Which Fish?

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on here. I have been interested in getting an aquarium for a while as I really enjoy scuba diving, and thought this would be a good way to see fish everyday.

I bought a 6 gallon fluval edge today. So far I have washed and placed in the gravel and two plastic plants, filled it with treated water to get rid of the chlorine and placed in the heater set to 24-25C.

Having read lots of sites I think I should be waiting about a week with the filter and the heater running to let the tank settle. Is this correct? Should I be doing anything else please?

I also really don't want to overstock my aquarium. Would, for example, two neon tetras, two flame tetras, two guppies and some kind of loach / small catfish be ok in this size aquarium? And if so, what sexes of fish should I go for? I don't want them to fight, but I also don't really want them to breed as it's only a small tank.

Any advice you can provide will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Natalie

Hi Natalie and Welcome to TFF!

You have been given incorrect advice about what's involved in the correct startup of a freshwater tropical tank but you've now stumbled on, in my opinion, one of the best and nicest hobbyist sites you could possibly have come across. There are lots of really experienced folks here and just lots of helpful members who will be able to introduce you to filters, filter media decisions, Fishless cycling and other startup topics.

I'll give a first homework assignment! Find the Beginners Resource Center and find the articles on Nitrogen Cycle, the Fishless Cycle and the Fish-In Cycle.

~~waterdrop~~

As well as good articles and advice on this website.

There is also a good article on another tropical fish website called Tropical Fish Centre. That taught me a thing or two.

Im afraid I can't link you to it, im presuming so im not promoting another website

Good luck, James.

james_fish said:

As well as good articles and advice on this website.

There is also a good article on another tropical fish website called Tropical Fish Centre. That taught me a thing or two.

Im afraid I can't link you to it, im presuming so im not promoting another website

Good luck, James.

Click to expand...

you're allowed to link to sites, but not forums.

Thanks waterdrop and James.

It looks like the add and wait method will be best. Do you know approximately how long a six gallon tank would take to be cycled please?

Thanks.

Ooh, I also got some Hagen Nutrafin Cycle with the tank. I was going to use this just before I got some fish. Should I use it at all now? Will it speed up the cycling process?

Thanks.

Welcome to the forum NatRose.
The Cycle is a pretty bottle but that is the extent of its usefulness in my experience. When faced with no other choice, I tried using some last year at the livebearer convention. I might as well have left the bottle sealed.
A 6 gallon tank will take almost exactly the same time to cycle as a 60 gallon tank. The real variables that affect you the most are the number of bacteria that you start out with and how well you can set up the ideal growth conditions for them. A cycle also can be greatly accelerated by having some mature media to get that initial bacterial colony started.

Yes, the random small number we happen to luck into getting in our particular tap water makes a big difference in how long our cycle takes and another of the things that can make it long is that the two particular species of autotrophic (processors of inorganic material) bacteria we want to grow are quite slow growing, for bacteria. Only if we get a batch of mature media (which jumpstarts things because we get lots of already grown bacteria in the mature media) can we make this process any faster. Having a working biofilter though is what makes a huge difference in the health and comfort of our fish when they are first introduced to the new tank.

~~waterdrop~~