Hi there! I recently bought a tank that came with a Tetra Whisper 10i filter. The person who helped me at petsmart also recommended a heater that i bought. I had little time to plan before I bought this tank. My roomate bought me two dwarf frogs that came in one of those tiny "self-sustaining" ecosystems for my birthday. My cats knocked it over and broke it, so i was forced to buy a new tank, upon which i learned the "self-sustaining" part was bull****. Needless to say, I had to relocate the frogs before the nitrogen cycle finished. They seem to be doing fine and grow more active daily. The tank has been set up for 2 weeks now, with plants the person at Petsmart recommended. I have a few questions regarding my start up:
1. I checked with aquavisor and it suggested a 20% water change weekly. Is this ideal?
2. How often should i change my filter cartridge?
3.Which fish should i get? I don't want schooling fish and I like the look of dwarf gourami, guppies, scarlet badis, platies and whiteseam fighters. I want my tank to be colourful and be able to tell the difference between my fish. (And of course for my fish to be compatible with one another and have similar chemistry/temperature requirements) I don't want to deal with fry. So I don't want opposite sex of the same species. Are there any other recommendations?
3. Two of my three plants have only a few roots sticking out. Is this a problem? They were really hard to plant. I tried a few times and their current state was the best result I got. I am reluctant to fix them for fear of exposing even more roots.
4. I want a variety of bottom feeders to live along side my dwarf frogs. Would Kulhi loaches and cherry shrimp be okay? I thought about getting two of each to help reduce excess food and eat algae. Is two cherry shrimp enough to experience a benefit in the tank? I heard their bio-load is next to nothing, so I would consider getting more if I need to.
5. I have plenty of time to properly maintain this tank, so I am comfortable with working at full capacity (eventually). I want to work my way up to it.
That's all for now. I'd be glad to hear any advice or have any misconceptions I might have cleared up.
My name is Chris, by the way
Some additional details about the tank:
Other than the 3 plants and the frogs, all that's in it is gravel (on an incline. 2" in the back and 1" in the front), a small seashell and a bonsai ornament I got at Petsmart. So it is lightly decorated... if that affects my stocking options at all.
1. I checked with aquavisor and it suggested a 20% water change weekly. Is this ideal?
2. How often should i change my filter cartridge?
3.Which fish should i get? I don't want schooling fish and I like the look of dwarf gourami, guppies, scarlet badis, platies and whiteseam fighters. I want my tank to be colourful and be able to tell the difference between my fish. (And of course for my fish to be compatible with one another and have similar chemistry/temperature requirements) I don't want to deal with fry. So I don't want opposite sex of the same species. Are there any other recommendations?
3. Two of my three plants have only a few roots sticking out. Is this a problem? They were really hard to plant. I tried a few times and their current state was the best result I got. I am reluctant to fix them for fear of exposing even more roots.
4. I want a variety of bottom feeders to live along side my dwarf frogs. Would Kulhi loaches and cherry shrimp be okay? I thought about getting two of each to help reduce excess food and eat algae. Is two cherry shrimp enough to experience a benefit in the tank? I heard their bio-load is next to nothing, so I would consider getting more if I need to.
5. I have plenty of time to properly maintain this tank, so I am comfortable with working at full capacity (eventually). I want to work my way up to it.
That's all for now. I'd be glad to hear any advice or have any misconceptions I might have cleared up.
My name is Chris, by the way
Some additional details about the tank:
Other than the 3 plants and the frogs, all that's in it is gravel (on an incline. 2" in the back and 1" in the front), a small seashell and a bonsai ornament I got at Petsmart. So it is lightly decorated... if that affects my stocking options at all.
