Beginner, 1.5 Gallon Tank.

[joshysway]

Hello all! excited to make my first post, been reading up a lot on tropical fish, and I think I'm going to get addicted.

A few months back, I was given a 1.5 gallon and a female guppy. The guppy gave birth to some babies and died. I now have 5 fry, about a month old. From what I can see, this size tank is not appropriate for that many fish. Im looking forward to buying a 10 gallon soon, just can't afford it for a while, maybe 2 months. So for now, I would love any advice you could give me on how to care for the fry until I can move them to a bigger tank. Especially when it comes to keeping the tank clean. So far the water is staying pretty clear and clean. Im guessing the snails are eating the waste and extra food.

Tank:
My tank has a real plant in there and a fake one. It also has an air pump with the blue rock. As well as some tiny snail, which I believe are pest snails, but I think are helping keeping the tank clean. I keep them in check to and have 5-6 at a time. These things are tiny.

 

[ScotJudd]

Hi Josh,
Welcome to the world of fish keeping.
It's good that you have been doing some research. I am assuming that you have read up on cycling a tank and that you have a filter of some sort.
One of the first pieces of 'kit' that you need is a good liquid test kit, such as the API freshwater master test kit. This checks Ph, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. It's a little bit pricy but lasts a long time. Looking at nice clean clear water is a good start but you need to know the levels of the above to see if the filter is working (converting waste ammonia into nitrites and then into the less toxic nitrates). If the nitrates exceed 20ppm then you need to do a partial water change to bring the nitrates down, using conditioned tap water (prime is excellent - again quite pricy but lasts a really long time as the dosage is really small). Prime also helps guard the fish against ammonia and nitrites in the short term.
So, my advice, get a test kit and some Prime and go from there.
Good luck with the tank.



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[joshysway]

Thank you so much! I shall take your advice and get myself a kit. I did the cycle, and keeping with the water changes.

 

[Sicklid]

A sponge filter on a ten gallon will be plenty for five guppies... but they can quickly turn into many, many more than that! LOL. Search craigslist, and keep your eyes open for Petsmart's "Dollar per gallon" sale. You can get a brand new tank for ten bucks! Sponge filters are cheap and effective. Or you can do an air-powered mattenfilter if you're the DIY type.

You likely have a couple of months before the guppy fry outgrow that tank, just keep it clean until you get the ten gallon... also, use the filter media to seed the new filter when you get it. A good technique is to use the substrate from your existing tank, and I'd add all 1.5 gallons of water to the new ten gallon when you start it up. It'll prevent another cycle of the new tank.

Good luck!

 

[joshysway]

A sponge filter on a ten gallon will be plenty for five guppies... but they can quickly turn into many, many more than that! LOL. Search craigslist, and keep your eyes open for Petsmart's "Dollar per gallon" sale. You can get a brand new tank for ten bucks! Sponge filters are cheap and effective. Or you can do an air-powered mattenfilter if you're the DIY type.

You likely have a couple of months before the guppy fry outgrow that tank, just keep it clean until you get the ten gallon... also, use the filter media to seed the new filter when you get it. A good technique is to use the substrate from your existing tank, and I'd add all 1.5 gallons of water to the new ten gallon when you start it up. It'll prevent another cycle of the new tank.

Good luck!

Thank you for your great advice! I just looked up the Dollar per Gallon sale, and missed it by a week, I could have bough a 10 gallon easily. Hopefully it isn't an annual sale.

 

[Sicklid]

It's not. LOL... I was in that store five times last week, FORCING myself not to get a 20 long for $20 bucks, or another 40 breeder. The 40 breeder is a great value at $40, so is the 55 gallon! But I digress...

They do that sale every few months, subscribe to their email list and they will let you know when it comes up! If you lived near Tampa I would sell you my spare 10 gallon that I got at their last sale, that I only used for a few months with a betta.

Keep checking craigslist!!!

 

[Fishtank3]

It's not. LOL... I was in that store five times last week, FORCING myself not to get a 20 long for $20 bucks, or another 40 breeder. The 40 breeder is a great value at $40, so is the 55 gallon! But I digress...



They do that sale every few months, subscribe to their email list and they will let you know when it comes up! If you lived near Tampa I would sell you my spare 10 gallon that I got at their last sale, that I only used for a few months with a betta.



Keep checking craigslist!!!

Same except I did not have enough self control I bought a 20 gal that I plan to fill with some otocinclus and guppies


Sent from me sitting in my 40000 gallon tank

 

[Sicklid]

Same except I did not have enough self control I bought a 20 gal that I plan to fill with some otocinclus and guppies

Did you get a 20 long, or high? I wanted a long tank to either do a farlowella tank or some regular/dwarf shell dwellers like Brichiardi or something.

 

[Fishtank3]

Did you get a 20 long, or high? I wanted a long tank to either do a farlowella tank or some regular/dwarf shell dwellers like Brichiardi or something.

I got a high just because I don't have the space for a long and even if I could convince my parents to get a long I couldn't find one ?


Sent from me sitting in my 40000 gallon tank