My First Tank! :) Day One Updates

[Bugshazfun]

I have no idea if this is the right place to put this but I really wanted to show off my very first tank! It's three gallons and is the home of Leonardo the betta fish (in picture 2), Snoopy (picture 3) and Charlie Brown the snails and Bobo (picture 4) and JoJo the ghost shrimp! I got them yesterday (8/4/14) from PetSmart, brought them home and put their bag and Leo's cup in the water and let them sit for 15-30 minutes and put them in. Leo seemed pretty shocked to be going from a tiny unheated cup to a big snuggly warm tank! He stayed in one spot for a good 30 minutes surprised at the sudden space then he slowly made his way through the tank investigating his tank mates but usually being pretty still. I was worried but my friend said to give it a night so I did and I woke up to a happy spunky betta! He loves challenging his reflection in the glass and is disinterested in the decorations in the tank but loves swimming through the cords with glee! Haha! It's fun learning of his silly quirks! Bobo and JoJo are loving the big green plant and can be found at the base and skittering up the sides and chilling on the Marimo Moss Ball! Snoopy and Charlie Brown love the coral reef decoration and are almost always around their little house! So far a successful operation with happy healthy animals!! I'm already in love with fish keeping!!


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[Autumnsky]

Good to see a decent size tank for your Betta. You made a good decision on the size, as Betta fish like to swim, and their big fins mean they need room to turn around and not get their tail snagged on something.

The snail may eventually out grow the space, but they are great cleaners and very fun to watch.

The shrimp may or may not last depending on the situation with the betta. Sometimes a Betta will be the nicest tank mate with shrimp and or snails (and sometimes a fish tank mate of differnt kind not Betta) and for 6 months there is peace and harmony, and one day/week he goes on a killing spree and their is nothing left.

For the past ~13 years I have kept Betta fish. It started long ago when people felt that the fish was a decoration and kept them in a .5-1G vase with a few pebbles and a Peace lily growing out the top.

From your post and new tank, I can see you decided a fish was a cool creature to have and that the fish is VERY important and not just a decoration. Seeing that you are really loving fish keeping, being here on AA will be a big help. People here LOVE their fish, they love other peoples fish, and want the best for them. So glad you are here to learn as much as you can to be the best fish and invert keeper you can be.

Welcome to AA and water critter keeping .

 

[Dennisdiscus]

Cool but plastic don't last


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[Bugshazfun]

I wanted some hornwort but it wasn't at pet smart


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[ScaryFatKidGT]

I wanted some hornwort but it wasn't at pet smart


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Is that your only pet store available? I guess I never relized how lucky I am to have a "real" LFS to go to haha. Even tho my LFS isn't the best they can order most stuff, asked for jungle val and they had about 10 of them in a week so I bought 2.

Do you have a filter on there? Make sure you keep up on water changes being a new tank.

 

[Bugshazfun]

Yeah a whisper filter that came with the tank and right now I'm doing them 2 times a week.


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[trevorSB1004]

Cool to see someone else joined the hobby. Also, very nice fish tank. Its always great to see a betta wasn't crammed into a small bowl as a last minute tank upon arriving home from the county fair. Good job, and best of luck with your tank!

 

[Bugshazfun]

Well it's day 5 with the tank! There has been no death/casualties. My betta fish is actually enjoying his tank mates. This is the snails munching on their favorite snack, algae wafers while Leonardo snags a couple bites. He seemed docile in the store and I was right! What luck! Theres finally a picture of Snoopy who is still a shy boy. While you can find Charlie Brown roaming freely around the tank and it's walls. JoJo and Bobo joined the party they are both curious and energetic and FEARLESS!! I've seen both of them jump on the betta and then run for cover!! Ha! They are so funny! An entertaining addition to your tank! Everyone is doing well and are enjoying their tank!


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[Autumnsky]

Yay! Just keep checking the water params and/ or very frequent pwc since your filter isn't cycled.

Also couldn't quite see how much you are feeding but I would keep it pretty low for awhile until you get the tank cycled.

If you see all the snails headed for, or at the top of the tank, you know you have trouble. Ammonia can kill off inverts.

 

[Bugshazfun]

Oh actually this tank is cycled I was planning on getting a 1 gallon with a goldfish while I got my other fish, but I didn't seeing that people thought it was unsafe. So I wrote that post a couple days before this tank was completely cycled. Because I was planning to use the cycled water in the goldfish bowl.


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[Autumnsky]

Do you mean cycled filter or cycled water. The BB aka beneficial bacteria is concentrated in the filter media so just switching the water doesn't help. It takes an ammonia source to feed the BB to grow and multiply enough to take care of fish waste. Pardon the comments if you have already got a cycled filter, but if it was gonna be a 1 G fish bowl then often there would not be a filter.

So I am just checking out the details here so your fish can stay healthy and your snails and shrimp don't die. In my signature there is a link for cycling/ starting a tank. and there is one from Jetajockey on fish in cycling toy can read up on.

 

[Autumnsky]

Here it is
Fish-in Cycling: Step over into the dark side - Aquarium Advice

 

[Bugshazfun]

I did a fishless cycle with fish food


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