new tank

[enhanced]

after reading a about the lot of the experience a lot of people went through while being new to home aquariums ...i decided to start with a 10 gallon tank.( i know it looks small when i heard it was olny good for 8- 10 small fishess !well i really woudnt mind getting a bigger tank once i was comfortable with the setup water treatment ..and etc ,etc !k now the important thing is what would be my best choice for the fishes ! i was looking something which my young sister's would like too... offcourse all fishes are nice and good but kids like bright and nice colored fishes!...! ny ideas ...plz let me know! and the other thing i wanted to know was that when i got the fish tank i came with the filter and lights and stuff! ..my question was it had two bulbs and they are not blue but like the regular bulbs we have (color wise), but i have seen at many places they have a blue shaded color i dont know makes it look neat i guess! ...will it ook good if i put one blue and when regular bulb / ...again ny ideas plz let me know ...and yeah plz dont mind me asking these many questions! ....and k last one ...i was wondering what if i used an image of underground oean ...printed on glosy phote paper and stuck it on the back of the fish tank ?!!!! it would look nice right !
allrighty ppl plz do let me know! if ny one cal help me with the ideas and yes ! the fishes are going to be tropical fresh water ! and not sea water !
k thanks for ny one who even gave it a thought but didnt have ime to write!

 

[tstenback]

Once your tank is cycled, you can add your fish. Young people like not just colored fish but active fish and cute fish....cories fit that bill to a tee and i would recommend panda cories nice and small and very cute. Other fish that i would select would be platies as they are very colorful and they are also hardy. They come in many colors and have live babies. If you get platies you will have to be sure to get 2 females for each male.

For your other questions it is all up to you. Its about what you and your sister like and not about anybody else. If you are to enjoy this hobby you have to be able to set things up like you want.

Please read the articles pinned at the top of the beginner section specially this one. HTH

 

[aloaring]

If you want something a bit different Peacock Gobies are lovely fish in a small tank, they are colorful, full of character but stay small. I have them in my small tank and they are the best fish in there! I've also put loads of plants in my small tank and put a dark background and gravel as this really shows off the colours of the fish! I am sure others will come along soon and give you more advice!

 

[enhanced]

whoa that was fast!! thanks a lot guys!
i am out to check out these fishes!
thanks again!

 

[kittybug]

my favorite small fish are harlequin rasboras. they are small and active and i know my little one always enjoys watching fish in a shoal more than a single fish. also small critters you can put in with your fish like snails, frogs and shrimp give your tank some variety without taking much space and most of them will help take care of cleanup. (not a substittute for maintenance though)

 

[schzaam]

you also want active fish ou should get neons and red platies and things like that they are small and suit a small tank thye have lots of coluor and very active

 

[enhanced]

i went to get 2-3 fishes today ! but the guy there asked me to wait for a few more days and yeah one more thing .... the tank's temp is going like 77`F goes up to 82`F and most tropical fishes perfer 75-81 right .... so does the temp 82 make ny differnce...coz now here its not that very hot but the guy told me to get a heater along with it !! i know i am getting annoying with questions !! but i sure am gonna c the fishes mentioned above for sure!! but unfortunately i am limited to 10 ! well maybe its agood start for a while ....and yeah this place also has shark feeding frenzy !! am i wierd or the small sharks do look nice and cute kinda ..maybe i have gone bonkers..but the color coat was pretty nice ...kinda soft ...didnt touch it though...but man all those fishes and accessories these stores have ..makes u want to have all of em !!!
but again i saw this small fish maybe it was called a clown fish!! (sorry if i have missnamed it) but it was around some knida plant like a jellyfish...it color was kinda redish dark orange and white spots and the fish was brown yellow and white and it was really hiding underneath the side and would come up take a peak and go back in ..!! man just felt nice seeing such a lovely thing .
allrighty . more questions tommorrow maybe!! thanks again ppl!!

 

[kittybug]

It sounds like you found an lfs with a knoledgeable guy working there. are you cycling your tank with the fishless cycle? also you do need a heater if you want tropical fish. A good one will only turn on if it needs to. dont worry about asking questions thats what the forum is for. i would read about the fishless cycle if you havent already and do some ore research onwhat fish you are going to get. a good rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon so 10 inches in your case. most of the fish suggested to you are about 2 inches when full grown and you want to use adult sizes when stocking your tank. If after you have 5 2 inch fish in a stable water environment and your filter seemd to be doing a good job it may be possible to add more.

 

[enhanced]

back again ppl!
i got my self the heater and instaled it waiting for it to set to the appropriate temp. ..!
the prob i am having is that i got an Elite 800 Air Pump . well thats not the problem ...the prob is its making a lot of noise ,which i believe is because its vibrating ! and the other thing i was getting kind worried about it the bubbles when go up ..they kinda make the water go here and there ..i hope you know what i am talking about !...wont it matter if the water hits the light bulb??
1 more day to go before i have ma new fishies!!

 

[totalbolshevik]

Definitely read up on fishless cycling, I hate putting the poor little buggers through cycling. Sounds like a clown loach that you described. They are very cute, problem is, I'm told they can get pretty big... Up around 10 inches when full grown (never had one myself). My tank is around 81 or 82 degrees, it will not hurt the fish. It's probably better to have it a little warmer than a little colder, because things like fungus and ich are more likely to show up in colder temperatures.

And the sharks are not true sharks, they are just fish that I guess vaguely resemble sharks. I love sharks, one of my favorite types of fish. I think a little kid would probably like them since they're nice and lively. Though like somebody else already said, get what you want, not what somebody else wants.

I like dwarf gouramis, but make sure your tank is totally cycled and pH is stable and all that before you get them... They can be a little sensitive. Good luck with your tank mate, and have fun!

 

[enhanced]

" Fishless Cycling "
i this related to the ph level of the tank water ?
or is something else!!?
and how can i check the ammonia level ?
... and u know what the ppl at wallmart dont even recomend a heater or nything !
they just tell u fill the tank wait for a few days and put the fish in : !!!

 

[totalbolshevik]

Well for one thing the people at Walmart are idiots. Don't listen to any advice they give you, unless you've heard the same thing from some other reliable source.

Cycling has to do with getting a nice population of beneficial bacteria in your tank. There's this thing called the nitrogen cycle. See, fish pee (and poo when it breaks down) is ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish, hinders their breathing and such. Well, what happens is that a certain type of bacteria comes along and eats the ammonia, and turns it into nitrite. (nitrIte not nitrAte that's important) Nitrite is less toxic than ammonia, but will still hurt them in high enough concentrations. Then, another type of bacteria comes along and eats the nitrite, turning it into nitrate. Nitrate is toxic only in very high concentrations. You keep the nitrate level down by regularly changing your tank water.

Problem is, it takes a while for the nitrogen cycle to get started. Cycling is when you have a new tank, the fish start to pee and poo in there, and the ammonia gets built up. After a month or so, your little bacteria buddies will appear and start the nitrogen cycle. But until then, swimming around in all that ammonia is obviously not very good for your poor little fishies. The traditional way of cycling is to get a few very hardy fish (danios are probably best), throw them in there, and wish them luck. Recently however, people have been doing what is called fishless cycling. This is when you add pure ammonia to the water in place of actual fish waste. There are a number of websites on this topic, go to google and do a search for it.

Other than making sure your filter and heater are in good working order, just letting the tank sit there does nothing.

pH isn't as big a deal as a lot of people think. If it gets really low it can be harmful, if it gets really high it can be harmful. 'Course, it depends on your fish what they can tolerate. The main thing for now is to just get your tank cycled.

You can buy a testing kit at most LFS's--make sure it includes at the very least pH, ammonia, and nitrite.

 

[enhanced]

i am trying my best to give everyones suggestions up here!! it sure is helping me a lot ! and i allways had this bright idea of getting the new tank put some gravel and put the fish!! well its good i got the reality check ! fishless cycle,test kit ididnt even know they existed! untill mentioned up here
and offcourse the types of fishes mentioned!! gonna check em all tommorrow and let yall know wat i landed up buying!!
thanks to u all
k ppl !

 

[Weirdfish]

gonna check em all tommorrow and let yall know wat i landed up buying

Hopefully not fish

 

[enhanced]

yup gonna wait for a while as well..maybe day after tommorrow!
but my friend who too got a new tank before me and got some fishes today but
all three some kinds of tetra one of which was a L .F black tetra .
i dont know if its naturall but it seems to be chasing the other two fishes from time to time ! is there something wrong ? or are they playing around ? !
do let me know if ny one has ny ideas whts happening ! and the other fishes he got were Blue jay tetra and an elegant rasbora! if possible could someone tell me their scientific name as well! he tried searching them online but couldnt find their name. ( and yeah at first the small one chasing the big ones buty now that l.f black tetra goes rushing after one of them and then turns away !)
thanks!