Hi, I have NO fish-keeping experience, I'm planning on getting a 10 gallon tank. I'm also interested in keeping glofish. Do you guys have any suggestions? What toys/stuff to put in the tank, water temperature, food, will plain old tap water do (after you condition it)?
Should 10 gallons be enough for 4 or 5 glofish? Should I put any other fish/snails in there?
All suggestions are welcome.
1. The bigger the tank, the easier it is to keep the water quality up.
2. I'm not sure on glofish, if you mean the glow-light tetras or the genetically engineered (what, danios?). Either way, a good temperature would be between 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep in mind that some folk have moral objections to keeping altered fish, especially inked fish. Not sure about genetically altered fish. Personally, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I sure like the natural-ness of my tanks.
3. I use color enhancing flakes for my fish (all kinds, from platys and guppies to kribensis cichlids). Some people prefer frozen foodstuff (brineshrimp, bloodworms), and still others prefer life food (tubifex worms, brine shrimp). It all depends on how much you want to spend.
4. In regards to your question about the number of fish that can live in a 10 gallon tank, I would say it's a very complicated answer. Fish produce a certain amount of waste per day, and there's pretty much nothing you can do to stop them. To help reduce the amount of waste present in the water, plants are sometimes used. A general rule that seems to be a good rule of thumb for beginners is to stock 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. This rule is disputed, but it has worked ok for me.
5. I use tap water that is roughly the same temperature as the tank water, but I condition it with DeChlor to remove chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals (if any) from the water. These chemicals can damage a fishes gills, and retard the cycling process.
6. Now that I mentioned it, read read read on cycling your tank. I prefer fishless cycling, as do many others. Cycling your tank basically means you provide ammonia (usually from fish, but during fishless cycling, I use a dead prawn from the supermarket) to the bacteria in the tank. They consume this and create Nitrite, which feeds a second kind of bacteria. These excrete Nitrate, which is less toxic to fish than either Ammonia or Nitrite, which is good.
7. Buy an API liquid test kit. The strip testers are no good (just what I've heard, haven't done independent testing to confirm). USE IT.
8. Do a 20-25% water change weekly, more if needed.
I would do a lot of reading on this site and others before you commit to a tank. Also, try to get as big a tank as possible. Even though 10G seems big now, pretty soon you'll start noticing how small it is. Trust me, it's cheaper to buy a 29G tank and stand then to start with a 10G, then work your way up.
EDIT :: Added more info on cycling.
