Hi all,
I need some advice please. I have a 5 gallon heated, planted, sponge filtered fresh water tank in my office. It last housed a betta who died a few weeks ago. It was way too soon for this betta - I had him only about 6 months. I went away for a few weeks and one of my grad students agreed to feed him. I swear, he put something like half the container of food in the tank! It was gross how much food was floating. Poor wee guy was done for.
The tank was a huge mess and so today I tore it down and scrubbed with really hot water. Rinsed the gravel and sand over and over again until the water came clean in my bucket no matter how much I stirred the substrate. Tossed the plants (they actually turned brown from lack of light!). Scrubbed algae and goo from my filter and my glass. Now what?
Obviously, all the good bacteria will be gone. Will my sponge be ok to use or do I need a new one? If I want to speed up my cycle, what sort of medium is best to use from my main tank and how? My 30 gallon has a big external filter loaded with a couple of sponges and bio beads. Can I take some of this and if so, how much so I don't mess up that cycle?
Also, I am thinking about new inhabitants and am finding myself unsure. The tank works kind of like a tank in the dentist's office, only it's for me as much as it is for my students. I have had two bettas now and each was good for both me and the students - active and curious and pretty. But I was wondering about alternatives.
From what I have seen so far, there are mixed feelings about little fish like chilli rasboras (some say they work great and are active and eye catching, others say they need more space), killifish seem to have tricky diets, galaxy danios don't appear to move much and I want something to look at.... Shrimp seem like an option, but only if there is something else swimming in the tank too. What have you done and enjoyed?
I should add that I am planning to redo the plants. Going to attempt to make a java moss screen for the backdrop. I have mountains of java moss in my 30 gallon and a mesh to try to attach it to. I also have loads of java ferns. I think I will stick to those for the time being.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
I need some advice please. I have a 5 gallon heated, planted, sponge filtered fresh water tank in my office. It last housed a betta who died a few weeks ago. It was way too soon for this betta - I had him only about 6 months. I went away for a few weeks and one of my grad students agreed to feed him. I swear, he put something like half the container of food in the tank! It was gross how much food was floating. Poor wee guy was done for.
The tank was a huge mess and so today I tore it down and scrubbed with really hot water. Rinsed the gravel and sand over and over again until the water came clean in my bucket no matter how much I stirred the substrate. Tossed the plants (they actually turned brown from lack of light!). Scrubbed algae and goo from my filter and my glass. Now what?
Obviously, all the good bacteria will be gone. Will my sponge be ok to use or do I need a new one? If I want to speed up my cycle, what sort of medium is best to use from my main tank and how? My 30 gallon has a big external filter loaded with a couple of sponges and bio beads. Can I take some of this and if so, how much so I don't mess up that cycle?
Also, I am thinking about new inhabitants and am finding myself unsure. The tank works kind of like a tank in the dentist's office, only it's for me as much as it is for my students. I have had two bettas now and each was good for both me and the students - active and curious and pretty. But I was wondering about alternatives.
From what I have seen so far, there are mixed feelings about little fish like chilli rasboras (some say they work great and are active and eye catching, others say they need more space), killifish seem to have tricky diets, galaxy danios don't appear to move much and I want something to look at.... Shrimp seem like an option, but only if there is something else swimming in the tank too. What have you done and enjoyed?
I should add that I am planning to redo the plants. Going to attempt to make a java moss screen for the backdrop. I have mountains of java moss in my 30 gallon and a mesh to try to attach it to. I also have loads of java ferns. I think I will stick to those for the time being.
Looking forward to hearing from you.