My First Tank

[LewisUK2008]

Hi i was wondering if someone could help me.
I need to know how big a tank i would need for
4 Zebra Danio's and 4 Guppies (2 Female 2 male)
hope you can help.

 

[JenCliBee]

id say around 15 us gallon minimum but anythink bigger is always a bonus


jen

oh... and welcome 2 TFF

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hi there, the general rule of thumb is 1" of fish per us gallon of water, so for 6 fish, each around 1" you'd need a 6 gallon tank. however that being said some fish have their own minimum tank size requirements because of their size of activity levels, danio's are an example of this, they are very active and need a fair amount of space, so need a 15/20 gallon tank as a minimum for them.

now with a 20 gallon tank you could have more fish than just 4 danio's and 2 guppies.....

 

[rabbut]

to TFF.

As Jen has said, 15g would be minimum. However, two males and two female guppies will reduce to two adult males and lots of fry in a few months. Guppies are the aquatic equivilant of rabbits, hence the fry, and unless you have two female to every male guppy, you will find the males pester the females to breed to a point where the females die of stress related sysmptoms

I'd advise a 18-20g, and adjusting the stocking to 4-6 Zebora danios (they prefur bigger groups), 2 male guppies and 4 female guppies (to reduce stress). Make sure you can re-home arround 30 baby fish a month before getting female guppies, as this is the number of fish you will later be dealing with If you cannot get enough people to agree to take them, get all males to save the hastle of struggeling to re-home unwanted fish, or the expence of getting ever more tanks to take the fry

Don't forget to fishless cycle using liquid ammonia before adding fish.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[LewisUK2008]

Thanks for the help. I think i may just
go for the 6 Zebra's as i dont think im ready for the fry
just yet. thanks a lot for the help

 

[LewisUK2008]

would i be able to put a few shrimp in
the tank as they look quite attractive?

 

[rabbut]

Yes, shrimp would be suited

Do you know about using ammonia to cycle? I ask, as normally when people notice this type of comment in a thread, they acnolage it and show they intend to go about it or ask what it is. Just checking that you aren't heading for problems

A group of 5-10 would be about right IMO.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes, amano or chery shrimp would be suitable for a tank of the sort of size we are discussing.

as you're just starting out and researching, can i direct you to a few links, look at the 'fishless cycling' and 'whats cycling' links in my sig.

 

[LewisUK2008]

Thanks i will do. i will make sure i cycle before adding the fish
id hate to have casualties hours into having the fish lol

 

[vinylman]

If you do go for Guppies, make sure you have 2 (preferably 3) females per male. Of course if you have a mix of females and males, see if your LFS will take the fry when they're big enough to sell. Even if only half the fry survive, that's a lot of fry every month.