Questions before my first tank

[steckelj]

So after caring for my Betta for awhile, and reading just about everything I could get my hands on, I'm finally ready to begin making some decisions about my aquarium.

First off - my first tank will be freshwater tropical. I plan to have passive, community fish (with the exception of perhaps ONE more male betta at some point).

I visited the best LFS around to look at tank setups, and realized that although they are very knowledgable - everything is ridiculously expensive, and they don't have much for the beginner like me. I just don't have room right now for a 55-gallon piece of furniture, and I'm not ready to make that sort of commitment to the hobby. I know it's best to get a reasonably sized tank to begin with to avoid upgrading later, but I just can't so bear with me.

So I then turned to the internet to take the first step and find myself the right aquarium for me. My end result, or at least where I'm at now, is the Eclipse 12 system. It's a good size for me (i.e. I found somewhere I can put a 100lb object with a 231 sq in. footprint thats not near a window) and has enough room for a few cool fish in the future. The reviews I've read all praise the tank and the BIO-wheel wet/dry filter as one of your best options, and the Eclipse 12 resolves some of the lighting issues that were present in previous or lesser models. The only complaint folks had was the lack of room for general tank maintenance with the hood on. What does everyone think of this system? Any other thoughts and/or comments?

Secondly - plants. If at all possible, I would really like to use live plants in my tank. I have heard about the risks involved - snail infestation, possible parasites, etc. However I really like the idea of the natural habitat for the fish, and the benefits to the tanks ecosystem from photosynthesis. Besides all that, I just don't like the idea of plastic plants. *shrugs* I have also heard that I should use plants that do ok in lower light levels due to the 18" depth of the Eclipse 12. My questions are these: Specifically what types of plants would you all recommend? What would be an approximate cost of those plants? What products & construction do you recommend for the substrate in the tank? What types of additional care will the tank require due to live plants? (beyond trimming/pruning, that is.)

Lastly, fish. From what I have read I think I'd like to cycle with fish. Fishless cycling sounds like it works just fine, but it'd be great to have a least a few tiny fish in the tank while it runs for two months. I have heard Danio's are good cycling fish, but should I get a few different kinds of fish as well? Perhaps Danios and Tetra or the like? And how many should I use to cycle a 12 gallon tank?

Once cycled, and ammonia/nitrate/nitire levels (all three? two of those?) stabalize, what types of fish would everyone recommend? What are perhaps slightly more difficult to care for than danio's & tetra but not quite as difficult as...well..whatever would be more difficult to care for. Obviously I'm not concerned with difficulty beyond it dieing, but typically they seem more visually rewarding. There's so many types of fish, and so much to think about when addind them, that I don't even know where to begin. I'd like to plan for the future - so stuff doesn't happen like "You can't have that fish, it'll eat the danio's." or "That will eat your plants".

I know this is ALOT to read, and I apologize, but I have so many questions for the fish-savvy. I'm very excited to begin fishkeeping, but taking it very slow and trying my best to do my homework to insure a successful, long-lived tank. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read, and thank you in advance for ANY help/direction you could provide!

-Jared

 

[cutecotton]

heya there,

wow that was a lot to read i'll try to answer as much as i can, if i miss anything just ask again lol.

Glad you'r getting hoooked into the hobby do you plan to put the betta into the eclipse 12 tank? (i take it that it's a 12 gallon tank right?) though i've never used an eclsipse tank before i heard enough good things about it to trust it.

Anyways, live plants will be a really good thing for your fish. and you can throw them in wihtout having to cycle your tank first (unlike fish) since they will actually absorb some of the stuff and cycle your tank faster.

For beginners, i heard java fern is very easy to take care of. But it is rather expesnive here (i'm in canada), and costs $7.99 or so for a plant. Which is think is a lot. Persoanlly i have cambomda and anarchis in my tank and they were fairly cheap ($3.99) and they look pretty too. I heard cambomda needs a lot of light though.

If you choose to use fish cycling instead of fishless, but warned that it will take longer! and you'll have to find a home for the cycling fish after the cycle is done (or you can keep them if you want).

In 12G tank (assumig it's 12G), you can fit 12 inches of fish in there. So if all the fish (consider adult size) is 1 inch, then you can have 12 of them in there. You can go beyond the one inch per gallon tank after you know hwat your doing.

Danios are good fish for cycling, but i dont' recommend tetras (see what others have to say about this). i heard that they are sensitive fish and really can't handle the nitrogen cycle like that.

Do you have a water testing kit? you'll need one during the cycle to check up on the different levels. I think about 4 danios should be good enough for cycling. I'm not an expert on it becuase i've never done it before (shhh dont' tell anyone, i got away with my 10G and 25G without cycling lol). Not saying it's not worth it, but i got lucky i guess.

If you want nice looking fish, i think gouramis are good (excpet they can get aggressive towards each other sometimes), or you can go with the guppies/platies/mollies type of fish...some bottomfeeders would be nice too (otos, cories, not plecos). Keep in mind thatyou got 12 inches to spend, so pick carefully!

Anyways, that's all i can think about right now. If i missed anythign sorry ), pm me if you need anymore help good luck!

 

[luxum]

First off - my first tank will be freshwater tropical. I plan to have passive, community fish (with the exception of perhaps ONE more male betta at some point).

If you want a betta in a community tank, you'll have to plan carefully. Nothing that will nip his fins like tetras will, and nothing he will want to fight with, although bettas have variable temperaments and some are more aggro than others.

I visited the best LFS around to look at tank setups, and realized that although they are very knowledgable - everything is ridiculously expensive, and they don't have much for the beginner like me. I just don't have room right now for a 55-gallon piece of furniture, and I'm not ready to make that sort of commitment to the hobby. I know it's best to get a reasonably sized tank to begin with to avoid upgrading later, but I just can't so bear with me.

I'm in a similar situation, i don't have room or money for the large tank of my dreams, so i make do with this 20 gallon long which is fairly small but gave me a decently wide choice of stocking options.

So I then turned to the internet to take the first step and find myself the right aquarium for me. My end result, or at least where I'm at now, is the Eclipse 12 system. It's a good size for me (i.e. I found somewhere I can put a 100lb object with a 231 sq in. footprint thats not near a window) and has enough room for a few cool fish in the future. The reviews I've read all praise the tank and the BIO-wheel wet/dry filter as one of your best options, and the Eclipse 12 resolves some of the lighting issues that were present in previous or lesser models. The only complaint folks had was the lack of room for general tank maintenance with the hood on. What does everyone think of this system? Any other thoughts and/or comments?

I have owned 3 Eclipse systems, the 3 and 6 gallon kits, and the stand alone hood in the largest size. They make excellent betta tanks, although quite pricey. But the filtration is really quite insufficient for any real stocking in my experience. In fact i disabled the filtration in the hood on my 20L and replaced it with a canister, ahhh. I think you could get a much better setup for a similar price with a slightly larger tank, a decent powerfilter like an Aquaclear, and a separate hood.

Secondly - plants. If at all possible, I would really like to use live plants in my tank. I have heard about the risks involved - snail infestation, possible parasites, etc. However I really like the idea of the natural habitat for the fish, and the benefits to the tanks ecosystem from photosynthesis. Besides all that, I just don't like the idea of plastic plants. *shrugs* I have also heard that I should use plants that do ok in lower light levels due to the 18" depth of the Eclipse 12. My questions are these: Specifically what types of plants would you all recommend? What would be an approximate cost of those plants? What products & construction do you recommend for the substrate in the tank? What types of additional care will the tank require due to live plants? (beyond trimming/pruning, that is.)

I have kept plants in all my Eclipses. Eclipse hoods do not have much light, they pretty much have to be low light plants like anubias and java fern. Low light plants tend to be more expensive than stem plants because they grow so much slower, i pay about $6 local per potted plant. The lights are poorly positioned at the front of the tank so the back and sides are darker. This is not visually apparent to the human eye, but the plants notice. Snails are not the big problem people make them out to be ime, and won't eat tough low light plants unless they are literally starving. The benefits of live plants far outweigh any potential risk from using them.

Lastly, fish. From what I have read I think I'd like to cycle with fish. Fishless cycling sounds like it works just fine, but it'd be great to have a least a few tiny fish in the tank while it runs for two months. I have heard Danio's are good cycling fish, but should I get a few different kinds of fish as well? Perhaps Danios and Tetra or the like? And how many should I use to cycle a 12 gallon tank?

I strongly suggest you consider fishless cycling by adding ammonia, if you do a search for it you'll find lots of explanation. It requires more patience on your part, but will not expose any fish to toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite while the cycle establishes. I've personally completed fishless cycles several times and i will never cycle with fish again, i consider it to be needlessly cruel. If you insist on with fish cycling, the zebra danio is the fish of choice, don't cycle with tetras, they are not as hardy. I don't think i would keep danios in a 12 gallon tank long term, though. They are very active fish that need room to swim, those 12s are quite small, and they need to be kept in schools so they quickly eat up your stocking options.

Once cycled, and ammonia/nitrate/nitire levels (all three? two of those?) stabalize, what types of fish would everyone recommend? What are perhaps slightly more difficult to care for than danio's & tetra but not quite as difficult as...well..whatever would be more difficult to care for. Obviously I'm not concerned with difficulty beyond it dieing, but typically they seem more visually rewarding. There's so many types of fish, and so much to think about when addind them, that I don't even know where to begin. I'd like to plan for the future - so stuff doesn't happen like "You can't have that fish, it'll eat the danio's." or "That will eat your plants".

If it was my tank, i'd get a dwarf gourami for the surface (they reach 2"), about 4 pygmy cories that stay very small and will clean up uneaten food. They are ~really~ cute! Then maybe a small school of harlequin rasboras to finish it out. Or you could consider shell-dwelling cichlids (alone), or perhaps german blue rams instead of the cories, but they need clean water so you can't skimp on the waterchanges. There are other choices too, but basically you don't want anything that gets bigger than about 2", and you don't want anything that really needs a lot of room to swim, or requires a lot of territory, or needs to be kept in large schools. The 12 gallon is pretty small so it really limits your choices. I suggest you take a look at traditional 15 or 20 gallon tanks, they aren't much larger but would give you a bit more room to play.

 

[steckelj]

First off, thanks for the reply! And yes, the Eclipse 12 is a 12-gallon acrylic bow-front tank. 21" Wide by 11" long by 18" high. 15W flourescent lighting, wet/dry BIO wheel filtration at 150 GPH.

My current Betta will stay in his little world, I think. Depite the fact that it's only a little bowl, I've worked hard on keeping him happy! He's doing very well, and looks really pretty, so I see no need to upset him. I will probably purchase another one if I decide to add a Betta to my new tank when the tank will support him, whenever I finally purchase & set it up.

I actually don't think 8 dollars is too bad for a plant. I actually expected to hear a much higher number! I see it as a one-time cost, and part of the seemingly ever-increasing initial investment.

I have not yet purchased a water test kit, although I could be interested to see what my Betta's water is like! Does anyone have any recommendations as far as the brand? What makes one better than another? Perhaps I'll pick one up this evening.

Again, thanks so much for the reply!

Jared

 

[cutecotton]

well i dont' see plants as a one time cost becasue they are alwasy dying on me might be something to do wtih my tank though, so i never get plants over $5, they alwasy turn brown i die, i havent' had a chacne to figure out the problem yet

luxum pretty much sums it up for ya i personally love otos as a bottom/algae cleaner fish they are cute and amazing

 

[luxum]

You gotta pick the right plants for your light levels, Cutecotton. For a standard hood with the basic lightning you have to stick with low light plants. If you put light demanding plants in a low light tank they will die.