biofilter is bacterias that eat ammonia. If there is no ammonia, bacterias wont grow. There are two methods - fishless, dripping ammonia by hand, and with fish. I am a lasy bastard, I have never done fishless cycle, so in your place I would put 1 fish inside for a few days, than one more, and after a while increase the number to what you want, monitoring the water quality for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates.
I would not use any cycle boost. They never work, because companies use wrong type of bacterias. They start to consume ammonia, but soon die. The ony product that works is biospira, but its slightly expensive, hard to find, and have to be kept in the fridge. Just go with good old grandfather's method of natural cycling and you will be good.
>> Anonymous
Welcome to the wonderful world of fishkeeping, do lots of reaserch, then do some more, join some forums. Very soon you will start to be like wtf my 10 gallon is tiny then you will move on to bigger and bigger and bigger tanks. It's a really neat hobby, I already think my 240 gallon is small, planning on a 500 gal+ next year. PEACOCK BASS FOR LIFE.
>> Anonymous
imo I don't like those storebought backgrounds, they look too cheap and fake, Empty the tank and paint it with like 5-6 coats of black acrylic paint, you will thank me later.
>> Anonymous
White clouds are cooler water fish and shouldn't have a heater. Although, we kept them in the store i worked at in tropical temperatures with many other fish. I suggest a couple white cloud minnows or black neon tetras. Black skirt tetras would work too, but they can be a bit nippy and you might want to return them after the cycle. I'm glad you went with the more natural look, for your first tank. Most get bright colored gravel and really annoying decorations.
>> Anonymous
>>329379
They have just a regular black background. I'm not a huge fun of these type of backgrounds either, but I needed something for the time being and this seemed to work well with what I had.

>>329358
I hardly ever keep that window open. Probably the only time it is open is when I'm cleaning/vacuuming my room. Other than that, the blinds are shut tight and the curtain is down. That side of the house doesn't get direct sunlight anyway.
>> Anonymous
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>>329383
I can't stand those bright fish tanks. Unless of course they are tastefully done. I think something like what I have pictured here would be as far colorful as I would go. However, I have seen some really nice things done with colorful decor.

I'm leaning more towards tetras and white cloud fish. Do you know anything about sunset wag platy fish? I was looking around in the pet store and I saw them. They're a nice bright color fish I wouldn't mind having in my tank. Are they a community fish do you know? Also, I'm gonna put a few cherry red shrimp in there. No more then 2 or 3 probably. And my friend is insisting on getting me a freshwater clam just so he can watch it be a clam, and do clam things.

Sound a bit over crowded?
>> Anonymous
>>329383
They (simmilar to serpae and any other schooling fish) are much less nippy in groups. Wouldnt a school of 7-8 tetras work fine in 10g?
>> Anonymous
>>329385
Shrimps are cool, you can even have shrimp-only tank with hundreds of shrimps in 10g, but I guess it will be too boring for the first tank. Just make sure to offer lots of hiding spaces for shrimps. They often molt, and molted shrimp + fish = one happy fish that had an expensive dinner.
And I dont think clams do much. They are just like a rock, that eats and produces exrements.
Platties are not the most active fish around, so you can put 1-2 in the tank, but they grow big, so dont try to fit a school of 10 of them in the tank.
>> Anonymous
>>329388
Yeah, there are a few places for the shrimp to hide. Do they usually climb things, or just stick to the bottom?
>> Anonymous
>>329474
They usualy stick to the surfaces and in your case if you had lots of shrimp they would be all over the flor, plants, driftwood. However, fish stress the shrimp out, so if you have fish together with shrimp chances are your shrimp will spend most of its time hiding on the bottom.
>> Anonymous
I think I've decided on what to stock my tank. Let me know what /an/ thinks.

3 Neon Tetras
3 Cherry Barbs
2 or 3 Shrimp, probably cherry red shrimp
1 Fresh Water clam.
>> Anonymous
>>329602
id go for platies over cherry barbs, thats just personal preference, same for the clam, i wouldn't bother

neons look better with the more you have as they swim together.
>> Anonymous
>>329602
Just wanted to say, I really like how your tank came out.

And, I would personally either replace the tetras with more barbs, or the barbs with more tetras (I would go with tetras). With schooling fish, if you only have a small amount, they don't tend to "school" as much, and tend to get lost easily. The more you have, the more fun it is to watch. Neon tetras are a good choice because they are quite a bit smaller than a lot of other schoolers, so you can cram a lot into a tank.

Shrimp are really nice... because they clean up uneaten food... so good call on them, just keep a close eye on them to make sure they aren't being picked on between molts (although I'm not sure how much tetras would bother the guys).

No idea about clams. If you've done the research to have one, go for it.
>> Anonymous
>>329602
I had a freshwater clam and it was really cool. I've only seen them like once in pet stores, though, so if you've got the chance I'd say go for it.

The barbs and the tetras sound good.>>329634keeps recommending platies but you have to keep in mind they're entirely different fish (tight schoolers vs. more casual, free-swimming livebearers). However, I'm going to go ahead and caution you on the neons because they *can* be pretty delicate. What I'd recommend is maybe doing your three cherry barbs first, give the tank a couple of days to adjust, then do maybe.. the shrimps and the clam.. and then a few days later, put the neons in last. But any amount of spacing out your fish purchases will certainly help.

I'd also recommend keeping some frozen food on hand for your shrimp. They (and the rest of your fish) will totally love the stuff.
>> Anonymous
Well, looks like I can rule the clam out. Apparently they need a huge tank to survive, 250gal+. I guess my 10gallon doesn't produce enough waste to keep them alive.

Gonna toss 10 - 12 shrimp in their instead of the 2 or 3.
>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
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>> Anonymous
>>329756
what are the floating plants called?
>> Anonymous
>>329766
Looks nice! Keep us updated, I'd love to see how it progresses.
>> Anonymous
>>329822
Very hard to tell from this pic, but it looks like Hydrocotyle leucocephala, aka Brazilian pennywort. It can form a carpet, but prefers to float on the surface.
>> Anonymous
>>329842
I'm going to the pet store today to get the water tested and to pick up a home test kit.
>> Anonymous
Interesting day... I went to the petstore, got the water tested, said everything was perfect. Ended up getting 3 Tiger barbs, came home, realized wasn't what I wanted, called the store got them returned for 4 cherry barbs instead.

Pics soon.
>> Anonymous
>>330152
Oh gosh, I almost wanted to scream when you said you picked up tiger barbs. Haha. Glad you realized the mistake.

Can't wait to see pics. Remember to wait about a month before adding more livestock.
>> Anonymous
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>>330182
The little guys - and gals - are pretty shy. They'll swim around when I'm away from the tank, but once I get close they hide behind the driftwood and in between the plants.

I can't seem to snap a decent photo of them. I gave them a bit of food and they went crazy swimming after it. Hopefully they'll become less shy as time passes.
>> Anonymous
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Them in the bag while floating in my tank.
>> Anonymous
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One of 'em hiding behind the Amazon Sword and Rock in the back.
>> Anonymous
Little buggers haven't moved much after feeding them.. They just sit in the back near the heater. Tank is 76deg, could it be too cold for them?
>> Anonymous
>>330285
76 is tottaly fine, so its not the temperature.
Give them a day to adjust, if they wont move much after that - start worrying.
>> Anonymous
I turned the light in the tank off and I'm not joking in 10 seconds they came right out, swimming at the top of the tank and playing with each other.
>> Anonymous
>>330297
New environment jitters probably nothing to worry about. Give them a couple days, check ammonia levels and whatnot.
>> Anonymous
>>328842
HOLY FUCK. Please do NOT take advice from this guy. Tank is WAY overstocked not to mention ugly as fuck.
>> Anonymous
>>330309
But I really liked his tank :<
>> Anonymous
>>328903
>>328897
>>328895
>>328638
>>328520


holy fuck can i make one ;_;
>> Anonymous
>>330297
Actually its often recomended to turn off the light when letting new fish into aquarium so they can adjust better and explore the tank without beign scared by light.
>> Anonymous
>>329055
>>goldfish do need cool water
Most ignorant thing said in this thread so far, prove to me the detrimental effects of keeping goldfish at warmer temperatures
>> Anonymous
>>330362
>Complex metabolic processes such as digestion, respiration and immune response, are directly tied to water temperature. As water temperature moves from the 50s to the 70s, the speed of digestion increases, the rate of oxygen consumption goes up, and the immune response quickens. Goldfish in tanks kept at 75 degrees will probably eat five to 10 times more food per month than goldfish kept at 58 degrees.

>Second, temperature directly affects other physical and chemical properties of water, which in turn affect the fish. Warmer waters hold lower concentrations of oxygen. Water at 78 degrees has oxygen concentrations about 20 percent lower than water at 58 degrees. What does this mean? Goldfish have to pump larger quantities of water through their gills to get the same amount of oxygen. But as already noted, they also need larger amounts of oxygen at higher temperatures because their metabolism is really humming. So, in a sense, there is a double burden.

>As water temperature rises from 58 to 78 degrees, the toxicity of a fixed concentration of ammonia doubles. Water that might be marginally safe for goldfish could be chronically poisonous at higher temperatures.

>Third, bacteria, fungi and disease- causing parasites are more numerous and active at higher water temperatures. So, pathogenic bacteria and parasites may be more of a threat at higher water temperatures even though the fish's immune system is revved up. Conversely, nitrifying bacteria in the tank can detoxify more ammonia at higher temperatures and therefore possibly compensate for the ammonia's higher toxicity.
>> Anonymous
>>330384
Everything you said for goldfish is true for all fish faggot lol.

Also, every damn golfdish ever kept in an aquarium was probably kept at 72-80 degrees anyway becuase that is fucking room temp....you are saying that unless we have a chiller on our goldfish tank we are being inhumane? lol.

BTW you know what happens with just a little colder temps (40ish)? The fucking nitrogen cycle beings to slow/shut down becuase it is too cold for the bacteria, The fish also will not eat, and if they do then they sometimes will not digest it properly, it rots in their guts and kills them.

Another drawback (benefit?) you seem to have missed is that they fucking grow faster (by faster do we mean normal?). Ask a champion goldfish/koi breeder how to get the best fish..you kep them outside in warm ponds/tanks over the summer.

You did not state one thing that makes it more detrimental to keep goldfish at 80 degrees than any other aquarium fish, hope you had fun googling all that failpasta. Goldfish do not NEED colder temperatures, you fail, you lose, good day sir, call all the galdfish farmers in florida and cali and tell them they need to shut up shop vuase their millions of goldfish grown annually won't live during their year round balmy temps
>> Anonymous
>>330398
>You did not state one thing that makes it more detrimental to keep goldfish at 80 degrees than any other aquarium fish, hope you had fun googling all that failpasta. Goldfish do not NEED colder temperatures, you fail, you lose, good day sir, call all the galdfish farmers in florida and cali and tell them they need to shut up shop vuase their millions of goldfish grown annually won't live during their year round balmy temps

I lol'd. You think they they raise them in shallow swimming pools or something? Large, deep bodies of water = cooler temperatures. Goldfish stop spawning when temperatures reach between 75-79 degrees. Goldfish farms keep them in the 60's-low 70's during warmest months/breeding season because otherwise they wouldn't be breeding goldfish, dumbfuck. If you think California or Florida are 'balmy year round' you've never been to either state, either.
>> Anonymous
>>329320
Take out the bubbler it's bad for the plants, and makes almost no difference for the fish.

>>328842
Did the friendly employees at your local wal-mart's fish department help you put that shit together?
>> Anonymous
>>330406
I lived in a town that was normally cold and snowy during winter. On the edge of this town there was a large abandoned golf course lake filled with goldfish. Long story short after a couple mild winters and long hot summers all the goldfish were gone.
>> Anonymous
>>330416
>bubbler it's bad for the plants, and makes almost no difference for the fish.
Care to elaborate how extra water movement is bad for plants? Note that OP goes low-tech rote, so bubbler will not deplete crytical ammounts of CO2.
>> Anonymous
>>330421
Care to elaborate how extra water movement will not deplete critical amounts of CO2?
>> Anonymous
>>330435
Care to elaborate how it doesn't?
>> Anonymous
>>330435
Since OP will not have insane ammounts of light, very well fertilized substrate, and water column full of liquid ferts, CO2 will not be a limiting factor in plants growth. Whats more important, OP will not have a CO2 injection, and in this case the ammount of CO2 in the water will not be noticably higher than atmoshperic CO2. In this case extra water movement may even help to destroy a surface film and uptake CO2 from atmosphere.
I would agree with you if OP would have high-tech tank with co2 injection, in this case indeed watermovement might lead to co2 depletion, so you will have to change ballons faster (OH GOD THINK ABOUT EXPENSES!!!!), but in OP tank "bubbler" will cause no trouble.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
OP, if you are still here go to a good site (like the one>>328252said) instead of all this troll war.

Pic not related
>> Anonymous
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I just got 3 more, now I have 7 in total. 4 Males, 3 females.
>> Anonymous
>>331190
Cool

you should get a few more java ferns
>> Anonymous
>>330362
HURR DURR.
>> Anonymous
So OP... please tell me you pre-cycled the tank... otherwise you're about to have a few dead fish on your hands.
>> Anonymous
>>330362
>>330398
>>328842
>>328857
>>328868

Samefag.
>> Anonymous
>>331295
I don't think he did, I remember him saying he took a water sample in and it tested fine but that was with 0 fish. Of course regular dechlorinated tap water is going to test out fine. In about a week he is probably going to have a large ammonia spike that will kill off some of his fish. You learn the hard way. At least they're only some cheap community fish
>> Anonymous
>>331295
>>332204
he took the water from a larger tank in his house.
>> Anonymous
wait a minute, why does op have a filter and an air pump?

i hate air pumps. never again will i put one of those things in a tank. they look terrible, sound terrible, and most fish don't like them.
>> Anonymous
>>332207
Oh, I see where he said it. He said he got a small amount of filter media from the petstore... which doesn't mean he got an auto-tank cycle. It still takes a while for the bacteria to take hold and be able to support that much ammonia.

Let's just hope for the best.
>> Anonymous
they're only cheap fish. If you loses some during the cycling process it wont be that big of a deal.