Hello,
My neighbours are moving and presented me with their 20 gallon fish tank which they have had for four years. There are four neon tetras, one shrimp, and a LOT of assassin snails inside as well as one plant. I would like to take good care of it and have been reading a lot online but I am confused about 3 questions:
The guy at the pet shop told me that neon tetras should be in a bigger group, that four is not enough, and I should buy more. This seems to be backed up by what I read, which also says they like more plants or places to hide. But on the other hand the neighbours say the fish have been happy like that for ages, so maybe better not to disturb them? I am a bit intimidated by the idea of starting a second quarantine tank which sounds necessary for adding more fish and even plants.
For the water changes, the neighbour told me I could change it once every 6 weeks or so, and test the water about a week after the change. But online it looks like changing less of the water much more often would be better, and testing more frequently? I don’t want to mess with a system that is working but I do want to look after them properly.
There is sand at the bottom of the tank with what looks like black algae on the glass. I read online that you can run your finger along the glass and remove it. I tried this with a small section and the algae went away but of course it disturbed the sand, which I also read can be fatal for the fish! Should I try to clean this slowly or just let it be? Is there a better way to clean it?
Would really appreciate any views from experienced fish keepers, thank you so much!
My neighbours are moving and presented me with their 20 gallon fish tank which they have had for four years. There are four neon tetras, one shrimp, and a LOT of assassin snails inside as well as one plant. I would like to take good care of it and have been reading a lot online but I am confused about 3 questions:
The guy at the pet shop told me that neon tetras should be in a bigger group, that four is not enough, and I should buy more. This seems to be backed up by what I read, which also says they like more plants or places to hide. But on the other hand the neighbours say the fish have been happy like that for ages, so maybe better not to disturb them? I am a bit intimidated by the idea of starting a second quarantine tank which sounds necessary for adding more fish and even plants.
For the water changes, the neighbour told me I could change it once every 6 weeks or so, and test the water about a week after the change. But online it looks like changing less of the water much more often would be better, and testing more frequently? I don’t want to mess with a system that is working but I do want to look after them properly.
There is sand at the bottom of the tank with what looks like black algae on the glass. I read online that you can run your finger along the glass and remove it. I tried this with a small section and the algae went away but of course it disturbed the sand, which I also read can be fatal for the fish! Should I try to clean this slowly or just let it be? Is there a better way to clean it?
Would really appreciate any views from experienced fish keepers, thank you so much!