I'm just under a month into my first aqaurium since I was a kid. Its the Eclipse System 12 with artificial plants, two pieces of artificial driftwood and medium size river stone. Medium grain gravel bottom (I blended medium-small stones with traditional gravel).
The tank ran without fish for 8 days and since has had 4 neon tetras who seem to be doing quite well. I just had my first show of algae and followed that with my first gravel vacuum and a 40% water change. I also removed one (artificial) plant and tightened up my arrangement to allow them more free swimming space in the front. Two days into the slightly altered setup and they seem to be quite happy.
Originally I had envisioned a tank with 6- 8 tetras, a sucker of some kind and two featured fish of some sort. Knowing this was perhaps crowded I don't know if I will ever get the featured pait for this tank, and in truth I have enjoyed the tetras so much i don't think I need them unless I find a good fit.
My next move is to find a cleaning crew that will be at home in just 12 gallons. I'd like to expand my school of tetras to 6 or 7 so I would like to leave some bioload available for that in the future.
I've been reading and am a bit confused and unsure as to what algae eater I should get. The Oto seems a perfect fit as he remains so small and will not outgrow the tank but then i read in places that he needs live plants to survive long term. The Plecos look to get too big for such a tank as mine and I don't know when I will have a larger tank to move him to(at some point I'd like a large tank once I prove to myself that I will take care of it well enough to justify the investment).
I love Corycats for their appearance and activity but I probably need more than just a leftover food/scavenger eater as algae eating is a bit of a priority as I have a tendency to leave my light on rather long.
The more info I gather the more unsure I am about what cleaning crew might thrive in my tank long term. Apologies for a poorly structured post but any advice or experiences would be most welcome.
Thanks, sharrock.
The tank ran without fish for 8 days and since has had 4 neon tetras who seem to be doing quite well. I just had my first show of algae and followed that with my first gravel vacuum and a 40% water change. I also removed one (artificial) plant and tightened up my arrangement to allow them more free swimming space in the front. Two days into the slightly altered setup and they seem to be quite happy.
Originally I had envisioned a tank with 6- 8 tetras, a sucker of some kind and two featured fish of some sort. Knowing this was perhaps crowded I don't know if I will ever get the featured pait for this tank, and in truth I have enjoyed the tetras so much i don't think I need them unless I find a good fit.
My next move is to find a cleaning crew that will be at home in just 12 gallons. I'd like to expand my school of tetras to 6 or 7 so I would like to leave some bioload available for that in the future.
I've been reading and am a bit confused and unsure as to what algae eater I should get. The Oto seems a perfect fit as he remains so small and will not outgrow the tank but then i read in places that he needs live plants to survive long term. The Plecos look to get too big for such a tank as mine and I don't know when I will have a larger tank to move him to(at some point I'd like a large tank once I prove to myself that I will take care of it well enough to justify the investment).
I love Corycats for their appearance and activity but I probably need more than just a leftover food/scavenger eater as algae eating is a bit of a priority as I have a tendency to leave my light on rather long.
The more info I gather the more unsure I am about what cleaning crew might thrive in my tank long term. Apologies for a poorly structured post but any advice or experiences would be most welcome.
Thanks, sharrock.