Aquarium Advice

[syhko]

If you keep up with my posts you would know that my boyfriend and I own a 10 gallon tank, a 5 gallon tank, and an unused 3 gallon tank. We find it easy to maintain the 5 gallon but it’s been difficult with our 10 gallon.

When we had mollies they didn’t really like the 10 gallon, so we got rid of them and moved our shrimp into there. More recently, a shrimp just died during its molting process. The shrimps have stopped coming out and are less lively. The temperature fluctuates.. not an unhealthy amount though.

What fish or freshwater creatures are easy to take care of and thrive in flexible water? I want to get some easy freshwater creatures who are able to withstand flexible temperature. The water parameters seem fine and I keep up with water changes but I want to start over.

What should I do? Any advice for my 10 gallon? I am relatively new so give me some tips too on keeping the tank healthy and stimulating!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Something like white cloud mountain minnows would work in 10g. A group of 8 minnows, change some water every week. Take out the heater, let the water just be at room temperature. A couple of nerite snails to act as clean up.

 

[Colin_T]

Glass/ ghost shrimp aren't colourful (thy are clear) but are tough and survive in cold or warm water.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

Do you have any live plants in the tanks?
If yes, do you add an aquarium plant fertiliser?
How long are the tank lights on for each day?

What do you feed the fish/ shrimp, and how often do you feed them?

 

[Jacky12]

The minnows would work, but boy guppies & platys are far more colorful & prettier. Check them out at any big or small pet store. Some stunning colors & these little guys are inexpensive. Google them to see the flashy colors.

 

[Colin_T]

The problem with livebearers is they breed and you end up with too many fish for the small tank.

 

[Jacky12]

Never saw a baby yet from the all boy guppies I keep.

 

[syhko]

Glass/ ghost shrimp aren't colourful (thy are clear) but are tough and survive in cold or warm water.

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

Do you have any live plants in the tanks?
If yes, do you add an aquarium plant fertiliser?
How long are the tank lights on for each day?

What do you feed the fish/ shrimp, and how often do you feed them?

We do a 10% water change about every week. We do not gravel clean because we have sand. We ALWAYS dechlorinate the water. The filter is a Top Fin filter that comes with the 10g kits. We clean the filter whenever it shows it needs to be cleaned, there is a switch that is red when it needs to be changed. We do have 3 live plants in the tank. We do NOT add a plant fertilizer because we were recommended not to. The light is on from 12 AM-10 AM and off from 11 AM-11 PM. We feed the shrimp Hikari Tropical Shrimp Cuisine and sometimes tropical fish flakes but that is very rare. We check the water parameters every week when we change.

 

[syhko]

Something like white cloud mountain minnows would work in 10g. A group of 8 minnows, change some water every week. Take out the heater, let the water just be at room temperature. A couple of nerite snails to act as clean up.

I have the aquariums in my basement which is secluded so the water tends to drop and rise easily throughout the colder months, would you still recommend taking the heater out?

 

[Colin_T]

Established filter should be cleaned at least once a month. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

If you have filter pads/ cartridges in the filter, these can be squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used. Do this until they start to fall apart.

You can add sponges to the filter and when you do eventually throw the filter pads away, the sponges can take their place. Just buy a sponge for a different brand of filter and cut it to fit. Try to get a slightly bigger sponge than the filter cartridge and trim it down.

Sponges get cleaned in a bucket of tank water and the sponge is re-used. the dirty water goes on the lawn. Sponges will last for years and only get replaced when they start to fall apart.

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You should try to gravel clean the top inch of sand at least once a month and every water change is better. You can also stir the sand up and this helps reduce the chance of anaerobic pockets forming in the sand.

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I would do bigger water changes. You want to change at least 30% each week and I prefer to do 50-75% water changes every week. Just make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

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If you have tropical shrimp, you will probably need to keep a heater in the aquarium.

If the aquarium is in a room that gets cold, then you should insulate the base, back and sides with 1-2 inch thick polystyrene sheets. Just stick the foam to the outside of the tank to help reduce heat loss.

You should also have a coverglass on the tank to reduce heat loss and water through evaporation. Use 4, 5, or 6mm thick coverglass because it is less likely to chip compared to 2 or 3mm thick glass that is normally sold in pet shops.

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Maybe try offering a little more variety to their diet. They will eat anything from frozen fish foods like bloodworms, brineshrimp, daphnia, frozen fish, to dry flakes and pellets, and most shrimp will even chase live foods like brineshrimp and baby fish.

 

[Aiken Drum]

I have the aquariums in my basement which is secluded so the water tends to drop and rise easily throughout the colder months, would you still recommend taking the heater out?

If the water doesnt freeze these fish should be fine. They are better if the water is kept at around room temperature though. If the temperature in your basement has significant temperature fluctuations you are probably best to keep the heater, and set it to say 16c so it comes on when the room temperature drops at night or during the winter.