Questions About My Tank

[Rhykiru]

Well, i have a 29 gallon tank, and i have a few questions about it ._.

i plan to keep pearl gouramis(wanted blue rams but cant find any anywhere D neon tetras, and pygmy Corys

my tank dimensions are 30x12x19 inches. I heard that you should use the general rule of 1 inche of fish per one gallon so i would be able to keep 29 inches of fish. But, i read in like 3 fish keeping books that it really dependes on your surface area. It said that the inches of fish your tank could hold depended on the LxW of your tank divided by 10 and 30*12/10 is 36 inches of fish. Which one is more accurate? i dont know how much of each fish i want yet because i still dont know my max capacity :3

ok, another question about my gravel and filter. I heard that i should get sand for my Corys but then i also wanted an underground filter. The problem with that is that then, the sand would get in the filter and clog it up. So if i cant use sand because of the underground filter, should i use smooth pebbles that are around 1cm wide? or would that make my fish unhappy? Also, about the underground filter, should put a powerhead on the top or do it "reverse-flow" and attach a canister filter so that instead of sucking water down the gravel, it shoots it out? im afraid that the powerhead might scare the fish with its strongish currunt.

Ok, one more question. I know that bacteria grows in the tank and is useful for breaking down ammonia from fish waste but where does it actually stay? like does it stay in those cylinder ceramic thingies of a canister filter or does it stay on your gravel? or maybe even both. I just wanted to know this because when i am going to change my water and clean filter etc. i want to know if i should clean this or that because my friend like cleans his whole tank even the rocks and all and i was wondering if that like cleans away the bateria too

thanks in advance for any help^^

~Rhykiru

ps.i might not reply for like a day or something because i have two projects to do T_T

Edit:btw, i plan to use fake plants only so the underground filter wont mess with the roots

 

[Rhykiru]

i really dont like bumping but i really need help >_<

 

[stang1]

Most people tend to go by the 1" per gallon rule so I'd use that as a guideline.#
With your Pearl Gouramis, you are best keeping one male to two females.
I'm afraid I can't help much with the filter as I've never used one of those types before. As far as I know, Cories should be fine with smaller gravel or pebbles, as long as it hasn't got any shap edges to catch their barbels on.
Bacteria is usually in the filter although I should imagine some of it does build up on plants, rocks, ornaments etc. When cleaning these you are best cleaning them in dirty tank water as it won't kill off any of the bacteria, the same goes for your filter.
Hope this helps.

 

[chibi]

Let's see... first off, I wouldn't suggest neon tetras with pearl gouramis. Pearl gouramis are very peaceful and shy and would be bothered by the neon's constant moving around and swimming fast. I think two pearls would be your max for them in your tank because they do like a lot of space. They get about 4 inches long.

I'm going to be honest with you here, and many other members might hate me for saying this, but underground filters are pretty useless in my opinion and I've had gravel with my corys for almost 2 years now and they're fine. I would suggest getting fine, smooth gravel; it's easier to clean than sand. I'd get a hang-on filter that actually sucks up water, filters it, then lets it back in. It produces a little current that ripples the top of the tank and keeps the water from getting stagnant and gross. I suggest getting real plants, too, especially if you have a newer tank. They release oxygen in the tank.

Ammonia is a chemical that is everywhere in the water. It comes from too much fish poo, and you have to get rid of the poo to keep ammonia down as low as it can.

How does your friend clean his tank? Does he take everything out of it and scrub it or something? How do you plan to clean the tank? Just want to check to see so you don't do something laborious and waste a lot of time. Taking everything out and washing it is a BAD IDEA. It gets rid of all that good bacteria in your tank that keeps your water safe for your fish and stable. Plus, it takes forever! XD Get a siphon and siphon it out. I'm sure there are threads around here that explain it...

I hope I helped! <3 ^^

 

[PRW1988]

Regarding the filter, your better off just going with sand as cory cats are much happier on it, even with smooth stones there is still a chance they may damage their barbels and get an infection that could lead to death. Sorry mate but the undergravel filter is out

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

I have to disagree with what you have said about the neons and the pearl gouramies as they will be fine together. It would be best to keep pearl gouramies in a trio and not a pair and the trio should be 1 male to 2 females.
Ohh and to add cories do better in groups as big as possible and they prefer sand but gravel will not affect their barbels.

 

[GoldLenny]

Remember that the 1" per gallon rule also means the expected adult size of the fish... not the actual inches of fish in the tank at the time. Also, the 1" rule does not work when dealing with fish that grow to over 3" as adults. Also, because your tank is so much taller, the surface area issue does come into play. Will you try to have any live plants?

Pearl Gourami's are supposed to grow to 5" as adults so I would use 2 gallons per inch for them.

Your other proposed fish stay under 3" as adults so the 1" per gallon guide can work for them.

If you are planning on a school of 6 corys, 6-10 neons and a 2-3 Pearl Gouramis, that would work. Remember that male gouramis can be territorial with other males so that is where the limited surface area of your tank comes into play since they typically will be in the upper area of your tank... although my blue gouramis do like to hang out on the bottom in a castle that they've claimed as a home.

I think the smooth pebbles is a good idea so they will not harm your cory's whiskers... which can happen with rougher edged substrates.

With UGF filters, a lot more of the good bacteria does live in the gravel since the ammonia is constantly being drawn over the gravel. In other filter systems that do not use the UGF design, most of the good bacteria live in the filter media and the gravel can become too dirty without proper gravel vacuuming. The RUGF is becoming more popular and could be powered by a canister filter which would return the water to the tank up through the gravel, rather than sucking the water through the gravel. This, theoretically, would keep your gravel much cleaner by forcing any detritus up into the water column to be sucked up and filtered by the canister intake. If you go with a standard UGF or RUGF design, make sure you still do proper gravel vacuuming so you do not get a mulm buildup.

 

[-germ-]

Small addition, its been touched on but thought its best to be specific?
Clean whatever media your filter uses using the dirty tankwater you've just siphoned/gravel filtered off while cleaning. DO NOT clean your filter media in tap water, the chlorine will damage your bacteria.
Cleaning methods can be specific to the filter type (carbon, sponge etc.) in use in your canister.
For example sponge shouldn't really be replaced as many manufacturers recommend, just rinsed in tank water and wrung out.

 

[Rhykiru]

ok, so i read all that and it took me a while x_X

and some people say somestuff that other disagree with so im consfused now XD (although thanks for the replies)

@chibi, yes my friend does take everything out, excluding gravel, and scrubs it in tap, or whatever water is from his bath tub
i dont know how i was going to wash it, thats why im asking lol. And about the hangon filter, i went to my lfs and the like 30 gallon hang-on was HUGE, i mean, it would take up the whole 12 inches of my tank width. Also, i saw one in a tank, and the water running out seemed pretty strong for me. I asked a worker to put food in (flake) and when it was, the food literally just like flew across the tank. Wouldnt that be kind of harmful for pearls because they like to build bubble nests?

@GoldLenny um, if you say that 6 pearls, 6 neons, 2-3 pearls would be alright, wouldnt that be kind of wrong if i do your two gallon per inch of fish over 3 inches? because 3 pearls 5 inches each at a mature age would be 15 inches and two gallons per inches is 30 inches when my tank is only 29. This is also not counting corys and neons.

and about the trio for pearls, why do you need a trio? is it because pearls like to live in groups or is it for breeding purposes? I dont want to breed because then i would hate to see all the fry/egg get eaten after being alive for like a dead ><

sorry if i missed anything

~Rhykiru

 

[stang1]

Don't worry about using 2" per gallon for the Gouramis, No disrespect, but I think it's a little overcautious.
Male Gouramis will become territorial and aggressive towards each other so it's best to keep only one. As for females, if the male is feeling a little frisky then he will have the choice of a couple of girls. If you only had one female, then he would pester her and cause her stress, so that's why it's best to have two.

 

[Rhykiru]

just curious, if the male was frisky and there was no female, would he annoy the other fish?

 

[IloveGouramis]

I dont think the male will annoy them if there is no female, correct me if im wrong

 

[cheesy feet]

Don't worry about using 2" per gallon for the Gouramis, No disrespect, but I think it's a little overcautious.
Male Gouramis will become territorial and aggressive towards each other so it's best to keep only one. As for females, if the male is feeling a little frisky then he will have the choice of a couple of girls. If you only had one female, then he would pester her and cause her stress, so that's why it's best to have two.

inch per gallon rules should all be flushed down the drain.You need to look at the fishes requirements,feeding & adult size.Then decide what tank to keep it in.

 

[Rhykiru]

well, not to disagree with you or anything, but when i look at the tank reguirement. Sometimes, it just says 20gallons+ for one type of fish. So if i wanted to keep two of the same type, would i need 40 gallon? or can i keep it in 20 gallons which if i keep like 10 of them will be wrong.

grownup sizes:
? pearl gouarami: 5inches
6+neons tetras: 1.5 inches each
5+Pygmy Corys: 1 inch each
1 clown plec(if i still have room which im also trying to figure out):4 inches

And when i read about feeding, generaly, it just (internet, books, etcz) tells me to keep it as much as the fish can each in an hour then take out the leftovers. And choose 1 or two days of the week so the fish can fast so that if something happens and i cant feed it (vacation? =P) then the fish wont have to go from food 7 days to like no food at all