Newbie Q's

[Neuve]

Umm well for starters. Ill start with my setups:

2 gal. tank: Aeration. Thermostate: Some charales. (Chirostoma jordani)

2 gal. tank: Aeration. QT Tank

6 gal. tank: Undergravel Filter, Adjustable Thermostate, Plants: 6 Neon Tetra. 1 Chinese Algae Eater. 1 Cory.

10 gal. tank: Undergravel Filter, AquaClear cascade filter Mini, Adjustable thermostate, Top Lamp. 1 Chinese Algae Eater. 1 Cory, 7 Flame Tetra, 2 Blood Fin Tetra.

By now i've read tons of articles about thi nytrogen cycle. Overpopulating and stuff. Still, i have some questions yet to be answered.

How much time @ the QT would you consider?
Does the carbon that ussually comes with undergravel filters help clean yellowish/brownish water?
Do you know of any "scavenger" fish? I mean those wholl eat dead brine shrimp or recently dead fish?
Which kinda lighnitng should i get?
What brand of ammonia ates ad ites tests do you reccomend? (The newbie-stupid-proof one would be alright)
Which kind of decoration do you use? (Rocks, roots...)
Do you know any way of knowing the spanish name for plants and equipment? For fish ive goss google, but theres ussually no cientific name for plants to use on google. Also things like protein skimmer, bio spira and stuff. I've read wonderful things about them but i still dunno what they are... Lol.
Id also like to translate to metric system the thumb rule of "one inch of fish per gal of water" BTW, how does that work anyhow???
Thanxs

 

[Allivymar]

*giggle* You aren't a newbie anymore Neuve; you're a Aquarium Advice Apprentice!

I keep my fish in QT a minimum of 2 weeks; if they are carrying something it usually will show up in 2 weeks or so. Not ALL diseases will; some people QT up to 6 weeks just in case. I'm just not that patient LOL. Also, if any fish fall ill, QT for ALL the fish in that QT tanks starts over.

Activated carbon if fresh, will pull out tints from stained water.

You don't want dead fish in your tank, so you don't want a fish who will eat one! Dead fish mean more ammonia (which is given off as the fish rots, and starts immediately). You do want a scavenger to grab uneaten food; problem is you have no room!! I would prob add another 2 corys to the 10g (that has a wee bit of space although your CAE will outgrow it) as they do better in groups anyway, plus more corys means more scavengers at the bottom.

Lighting depends on your needs; see below.

I use Aquarium Pharmeceuticals vial/liquid tests. As long as you aren't color blind (and yeah, we have some folks on here who are) they fairly easy to use and much more accurate then the dipstick kinda tests. ANY test is better then no test tho IMHO.

I recommend starting here for plants: http://www.plantgeek.info/plantguide.php . While it doesn't have spanish names, but it has the latin ones and most have pics too. Its a nice site for figuring out what you want. Btw, if you are going with plants, figure 1 watt of light per gallon for low light plants, 2 watts for medium and 3 watts for high light plants.

Don't worry about a protein skimmer; they're for salt water tanks and won't work on a freshwater tank anyway I don't know if Bio-Spira is available in Mexico yet...

Forget the 1inch=1 gallon rule. Its horribly inaccurate and doesn't take into account the water parameter needs, shape of tank, temperament or space needs of different fish. As I've read elsewhere, 10 inches of neon is fine for a 10g tank, but 10 inches of oscar is definitely NOT!

Keep the questions comin!

 

[tkos]

The big thing is to get rid of that CAE as it can and should be able to grow to 10 inches and get really aggressive. You should replace it with 2 more cories as those little guys need to be kept in groups.

Always fish out dead fish and do not let others eat them. They may have died due to disease which will be transfered on to the other fish. Plus in a small tank like you have the dead fish will foul up the water really fast, faster then anything could eat it.

Lighting is only important if you are growing live plants. Otherwise any lights will do. If you want live plants you need flourescent lights and you need around 2 watts of light per gallon generally, though this depends on the type of plants you want as some need less and other need more. But since you have a UGF then you can't really have live plants. The roots will grow into the filter bed and clog everything up. You will need to switch to a HOB filter such as the Aqua Clear Mini to start growing plants.

 

[Neuve]

Wow, never thought of that one, roots clogging my UGF. I Was starting to consider some artificial plants for the neon tank, since they dont do to well with lightning... (None at the time) So maybe i could leave the UGF for them, Right?

I took the plunge and asked my brother for his Digital Camera. I Goss some pics for ya now. Hope it doesnt take long for them to upload.

Well that being said, Im so sad about hearing that I should get rid of the CAE's I like them sooo much, the look very preety (like angulas) and do a great job eating algae, they dont bother none of the fish since they have lots of space to hide, (the 10 gal tank will have more when i go to the market (the famous pet market i've talked about a while ago...) and buy some roots like the one with the neons' tank, and spend most of their time sucking at anything on the back part of the tank.
Anyways i know that if they start getting all picky ill hafta say goodbye to them. Its just that theyve survived like a whole month with me and seems like half a cycle. (will know when i buy my tests 2day)

About the plants, do you recommend live plants or no plants? Or are there any artificial plants that can do the job looking fine and giving hiding or breeding spaces for my neons? (I know they hardly breed, but i wanna give em the best breeding or living conditions they can get).
Suggestions for buying?

Also, taking into account that my tanks aint finished cycling yet, would you still reccomend me buying some tankmates for those corys?