New tank

[Anonymous]

My 4year old got a 2 gal tank with light and bio wheel this week end. I was thinking of letting her get 2 neon tetras and 2 guppies would this be a good idea. We set it up last night and she helped with all of it. We used RO water and the LFS said the light would be enough for heat.(I will watch that to make sure). I would like for her to have some plants but the only ones I have found so far are the ones bundled together with lead band. I wanted something that would grow. do you have any Ideas for a tank this small. The rocks we put in are the colorful ones that are coated with something. Should I add something for the plants to take root in?

I know there are a lot of questions but we are taking it slow because I have spent soooooo much learning about the salt water tank.
I have only had gold fish before this. And they lived for years but I want to start out the right way on this one.

Thanks
Teddy and Isabelle

 

[doublette]

In my experience the guppies and neons won't get along too well. I would choose one or the other, keep in mind that the neons are a little more sensitive to water conditions. Have you thought about maybe a betta? As for plants you could try researching anubias and cryptocoryne species, they are low light plants and have some varieties that won't quickly outgrow your tank. The lead band you saw on the plants is just for shipping, you take it off when you plant. Your gravel should be okay for most plants with the exception of the stem plants which don't always get a massive root system. The bigger thing to watch for is what type of lighting the plants require, that will be your main limiting issue. Hope this helped,
Debbie

 

[Anonymous]

Yes it helped a lot thank you. I will start looking around tonight.

 

[Anonymous]

I was able to keep 6 neons in a 10g for about 1.5-2 years. But only after the tank had been set up for at least 6 months. and it was a 10g also.

I am worried about the small size. A single fish might survive but a pair of guppies would be too many fish very quickely.

the bunched plants you got will probably outgrow a 2 gal very quickly. You might try a few of the smaller potted type plants.

Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

Well....
We got 2 tetra' one neon and one has an orange strip. The lfs put 4 tenny tiny black pleco(spelling) in the bag and said lets see what happens. I think Isabelle likes the babies the most. She also picked out a banna plant. So far we have to keep the light off and the top open to keep the heat down. I think the pump is generating heat. It says 12 amps. I don't know what that is in watts but its the only thing I can figure would be causeing heat, even over night. We are going to do a water change tonight. I am thinking about not having the filter and carbon because I don't know how often to change it. Would purgin work better?

Thank you

 

[Anonymous]

never had good luck with banna plants.

if they are pleco's (sucker mouth cat fish) they will be way too big for a 2g shortly. Have seen them over 3' (foot) long after several years in larger tanks.

IMO provide lotsa plants. to the point where it look more like a plant tank than a fish tank.

Keep the lights low enough you don't see green water or lotsa algae. But have lights and get that plants thriving.

With enough plant life there will be no need for filters, carbon pumps, or purging.

But with only 2g it is going to be a challenge.

If it does get cloudy try lower lighting and feeding.

And don't feed these first fish for the first week.


Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[doublette]

The lfs put 4 tenny tiny black pleco(spelling) in the bag and said lets see what happens.

Perhaps those are ottos? They do stay small, and the 'let's see what happens' makes sense as they are very sensitive fish. Some people will buy more than they really need or want, expecting to have some die.

 

[Anonymous]

The adults looked like smaller black mollys. I think the biggest one in the tank was about an 1.25 inches.

Would you take out the bio wheel also?

Thank you all for your help I will take Isabelle to the store this week end and get some more plants.

 

[Anonymous]

My idea is the plant life will maintain the system.

So biowheels, filters, air stone, water changes etc etc all will have excellent water for your fish if the plant life is active.

In other words, to me bio wheels or no is just your preference.

 

[Anonymous]

Well....
I let her get a Betta and we have the two tetras. Every one seens happy. We also bought more plants.

beaslbob,
Will water changes Hurt?
If I have all ready feed then should I stop, Or just keep it very lite. I worry the babies need food.
I will try to get a list of the things that we have in there.
The water seems cloudy should I change it or give it a few days.

Thank you all for your help.

 

[Anonymous]

Well....
I let her get a Betta and we have the two tetras. Every one seens happy. We also bought more plants.

beaslbob,
Will water changes Hurt?
If I have all ready feed then should I stop, Or just keep it very lite. I worry the babies need food.
I will try to get a list of the things that we have in there.
The water seems cloudy should I change it or give it a few days.

Thank you all for your help.

Teddy: I consider water changes at best unnecessary and probably deterimental. Don't get me wrong. If you have a massive sudden die off, the water is milky white and the tank smells like rotten fish, then I would probably do a water change. But slightly cloudy water in a system with thriving plant growth then no.

I had have a brownish tint to the water. By changing from feeding twice per day to once the water was clear in three days. I also had a case of green water which went away by simply turning off the lights for a couple of days. And then using a more normal light schedule from that point on.

So most "problems" I had in tank with thriving plants were solved with less feeding, less light, or more plants.

Fish can go for over a week without food. I would not feed until the water is clear. Additionally, baby fish (and most adult fish) will eat stuff off the plants for food so they will not starve.

Especially with everyone in the tank happy already, I think you will find the additional plants combined with stopped feeding will clear the water in a few days. Then just use enough light and food so the water stays clear.

And then set back, replace the water that evaporates, feed the fish, and enjoy the tank for years.

Bob

p.s. warning. This advice is not for people who must be constantly tinkering with the tank. A very critical part is basically leaving the tank alone.

 

[Anonymous]

If the water is cloudy I would change some of it. The cloudyness is a bacterial bloom caused by excess nutrients in the water. It will take a while for the good bacterial and plants to start processing the waste at the level you want, so cloudyness is common in new tanks. Water changes are a part of good housekeeping. You can cut back on it maybe when the tank and you are more seasoned.

I would still feed the fish, although very sparingly. Just a couple of flakes.

Changing the water is one simple way to lower their levels. Just don't shock the system by adding too much at once, and make the temp similar.

Did you say you are using just RO water? If you aren't using something to remineralize the water you might want to mix it with tap water, as straight RO water will lead to acidic conditions.

 

[gpodio]

I would certainly do water changes, they help replenish trace elements if nothing else, plus will reduce the spikes during cycling. As Dan pointed out, use a mixture of tap and RO or reconstitute the RO with something like Seachem Equilibrium, this is a great product IMO. Regarding the filter, unless you will be using CO2 I would leave the bio wheel in place. Planted tanks can indeed take over filtration but you have a lot of fish as is considering the water volume and unless it is densly planted you will still need biological filtration to deal with their waste. Plus if there's one thing I've learned about tanks and kids is that they usually get overfed

I have to admit my 2 gallon tank is one of my favorites, it's my play tank. Here's a picture:

Giancarlo

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the advise everyone,
I will try to get a picture this weekend. I have taken out the blue filter and carbon and left the biowheel, I will get to the LFS to get chemicals for the water. The saltwater 20 gal. has hair algae so I am using RO/DI for that and I don't want to mix any of my tap water. And that tank is doing much better with RO/DI. Should I use RO/DI and Seachem Equilibrium for the fresh water?

She does not have control of the food we do that together with prayers and bed time stuff.

Thank you again.
Teddy and Isabelle

 

[gpodio]

Only if you will be using 100% RO for water changes, it won't raise KH however, you would need to add baking soda or similar to do that. Equilibrium will raise GH, add iron, potassium and some other traces. But tap water is often just as good, most use 100% tap water for freshwater tanks, the only reason I mix it with RO is to bring KH down if it's on the high side, unless of course there is something pretty wrong with your tap water, some people with well water have problems for example. I like to keep a KH of 3-4 in general or lower for special tanks. But most don't really care about KH as most fish are tank raised and will easily adapt to a wide range of PH. Plants don't care about PH either except a couple of them. If you use tap water make sure your water conditioner also removes heavy metals, Tetra Aquasafe is a good one for example. But do whatever gives you the best results, if you find RO is giving you better results keep using it and add Equilibrium and baking soda to bring KH to 3-4 and GH to 4-6. You likely won't need much else.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo

 

[Anonymous]

Here are some pics

Isabelle and Tank

Betta

Plants

 

[Anonymous]

teddy:

awwwwwwwwwww that cute.

Bob

 

[Anonymous]

Bob,
I don't know if you can tell the types of plants but could you give me some names of plants you would put in there?

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like you got some good ones already.

Basically, I would like to see more plants but then my tanks are heavy planted.

I am not an expert, as I just use common aquairum shop type plants.

Anachorus (spelling)/eldora will be too tall quickly but does grow fast and condition the tank very quickly also.

I kinda like the grass-like dwarf vals. Not near as fast growing but hardy.

Maybe some small potted type as well like crypts.


I find that the anachorus in my systems tend to get stringy after a few months but the dwarf vals have just started to spread. So after a couple of months the anachorus is bacially gone and the vals are comming on.

Hope that helps and the real aquascaping experts can help.

 

[doublette]

I think if you give your plants some time they may fill in nicely.
Your daughter looks cute next to her tank! The red bettas have always been a favourite with my daughters as well..