Hi! First, I want to say that all you people seem to be very intelligent when it comes to fish, and a lot of questions have been answered, and you've given me lots of ideas!
That being said, I gots two questions. One: I have a little one-gallon tank with a happy little guppy named Carmilla, as well as three tiny baby guppies who were birthed by the now-deceased Erzsébet. Erzsébet died, I believe, because she got sick (she looked....fuzzy and flaky or something, and she had white spots on her fins which I believed to be the DREADED ICK! Carmilla also started to develop white fin-spots. I treated the tank with a combination anti-ick and anti-fungal medication, which started clearing her up, but then she had her babies, stopped eating, and died, poor thing) and was stressed out. Carmilla, however, is a Very Happy Fish, eating all but three of Erzsébet's babies and cavorting in the bubbles from the air pump and whatnot. She spends most of her time at the top of the tank, I don't know why. I think she's just wierd. She doesn't gasp or look sick or anything. is that normal for guppies?
So, I was wondering - Carmilla and the babies are rather messy eaters, and they poop A LOT. Would it be OK to get a small bottom-feeder to tidy up all this food waste and faecal material? And if so, what sort? I think ghost shrimp are really cool, and I hear that they don't add much to the tank load. But would one do well in a small, unheated tank? I've also heard that otto catfish are good in small aquariums, and that they don't grow much...but do these two types of critters like to eat what's left behind by the other fish? I change the water frequently (it's a lot quicker with a gravel vaccuum!) but the gravel vaccuum doesn't get all the crap that accumulates at the bottom of the tank. So what can anyone suggest?
Second - I want to get a bigger tank. Something small, because I haven't a lot of space - I was thinking ten or 5.5 gallon. I can't seem to find smaller tanks anywhere that have a hood and don't cost a LOT. Why is it that a hood costs so much? it's a bit of molded plastic! I'm leaning more towards the ten-gallon, because there's more options for stocking, and because if anything goes wrong, I'll have more time to fix it. Is it cheaper to get the tank and hood separate, or as a kit? The LFS (Big Al's) has...ah, a complete Marineland 10-gallon system with biowheel filter for sixty bucks. Is that ridiculously expensive? Because I think it is. I've heard that biowheel filters are noisy, in which case, I shall not get one, as the tank would be in my bedroom. Any advice or suggestions would be welcome.
Again, thanks!
That being said, I gots two questions. One: I have a little one-gallon tank with a happy little guppy named Carmilla, as well as three tiny baby guppies who were birthed by the now-deceased Erzsébet. Erzsébet died, I believe, because she got sick (she looked....fuzzy and flaky or something, and she had white spots on her fins which I believed to be the DREADED ICK! Carmilla also started to develop white fin-spots. I treated the tank with a combination anti-ick and anti-fungal medication, which started clearing her up, but then she had her babies, stopped eating, and died, poor thing) and was stressed out. Carmilla, however, is a Very Happy Fish, eating all but three of Erzsébet's babies and cavorting in the bubbles from the air pump and whatnot. She spends most of her time at the top of the tank, I don't know why. I think she's just wierd. She doesn't gasp or look sick or anything. is that normal for guppies?
So, I was wondering - Carmilla and the babies are rather messy eaters, and they poop A LOT. Would it be OK to get a small bottom-feeder to tidy up all this food waste and faecal material? And if so, what sort? I think ghost shrimp are really cool, and I hear that they don't add much to the tank load. But would one do well in a small, unheated tank? I've also heard that otto catfish are good in small aquariums, and that they don't grow much...but do these two types of critters like to eat what's left behind by the other fish? I change the water frequently (it's a lot quicker with a gravel vaccuum!) but the gravel vaccuum doesn't get all the crap that accumulates at the bottom of the tank. So what can anyone suggest?
Second - I want to get a bigger tank. Something small, because I haven't a lot of space - I was thinking ten or 5.5 gallon. I can't seem to find smaller tanks anywhere that have a hood and don't cost a LOT. Why is it that a hood costs so much? it's a bit of molded plastic! I'm leaning more towards the ten-gallon, because there's more options for stocking, and because if anything goes wrong, I'll have more time to fix it. Is it cheaper to get the tank and hood separate, or as a kit? The LFS (Big Al's) has...ah, a complete Marineland 10-gallon system with biowheel filter for sixty bucks. Is that ridiculously expensive? Because I think it is. I've heard that biowheel filters are noisy, in which case, I shall not get one, as the tank would be in my bedroom. Any advice or suggestions would be welcome.
Again, thanks!
Welcome to AC! I think you should not add a fish and agree with you getting a larger tank. The one gallon tank would just be too small to keep fish happy. I suggest you get a 5 gallon from walmart. It comes with everything but the gravel and heater. Even better you could get the 10 gallon. I think you may be able to find one cheaper than the $60.00. If I were you I would get the tank (just the glass part) at your LFS and then order the rest of the stuff for it online. I did that and it saved me a bunch of money. I would order from bigals or 
.
