setting up a new aquarium

[its_kay_10]

Hello, My husband and I are considering getting our almost 5 year old a tank with a some glo fish. She specifically asked for this type, we tried to get her to chose a different kind but she has her heart set on these. Does anyone have any experience with these kinds of fish? I have been doing some research and I read that they should be kept in groups of 5, does that mean 5 danios, 5 tetras or can we do a mix of both? I am just concerned because I also read that if kept in a group of less than 5 some of them get aggressive. What is a good way to cycle the tank faster? what size tank would you recommend? We are deciding between a 10 and 20 gallon. How many fish can I keep in each? Thanks for the information

 

[ImACoolguy]

Bigger is always better! And a 20 gallon would be perfect. Glofish or not, schooling goes by species. Glofish danios need 5 danios. Glofish tetras need 5 tetras. Simple as that

It's best not to rush cycling, it does take time, but your fish will thank you for it and it will save you a bunch of hassle. The best way to speed up a cycle is see if any stores in the area will sell you some seeded filter media. This is media that comes from an established system and hold bacteria already on it.



Caleb

 

[Nils]

Hi! Welcome to AA!


Glofish are just normal fish geneically modified to "glow" under black lights. They should be treatd like normal fish though. Because danios and tetras like are fast and active fish, they should have at least a 20 gallon LONG IMO. the difference between the standard 20 gallon and a 20 gallon long is that the 20 gallon long is longer than the 2 gallon high, giving active fish more horizontal space to swim. For a 20 long, I'd sy 6 danios and 6 tetras. Cycling a tank isn't hard at all. Just need some patience. I recommend the fishless cycle, as the fish in cycle requires a plan before you add fish and requires a lot more attention and partial water changes (PWC) Fish in cycling is where you put the fish in the tank to produce a source of ammonia for the beneficial bacteria (BB) to eat and grow. Fish less cycling is where you have the tank set up with the filter and anything else you want and add a source of ammonia for the BB to eat. What I did with my last tank is flled it up with water and added some seeded material from my 10 gallon. Seeded material means that there is a big population of BB already living on it. The BB on that material cycled the tank in one week. If you know someone with an aquarium, ask them if they can give you some seeded filter material. A good, reputable Local FIsh Store (LFS) will give you some seeded material as well. Do you plan on adding live plants to this tank? Most members here, including myself, recommend live plants because they give the fish a place of refuge and absorb nitrates from the water, which helps to filter the water.
Here's a checklist so you know what to get :
1.

 

[its_kay_10]

Bigger is always better! And a 20 gallon would be perfect. Glofish or not, schooling goes by species. Glofish danios need 5 danios. Glofish tetras need 5 tetras. Simple as that

It's best not to rush cycling, it does take time, but your fish will thank you for it and it will save you a bunch of hassle. The best way to speed up a cycle is see if any stores in the area will sell you some seeded filter media. This is media that comes from an established system and hold bacteria already on it.



Caleb

Thank you! That is what I thought about the schooling, how many do you think we can have in a 20g? What is the best way to cycle a tank, if I cant find some already seeded filter media, what products would you recommend? What about Tetra SafeStart?

 

[Nils]

Oops accidentally posted without checklist


1. Filter (Preferably one that can turn the water over at least 2 times in an hour)
2. Heater (Glofish are tropical fish)
3. Substrate (Sand or gravel, sand is better for live pants)
4. Tank (20 high or 20 long)
5. Some sort of decoration, a cave and plants for the fish to hide in.
6. Water conditioner (Seachem Prime detoxifies chlorine, ammonia, nitrite and nitrates)
7. A black light
8. A thermometer


That's about all you need besides water and fish!

 

[ImACoolguy]

Thank you! That is what I thought about the schooling, how many do you think we can have in a 20g? What is the best way to cycle a tank, if I cant find some already seeded filter media, what products would you recommend? What about Tetra SafeStart?

You could have 5 tetras and 5 danios easy peasy..

I'm not a fan of the bacterial supplements. Some have had luck with Dr. Tim's bacterial additive though. I just use good ole 10% ammonia from ACE hardware. Couple dollars and that bottle can cycle a few tanks and still do some household cleaning.

Do you have a liquid test kit? If not, I'd look at getting one, most fish stores carry the API kit. It might look pricy but it will last you a very long time. This is crucial so you know where your at when you cycle your tank, and if something happens later on you can test your water to see if something is off.

It's also a good idea to test your tap water. It's not uncommon for city water to contain ammonia and nitrates.


Caleb

 

[its_kay_10]

Hi! Welcome to AA!


Glofish are just normal fish geneically modified to "glow" under black lights. They should be treatd like normal fish though. Because danios and tetras like are fast and active fish, they should have at least a 20 gallon LONG IMO. the difference between the standard 20 gallon and a 20 gallon long is that the 20 gallon long is longer than the 2 gallon high, giving active fish more horizontal space to swim. For a 20 long, I'd sy 6 danios and 6 tetras. Cycling a tank isn't hard at all. Just need some patience. I recommend the fishless cycle, as the fish in cycle requires a plan before you add fish and requires a lot more attention and partial water changes (PWC) Fish in cycling is where you put the fish in the tank to produce a source of ammonia for the beneficial bacteria (BB) to eat and grow. Fish less cycling is where you have the tank set up with the filter and anything else you want and add a source of ammonia for the BB to eat. What I did with my last tank is flled it up with water and added some seeded material from my 10 gallon. Seeded material means that there is a big population of BB already living on it. The BB on that material cycled the tank in one week. If you know someone with an aquarium, ask them if they can give you some seeded filter material. A good, reputable Local FIsh Store (LFS) will give you some seeded material as well. Do you plan on adding live plants to this tank? Most members here, including myself, recommend live plants because they give the fish a place of refuge and absorb nitrates from the water, which helps to filter the water.
Here's a checklist so you know what to get :
1.

I actually haven't given much thought as to what plants we were going to put in, I think we were going to let her choose what she wanted since it will be her tank (read mine to clean and remind her to take care of said fish). What would I need to do for a fish in cycle? I haven't read up too much on it as I heard that most of the fish end up sick and dead and if I am going to spend around $8-9 on a fish I didn't want it dying, but if I could do it without killing said fish I might consider it. I dont really know anyone with an aquarium but I could look into some LFS, would a bigger chain store have some seeded material?

 

[its_kay_10]

You could have 5 tetras and 5 danios easy peasy..

I'm not a fan of the bacterial supplements. Some have had luck with Dr. Tim's bacterial additive though. I just use good ole 10% ammonia from ACE hardware. Couple dollars and that bottle can cycle a few tanks and still do some household cleaning.

Do you have a liquid test kit? If not, I'd look at getting one, most fish stores carry the API kit. It might look pricy but it will last you a very long time. This is crucial so you know where your at when you cycle your tank, and if something happens later on you can test your water to see if something is off.

It's also a good idea to test your tap water. It's not uncommon for city water to contain ammonia and nitrates.


Caleb

We actually havent gotten anything yet, were just looking into it now and seeing what we would need and all of that. Ive heard of the API kit and planned on getting one so we could cycle it correctly. If I remember right I think it was Dr. Tims that sold to Tetra for the SafeStart.

 

[ImACoolguy]

I actually haven't given much thought as to what plants we were going to put in, I think we were going to let her choose what she wanted since it will be her tank (read mine to clean and remind her to take care of said fish). What would I need to do for a fish in cycle? I haven't read up too much on it as I heard that most of the fish end up sick and dead and if I am going to spend around $8-9 on a fish I didn't want it dying, but if I could do it without killing said fish I might consider it. I dont really know anyone with an aquarium but I could look into some LFS, would a bigger chain store have some seeded material?

My chains don't sell it, Google and see if you can find any mom and pop stores. Fish in cycling gives you the benefit of fish in the tank...but... It is much more work. We're talking daily testing and water changes to keep levels safe for the fish in there. Fishless you got an empty tank but don't need to do any water changes till the cycle is complete. It's up to you which method you choose.


Caleb

 

[its_kay_10]

My chains don't sell it, Google and see if you can find any mom and pop stores. Fish in cycling gives you the benefit of fish in the tank...but... It is much more work. We're talking daily testing and water changes to keep levels safe for the fish in there. Fishless you got an empty tank but don't need to do any water changes till the cycle is complete. It's up to you which method you choose.


Caleb

Thanks! There's one a few miles from us. Ill have to look into it I want to do this the right way, definitely don't want anything bad to happen.

 

[sinibotia]

Fishkeeping is an awesome family hobby, especially if you take the time to do things properly (like you currently are!) My wife and I (married just a week ago ) both love fishkeeping together. And I kept fish with my mom's help since I was 9 up until I left for college- it was a major bonding activity between us. It's a huge learning experience too; your daughter will get tons of hands-on science education, especially in biology and chemistry, from fishkeeping! I ended up going to school for marine science/aquaculture and had a huge leg up in a lot of classes because of my fishkeeping experiences. Maybe (if you haven't already) find some beginning fishkeeping books or online materials and look at them with her- looking at different kinds of fish with my mom and learning about them together is one of my fondest family memories. (Sorry if that was a bit personal, but I can't help but want to encourage fishkeeping as a family hobby for all the good it's done in my life and my family).

Ok, now for the fishkeeping advice! I can't personally recommend and bacterial supplements. Personally I think you're better off fishlessly cycling and taking the time to get familiar with doing water tests and the nitrogen cycle in action. But Tetra Safestart and Dr. Tims are the two that I have heard good things about.

Make sure that the glo-fish you get are in fact the genetically modified kind, and not the kind that are injected with dyes and advertised as glo-fish or painted glassfish. The dye-injected kind are almost certain to keel over within a few months, while the genetically altered kind are otherwise healthy normal fish.

I don't recommend live plants for a first tank. They add an entirely different aspect to consider- it's essentially gardening on top of fishkeeping. It might be too much hassle to be enjoyable for your first tank. If you find, like many of us here, that you really enjoy fishkeeping and want to get more tanks and try something new and exciting, live plants are a good excuse to set up a new tank

I'm going to echo everyone else and recommend a 20 gallon long. It's probably the best tank size for a first fish tank. A 29 gallon is also a good option- it has the same base size as a 20 gallon long but it's taller so there's a few more popular fish that you can potentially keep in it. 29 gallons are also available in kits for $130 (and sometimes on sale for $70) that come with everything you need aside from a stand, decorations and fish.

10 gallon tanks can be hard to maintain good water quality in, because there's not much water so conditions can change rapidly. They're also frustratingly limited in what you can keep in them, so I wouldn't recommend them.

I'm also gonna agree you should pick up a liquid test kit. Not only are they incredibly important for keeping a healthy tank, but they're also a really good chemistry education tool. We actually use them here in the lab I work in for certain applications, since they're cheap and fairly accurate.

I would say 5 or 6 tetras and 5 or 6 danios would work nicely You could also do a school of fish on the bottom, like kuhli loaches or corydoras catfish. I recommend kuhli loaches as they are quite colorful so they'd fit nicely with the glo-fish.

I wish you the best of luck in your fishkeeping endeavor!

 

[its_kay_10]

Fishkeeping is an awesome family hobby, especially if you take the time to do things properly (like you currently are!) My wife and I (married just a week ago ) both love fishkeeping together. And I kept fish with my mom's help since I was 9 up until I left for college- it was a major bonding activity between us. It's a huge learning experience too; your daughter will get tons of hands-on science education, especially in biology and chemistry, from fishkeeping! I ended up going to school for marine science/aquaculture and had a huge leg up in a lot of classes because of my fishkeeping experiences. Maybe (if you haven't already) find some beginning fishkeeping books or online materials and look at them with her- looking at different kinds of fish with my mom and learning about them together is one of my fondest family memories. (Sorry if that was a bit personal, but I can't help but want to encourage fishkeeping as a family hobby for all the good it's done in my life and my family).

Ok, now for the fishkeeping advice! I can't personally recommend and bacterial supplements. Personally I think you're better off fishlessly cycling and taking the time to get familiar with doing water tests and the nitrogen cycle in action. But Tetra Safestart and Dr. Tims are the two that I have heard good things about.

Make sure that the glo-fish you get are in fact the genetically modified kind, and not the kind that are injected with dyes and advertised as glo-fish or painted glassfish. The dye-injected kind are almost certain to keel over within a few months, while the genetically altered kind are otherwise healthy normal fish.

I don't recommend live plants for a first tank. They add an entirely different aspect to consider- it's essentially gardening on top of fishkeeping. It might be too much hassle to be enjoyable for your first tank. If you find, like many of us here, that you really enjoy fishkeeping and want to get more tanks and try something new and exciting, live plants are a good excuse to set up a new tank

I'm going to echo everyone else and recommend a 20 gallon long. It's probably the best tank size for a first fish tank. A 29 gallon is also a good option- it has the same base size as a 20 gallon long but it's taller so there's a few more popular fish that you can potentially keep in it. 29 gallons are also available in kits for $130 (and sometimes on sale for $70) that come with everything you need aside from a stand, decorations and fish.

10 gallon tanks can be hard to maintain good water quality in, because there's not much water so conditions can change rapidly. They're also frustratingly limited in what you can keep in them, so I wouldn't recommend them.

I'm also gonna agree you should pick up a liquid test kit. Not only are they incredibly important for keeping a healthy tank, but they're also a really good chemistry education tool. We actually use them here in the lab I work in for certain applications, since they're cheap and fairly accurate.

I would say 5 or 6 tetras and 5 or 6 danios would work nicely You could also do a school of fish on the bottom, like kuhli loaches or corydoras catfish. I recommend kuhli loaches as they are quite colorful so they'd fit nicely with the glo-fish.

I wish you the best of luck in your fishkeeping endeavor!

Thanks for that. Im hoping that she will love this too. I'm trying to think of ways to get her involved in the fishless cycle so that she can learn how to get it done and be hands- on about it. Im starting up a list of things that we need to get and a test kit is on there. I had a question about filters, what kind do you recommend? How do you change it and when you do should I cycle it again or no since its already been cycled?

 

[Chels10117]

Here's my input. I have a group of 6 glofish tetras. I love the glofish they are great fish and they look wonderful under black Light. I recommend a 20 gal and a group of 6 glofish tetras and 6 danios. Don't worry about them being aggressive... They are not aggressive fish. They do chase each other around occasionally but that's just their personality. As for a filter I'd go with a fluval aquaclear. You change the carbon in it once a month and clean the filter foam once a month or replace it if you like and no you never cycle it again. Once you cycle once you're done. Don't touch the biomedia. This is why I love the aquaclear filters. You can customize your filter media and don't have to mess with a cartridge! Changing the cartridge takes out all of your established BB. Hope this helps.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[ImACoolguy]

Here's my input. I have a group of 6 glofish tetras. I love the glofish they are great fish and they look wonderful under black Light. I recommend a 20 gal and a group of 6 glofish tetras and 6 danios. As for a filter I'd go with a fluval aquaclear. You change the carbon in it once a month and clean the filter foam once a month or replace it if you like and no you never cycle it again. Once you cycle once you're done.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Carbon isn't even necessary, it's just good for removing medications after a treatment. No need for it otherwise.

Just clean your filter contents in tank water and your cycle will be preserved.


Caleb

 

[sinibotia]

Thanks for that. Im hoping that she will love this too. I'm trying to think of ways to get her involved in the fishless cycle so that she can learn how to get it done and be hands- on about it. Im starting up a list of things that we need to get and a test kit is on there. I had a question about filters, what kind do you recommend? How do you change it and when you do should I cycle it again or no since its already been cycled?

In my experience, the kind of filter isn't too important in tanks under 30 gallons as long as it doesn't leak or break. For a 20 gallon tank it should be a filter that moves at least 100 gallons per hour (gph); it should give that value somewhere on the box (and don't go by how big of a tank the box says the filter is for!). A lot of users here are partial to aquaclear filters as a cheap and quality filter. I would avoid tetra whisper filters as I've had many break and flood. And remember that you can never have too much filtration! A good rule is that your filtration should between 5 and 10 times the volume of your tank in gallons per hour- so, for a 20 gallon tank between 100 and 200 gallons per hour.

A great "inside secret" among experienced fishkeepers is that most of us almost never change our filter pads out. The filter pads have lots of good bacteria on them and throwing out the old pad can actually be really bad for the tank.

Instead, do this: Once a month, during a water change, pull the filter pad out and rinse it out in the water you remove from the tank. When all the gunk is off you can stick it back in the filter. That way your filter is clean and you keep all of the beneficial bacteria, so you don't have to re-cycle the tank. You can keep doing this prettymuch until your filter pad starts falling apart. (I haven't thrown out a filter pad in almost a year!)

 

[ImACoolguy]

+1^ I have the same filter pads now as I did 8 months ago. With monthly cleaning they last a long time


Caleb

 

[Chels10117]

Carbon isn't even necessary, it's just good for removing medications after a treatment. No need for it otherwise.

Just clean your filter contents in tank water and your cycle will be preserved.


Caleb

I think carbon is a personal preference not really a yes/no type situation. I've seen many people say this but I've also seen benefits of carbon and people who agree with it. So I chose to use it.

http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/library-presentations/aquarium-hobby/activated-carbon

An article about carbon...

Not saying the OP needs to use carbon. I was just telling her the basics of cleaning or changing filter media.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[sinibotia]

Activated carbon is definitely not harmful, but also definitely not necessary, as I stopped using it years ago. I wouldn't worry too much about it either way. (On the other hand, once it is "spent" it is a pretty great biomedia....)

 

[its_kay_10]

Thanks everyone we are (probably) getting our tank this weekend. My friend is letting me use her water test kit and I got a nat Geo new tank water care kit and ill test that to see how it goes for a week and decide then what we should do. also thanks for the filter advice. Ill be sure to do that when I change the water. do you guys do a PWC every month? and how much?

 

[ImACoolguy]

Thanks everyone we are (probably) getting our tank this weekend. My friend is letting me use her water test kit and I got a nat Geo new tank water care kit and ill test that to see how it goes for a week and decide then what we should do. also thanks for the filter advice. Ill be sure to do that when I change the water. do you guys do a PWC every month? and how much?

Most of us do 50% weekly. You want nitrates to stay under 20. Depending on how you choose to cycle the tank, fish-in can require daily water changes. Fish less you have an empty tank but no water changes till the cycle is completed.


Caleb