5 Gallon Tank

[Bettarat0r]

I jsut recently got an Aqua-Tech 5; it's a 5 Gallon bow tank. It has a bio filter and other stuff. I'm planning to get a whole test kit for everything tomorrow.

It's very big , and I like it a lot. I have yet to put fish or anything in it.

I'm looking to get tropical fish; not sure what would be good for a 5 gallon bow tank.

I plan to put one betta in, not sure on what other fish I should put.

Should I put sand or gravel, do I need to get a bubbler thingy? I'm planning to put plants in and I'm also planning to get a heater.

What type of water conditioner should I get?

 

[Gurglar]

I jsut recently got an Aqua-Tech 5; it's a 5 Gallon bow tank. It has a bio filter and other stuff. I'm planning to get a whole test kit for everything tomorrow.

It's very big , and I like it a lot. I have yet to put fish or anything in it.

I'm looking to get tropical fish; not sure what would be good for a 5 gallon bow tank.

I plan to put one betta in, not sure on what other fish I should put.

Should I put sand or gravel, do I need to get a bubbler thingy? I'm planning to put plants in and I'm also planning to get a heater.

What type of water conditioner should I get?

I would just stick to putting one male betta in it as its only a 5 gallon and is to small for most fish. If you get a male betta either get sand or a smooth gravel so it doesn't tear its fins. Same goes for plants either get real plants or silk ones don't use plastic.

You will need a heater if your planning on keeping tropical fish or a betta.

I'm guessing your tank is more tall than wide so I would get an air stone if keeping a betta, plus they give a good look to the tank (well thats what I think anyways).

Also do some research on cycling your tank if you havent already done so.

hope I helped.

 

[Bettarat0r]

I have a bio filter [aqua-tech 5 tank]; I cycled my tank without gravel or plants... uhh is this bad? ...

It has the bio filter thing... it has the carbon w/ the blue mesh thing and then a bio wheel on the right of it.

Can I just take out the water... add the sand... then add new water or will all my bacteria be gone & dead?

 

[erk628]

I have a bio filter [aqua-tech 5 tank]; I cycled my tank without gravel or plants... uhh is this bad? ...

It has the bio filter thing... it has the carbon w/ the blue mesh thing and then a bio wheel on the right of it.

Can I just take out the water... add the sand... then add new water or will all my bacteria be gone & dead?

The majority of the bacteria is in the filter itself. Also when you did your cyle did you put ammonia in. From my understanding without putting ammonia in your tank will not be cycled, it will begin its cycle once you put fish in or ammonia it won't appear on its own,unless you tap water has ammonia in it. Don't hold me to that reponse though I could be wrong wait for more reponses.

 

[Kyrielle]

I have a bio filter [aqua-tech 5 tank]; I cycled my tank without gravel or plants... uhh is this bad? ...

It has the bio filter thing... it has the carbon w/ the blue mesh thing and then a bio wheel on the right of it.

Can I just take out the water... add the sand... then add new water or will all my bacteria be gone & dead?

In tanks with a bio wheel, almost all of the bacteria is on the wheel. Any bacteria that isn't in the bio wheel is on the walls of the tank. So, you should be fine. Just stick the bio wheel in some old tank water if you take out the filter so it doesn't dry out.

 

[rhysiboy]

ahh reminds me of my days with my 5 gallon hex. good old memory lane well wish you well

 

[Bettarat0r]

Okay, I don't have another tank and right now I'm putting my betta fish on lock down in this tank [he has ich, raising temperature to 86 degrees and administerring some copper stuff to kill the parasites]...

I didn't put ammonia in the think so my filter probably didn't work.

Can I let my filter dry or what do I do with my wet filter now >_<... I'm planning to recycle my tank for 2 days after my bettas ich is gone? =p.

Probably should put in gravel and plants and then ammonia... new water w/ a conditioner in it. Then retry it?

Should I just get a new bio wheel and a filter? I can't find the bio wheels anywhere... but I can however find the filters.

I have the Bow tank not the hex one. I was thinking of gettign the hex since it was a bit cheaper, but I went with the bow since it had more area on the bottom.

 

[wendywc]

The bowtanks do look better than the hex too. Congrats! I have an Eclipse 6 gallon which is similar to your Aquatech; it's a minibow too and uses the same filters as the Aquatech 5 also.

I would just buy a 25W heater and go planted with no bubbler and user the filter it comes with. Havve fun setting it up!

 

[tnhowery]

if you have already put the fish in dont try to start the cycle, with ammonia you will jsut kill the fish. Just make sure you keep up on water changes and let the cycle go the waste that the fish produces will start the cycle. be sure to test your water for any spikes in ammonia.

 

[Bettarat0r]

The bowtanks do look better than the hex too. Congrats! I have an Eclipse 6 gallon which is similar to your Aquatech; it's a minibow too and uses the same filters as the Aquatech 5 also.

I would just buy a 25W heater and go planted with no bubbler and user the filter it comes with. Havve fun setting it up!

I have a 50 watt -> Rena Cal Basic Aquarium Water Heater. I'm planning to go with real plants, still haven't decided on sand or gravel or what kind of ground stuff I need.

Yeah, I just have my betta in right now. The only thing in right now is the mechanical filter [the blue filter pad stuff w/ the carbon thingy]. I'm just treating my betta right now for Ich. So the temperature is at 86 degrees, with the copper safe stuff.

After, I plan to take my betta out and then restart the cycle and cycle my tank.

I need to put in gravel, plants and stuff.

 

[erk628]

The bowtanks do look better than the hex too. Congrats! I have an Eclipse 6 gallon which is similar to your Aquatech; it's a minibow too and uses the same filters as the Aquatech 5 also.

I would just buy a 25W heater and go planted with no bubbler and user the filter it comes with. Havve fun setting it up!

I have a 50 watt -> Rena Cal Basic Aquarium Water Heater. I'm planning to go with real plants, still haven't decided on sand or gravel or what kind of ground stuff I need.

Yeah, I just have my betta in right now. The only thing in right now is the mechanical filter [the blue filter pad stuff w/ the carbon thingy]. I'm just treating my betta right now for Ich. So the temperature is at 86 degrees, with the copper safe stuff.

After, I plan to take my betta out and then restart the cycle and cycle my tank.

I need to put in gravel, plants and stuff.

Theres no need to recyle your tank. When your done treating for meds, take the Betta out put in a bowl with tank water, then empty the water put gravel in etc fill back up turn filter and heater back on make sure to turn heater back down put betta back in and contniue with the cycle.

 

[Bettarat0r]

I cycled my tank incorrectly though the first time though [no ammonia I believe]. I have taken out the biowheel and the filter. Will the biowheel still work?

My betta is looking better though; its color is coming back slowly! I turned off the water cycling thingy mabob and the water is settling right now. I see a lot of the parasites coming off and the water has all those little parasites in it.

I'm using aquari-sol ( http/www.aq-products.com/Catalog/Liquid%.../aquari_sol.htm ) that stuff.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to do a 50% water change.

It says that aquari-sol is a good "ick" preventative... So what should I do with it? I read a bit that you can put it in your tank a drop or so to help prevent ick in the future? I'm not sure. Will it mess with my filter syster & biowheel?

My setup looks like this