toxik
Fish Fanatic
For valentines day I bought my girlfriend a 5 gallon tank with some glowlites and neon tetras, some driftwood, simple hardy plants, and some shrimp. I went small just to be sure she could take care of them and everything would be just dandy with everything else in the tank.
She really wanted kissing gouramis but everywhere I read they required a minimum of 30 gallons or more. She has no room for a large tank, and my bank account isn't all that big either. We found a combo at our local fish store. It's a 20 gallon hex tank with stand, hood, light, and maybe other stuff, i forget, for $140, which isn't bad considering I spent well over $120 for this 5 gallon tank.
We are going to be transfering the fish to the new tank after It has been set up, filtered, planted, etc etc. With the new tank, I want to go a little more advanced. More plants, better light output, better gravel etc.
Here are my questions.
I'm probably missing stuff, but I need just need some pointers. The largest tank I've owned was a 15g with african dwarf frogs and some snails and ottocinclus', but I've got a bit of experience, i've owned quite a bit of tanks and set up a bunch of tanks, but nothing with such realism and complication.
She really wanted kissing gouramis but everywhere I read they required a minimum of 30 gallons or more. She has no room for a large tank, and my bank account isn't all that big either. We found a combo at our local fish store. It's a 20 gallon hex tank with stand, hood, light, and maybe other stuff, i forget, for $140, which isn't bad considering I spent well over $120 for this 5 gallon tank.
We are going to be transfering the fish to the new tank after It has been set up, filtered, planted, etc etc. With the new tank, I want to go a little more advanced. More plants, better light output, better gravel etc.
Here are my questions.
- Substrate - Should I use substrate? I have 3 plant species, all divided up to fill up the tank and they are growing like crazy with the pencil eraser size rocks that are in there now.
- Lighting - The hood comes with a basic flourescent light. I wanted to upgrade to a more natural, plant enhancing light? What temperature should I look for? 10, 15K?
- Fish - What fish are compatible with tetras? My girlfriend wants kissing fish, but she has heard stories of them eating tetras and smaller fish.
- Plants - What are some hardy large plants? I want to make the tank as real to the real thing as possible, no plastic stuff, no neon castles.
I'm probably missing stuff, but I need just need some pointers. The largest tank I've owned was a 15g with african dwarf frogs and some snails and ottocinclus', but I've got a bit of experience, i've owned quite a bit of tanks and set up a bunch of tanks, but nothing with such realism and complication.