New to Freshwater, 20g Tank

[TheChad]

Hi,

I have had a reef tank for about 6 years or so now, but my 6 year old daughter wanted a pet and a fishtank is all I could talk the wife into!

I was going to get her a Nano Reef, but they were too expensive and I found out how inexpensive freshwater fish were comparted to saltwater and thought it would be a much better idea to start her out with fresh water!

So I picked up a Marineland 20g tank with LED hood & Bio Wheel filter, it also came with a 100w heater.

So I filled the tank with 20g of RO/DI water, I asked the people at petsmart if I needed to do any kind of cycle or anything with fresh water and they said no just add some of the tank starter bacteria and I could add fish right away.

Though I wasn't 100% sure about that, I figured the fish were cheap so why not.

Anyway we started the tank out with:

1. Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami
2. Platinum Lyretail Molly
3. Gold Dust Molly
4. Penguin Tetra (I think? Real small, twiches when it swims)
5. Dwarf African Frog
6. Ghost (Glass) Shrimp

She wanted to add one of the sucker type fish, but I told her to wait untill the tank had some algae for it to eat.

Anyway, the Power Blue Dward Gourami doesn't swim much, he basically sits at the top corner of the tank, he's alive but just inactive.

A few days after we put the fish in, we found a bunch of little baby fish, Is this common in freshwater? I am going to assume they will probably all get eatin before they mature?

What tempature should the tank be set to? They told me between 72 and 84 degrees, I went with 78.

Is there anything else I need to know about freshwater/fish/etc?

Thanks,

-TheChad

 

[Bigfish99]

First thing to know is to never trust the people at petsmart. The 2nd thing is to always use this site. All your questions will be answered by people who have "been there done that". Many people go with a fishless cycle to start in which case you have no fish for 4-6 weeks. Many others usethe old fashioned cycle with a couple hardy fish. I wont get into it becase there are hundreds of threads on here about those. I would not be surprised if you lost a few in the coming weeks, namely the frog, not sure how he will handle all the ammonia building up in there. Check your water and do changes if ammonia gets high. Good uck, hope they all make it through!

 

[TheChad]

Yeah, I don't really trust the people at petsmart. But at the time, I figured they knew more than me about freshwater.

I do use this site (Thus the post), I use this site alot for my Salwater/Reef.

I actually expected to loose fish, but wasn't real concerned as they are cheap, unlike saltwater fish.

As for the Ammonia, I'm not real worried about that. As I said I'm using RO/DI water, so I don't have to worry about all the junk that's in tap water to begin with. I can change 5-gal of water a week, twise a week whatever easily.

Any idea if an ammonia test kit for saltwater will work for fresh water?

Thanks,

-TheChad

 

[Bigfish99]

Not 100 % sure, but i dont think so since they make different kits for salt and fresh.

 

[Kromlech54]

I know you said you were using Ro/di water, just want to clarify and see if you are using a ro water conditioner? If not you should be, could be a reason why your fish may be inactive cause there is a mineral deficiency in the water.

 

[TheChad]

I know you said you were using Ro/di water, just want to clarify and see if you are using a ro water conditioner? If not you should be, could be a reason why your fish may be inactive cause there is a mineral deficiency in the water.

No. I have some for marine, but nothing on the shelves for freshwater..

-TheChad

 

[librarygirl]

If you're using pure RO water you need to replenish it with minerals (something like Seachem Replenish or Kent's RO RIte). Is there a reason you aren't using tap water?

Also the water itself doesn't have ammonia but the fish you have produce waste, which will cause toxins to rise in the tank until it cycles. Unfortunately the people at the fish stores don't tell you about cycling. You might want to give this a read: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[Kromlech54]

Also the water itself doesn't have ammonia but the fish you have produce waste, which will cause toxins to rise in the tank until it cycles. Unfortunately the people at the fish stores don't tell you about cycling. You might want to give this a read: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

Assuming thechad knows about his marine tank that he owns I would assume that he already understands what cycling a tank is. Now since you are proficient with a marine tank let me just say that your are gonna need to use a ro water conditioner for a freshwater tank. As I said earlier it will replace the minerals in your tank much like the salt you put in your water for your marine aquarium will. This will help balance the water achieving the pH you desire, and the general hardness the fish you keep like. Hope this helps!

 

[DavidAl]

Hello,

The nitrogen cycle on a freshwater tank is much the same as it is for saltwater. There are bottled bacteria that have been proven to work, and there are those that do absolutely nothing but provide revenue for the retailer. And even the ones that do work do not necessarily cycle a tank right a way; it just speeds things up while keeping the ammonia and nitrite low enough to not cause the fish too much stress.

The fry are most likely coming from the mollies, as they are livebearers and produce babies on a regular basis. You don't have to have one of each sex in the same tank, initially, at least, since these fish can store sperm for subsequent impregnation.

I believe the ammonia test for freshwater is different than the saltwater one.

A temperature of 78 degrees is good.

Tetras are schooling fish so if you only have one, you may want to get at least four more. Mollies, by the way, can get pretty big and will eventually need a bigger tank.

David

 

[TheChad]

Thanks for the input.

I went to a lfs which deals in both saltwater/reef and freshwater fish, they did not have either of the products you mentioned, they also said they sell 10's of thousands of fish and have never sold or used an RO conditioner...

I'm not saying they are right or wrong.. Just that's what they said.

I tested my water today and all parameters are perfect. I did add some live bacteria from a bottle, and already preformed a 5g water change just for good measure..

The tank does have a bio wheel filter, not sure if I mentioned that before...

I know what to watch for, hopefully the cycle will be quick and easy. Thankfully a water change is easy in a small tank.

-TheChad