Justonemoretank, your like my hero answering questions I have that I haven't asked. I was wondering if the regular Barbs would go well with other colors such as green. Also, I was reading the small bit of info they had on Petco thats why I said 5-7 because of the odd number thing. 5-7 would do just fine in a 20g right?
Anyone mind helping me with my first setup?
- Thread starter Rares
- Start date
have a look at other threads, specially this one, The New The End-All Mini, the are so many type of fish that you could house in 20 g, but you need to read through this forum. There is no poin in telling you which fish to have eventhough they're easy to keep if you dont know anything about them. This is why we have MFK.com. Its worth spending sometime looking at this forum.
Yep. You may even be able to do more, like maybe 9, but keep an eye on that water quality. I think it's better to own your own kits so you can test whenever you want, but the LFS will test the water for you to start, and then you can buy kits when you've got some extra cash. You'll want to have them test it at least weekly during the cycle, especially.
So thats it then, I'm going to grab that tank,a water testing kit, a heater, and all the decor I think I'll need (Any Recommendations?) then l'll let it run for a week and make sure everything is right. Then head to the store and grab my fish.
It's going to take longer than a week. Cycling takes a month, and you have to add an ammonia source, and.... it's all in that link I gave you in my first post.
Also, I think the article I gave you on Barbs gives some suggestions on decor/plants and stuff.
Also, I think the article I gave you on Barbs gives some suggestions on decor/plants and stuff.
With the addition of live rock, the typical "cycle" doesn't even usually occur in a saltwater tank. If it does, it takes the same amount of time as it does in freshwater -- you're still waiting for the bacteria to grow.
I think you're better off buying a larger tank and filters, etc. from the MFK buy/sell forum or on Craigslist. 20 gallons will limit you to just a few certain fish types and you probably won't like them after a few months. Get a 60 gallon. You can get a 60 g tank and setup for about $80? and you'll be happier because your options will be much much bigger. Believe me, when you start fishkeeping, you will want the bigger and prettier fish and guppies/mollies in a 20g won't cut it.
Alright, well to be honest after hearing how long it was going to take and all the effort I was honestly not going to do this. After reading around and finally coming to realize that I would enjoy this more then another pet I came to my senses and am going to do this. I'm going to hopefully go and get the tank today but may be later the week. I have a really dumb question. I've googled but I get quite a few different answers so I figure I'll ask the experts. How do I maintain the tank after its cycled and the fish are in? From what I can gather every (week?) you take about 25% of the water and replace it with treated water. After that you scrape the alge off the sides once weekly and change the filter every couple of weeks. Am I on the right track here?
