teamhex
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Back Story: My friend wanted to get rid of his aquarium. He was tired of cleaning it, and I was happy to get my first tank. I don't see how a tank that small could be that much work, but I like water and find it peaceful to look at. It took me 30 mins to scrape algae and get the tank looking clean. BUT, I made a rookie mistake and dumped all the water and the soil substrate out of the tank(this was before reading). The substrate couldn't be vacuumed without being removed while using the included siphon. This isn't a grave mistake as the only thing in the tank was a snail. I think it's a zebra snail by the look of it. I left the plastic filter element alone. I didn't rinse it or anything. I simply replaced the other part of the filter. I treated the water before putting it back into the tank and let it circulate for an hour before putting the snail back in. As of right now it's been running for about a week with only the zebra snail in it. After changing the water and adding black aquarium gravel the water had a slight white color to it. This cleared up after 36 hours or so. The snail seems to be active. I never see him eat, but I've added super small pellets of scavenger food(probably not ideal, the rock and plants have algae on the leaves...so I think it's ok food wise). The water is super clear and is looking awesome. I'm currently running the LEDs lights for exactly 8 hours a day. I want to push it longer, but I'm reading about algae growth and I don't like the sounds of it.
Here's what I received from my buddy.
6 Gallon(MarineLand ML90609, Stock LED lighting)(Modded back for an extra gallon)
Aqueon AT-10 Filter
5lb of Black Aquarium Gravel
.5lb Red Lava Rock that's about the size of two fists put together
3x Anubias Nana plants
50w Aqueon heater(Houston area, may not need it, but it's there)
API Freshwater Master Testing Kit
Glass thermometer w/suction cup.
Current stock
1 Pistachio sized Zebra snail(I think that's what it is).
Planned Stock
10x AA Red Cherry Shrimp
I've spent hours reading. But my biggest questions are the following.
A. Am I over stocked with 10 shrimp and a snail? From reading the only suitable fish for this tank is a betta, everything else either has to be in a school or has a larger bio-load. I assume these shrimp are going to breed and I don't want to get overwhelmed with to many.
B. Do I need to change my substrate to something for the plants? My friend said the plants like to attach themselves to the lava rock, and won't like low end aquarium gravel. Note that I want this tank to be pretty bare except for the plants and a center rock or drift wood piece.
C. How much longer should I wait before testing the water and adding the 10 shrimp? From reading I should see 0ppm nitrates & nitrites, and less than 20ppm of ammonia. I just don't want to waste testing supplies if I have to wait a minimum of another week or so before adding.
D. How often should I do water changes? I mean obviously I need to look at Ammonia levels, but is there a rule of thumb on this? Like you have an X gallon tank...do it 2 times a month, ext ,ext
E. When doing water changes, should I prepare and treat the water ahead of time? Should I treat it and let it sit in the bucket covered over night or for a few days? I plan on getting two buckets. One to put the dirty water in, and one in case I need to prepare the water ahead of time.
If you made it this far...thanks for sticking with me.
I'm new to this, and I take new hobbies very seriously. I try to learn EVERYTHING I can about the hobby. I want to avoid mistakes(like the one mentioned above). This, I feel is even more true with live animals. I'm not a vegan or animal rights activist...But I want this tank to be as comfortable for it's inhabitants as can be.
I plan on getting a 40-50 gallon tank in a year or so once I move into a larger place, but I wanted to get started with this tank and learn about the process. I will have pictures of the tank up later today if I can. Thanks again!
Here's what I received from my buddy.
6 Gallon(MarineLand ML90609, Stock LED lighting)(Modded back for an extra gallon)
Aqueon AT-10 Filter
5lb of Black Aquarium Gravel
.5lb Red Lava Rock that's about the size of two fists put together
3x Anubias Nana plants
50w Aqueon heater(Houston area, may not need it, but it's there)
API Freshwater Master Testing Kit
Glass thermometer w/suction cup.
Current stock
1 Pistachio sized Zebra snail(I think that's what it is).
Planned Stock
10x AA Red Cherry Shrimp
I've spent hours reading. But my biggest questions are the following.
A. Am I over stocked with 10 shrimp and a snail? From reading the only suitable fish for this tank is a betta, everything else either has to be in a school or has a larger bio-load. I assume these shrimp are going to breed and I don't want to get overwhelmed with to many.
B. Do I need to change my substrate to something for the plants? My friend said the plants like to attach themselves to the lava rock, and won't like low end aquarium gravel. Note that I want this tank to be pretty bare except for the plants and a center rock or drift wood piece.
C. How much longer should I wait before testing the water and adding the 10 shrimp? From reading I should see 0ppm nitrates & nitrites, and less than 20ppm of ammonia. I just don't want to waste testing supplies if I have to wait a minimum of another week or so before adding.
D. How often should I do water changes? I mean obviously I need to look at Ammonia levels, but is there a rule of thumb on this? Like you have an X gallon tank...do it 2 times a month, ext ,ext
E. When doing water changes, should I prepare and treat the water ahead of time? Should I treat it and let it sit in the bucket covered over night or for a few days? I plan on getting two buckets. One to put the dirty water in, and one in case I need to prepare the water ahead of time.
If you made it this far...thanks for sticking with me.
I'm new to this, and I take new hobbies very seriously. I try to learn EVERYTHING I can about the hobby. I want to avoid mistakes(like the one mentioned above). This, I feel is even more true with live animals. I'm not a vegan or animal rights activist...But I want this tank to be as comfortable for it's inhabitants as can be.
I plan on getting a 40-50 gallon tank in a year or so once I move into a larger place, but I wanted to get started with this tank and learn about the process. I will have pictures of the tank up later today if I can. Thanks again!
