Equipment help!

A

ara35

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Aug 10, 2006
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Brand New Aquarium!! Help!!

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I am currently planning to buy a 10G tank that will be stocked with the following:

-1 Dwarf Gourami
-5 Glolight Tetras
-4-6 Ghost Shrimp
-3 Bronze Cory Cats

It will also be planted with java fern, anacharis, and possibly cryptocoryne. It will also have plenty of hiding spaces formed by rocks. I want a low, long aquarium rather than a high skinny aquarium. I have many questions and here are a few...

1. What is the necessary equipment for starting a tank..(filter, heater, etc.)?
2. How much will it cost to buy all this (just an estimate)?
3. What is the best type of filter (internal, sponge, etc.)?
4. Is this stocking scheme possible and will it work?

ALL COMMENTS ACCEPTED!!!!!!
Thanks,
Ant
 
Hope this helps:
1. You will need 10-15 lbs of gravel, natural colors will look better with live plants, but not necessary. You will need a filter (I suggest Whisper 20), heater (I suggest a Whisper 10) and, a hood (I suggest an All Glass Full Flourescent Hood). An airpump with a bubble wand is nice, but not necessary. Water conditoners and biological supplements

2. Whisper 20 Power Filter: $20
Whisper 10 Heater: $10-15
All Glass Flourescent Hood: $20-30
Air Pump: $5-10
Airline Tubing: $2
Airstones: $1
Gravel: about $2-3 per lb. You can buy a 25 lb bag at Wally World for $10
10 gallon Tank: $10
Extra Filters: 1 pack: $3, 3 and 4 pack: $5, 8 pack: $8-10, 12 pack: $12-16
Stress Zyme: $5 (bio suplement)
Chlor Out: $2 (Removes Chlorine and chloramines)
3. I highly recommend Whisper Power Filters as they are extremely reliable. They restart after power failures, have flow controls, and provide all 3 types of filtration. My grandma had one for over 20 years with no problems. They almost never lose flow.

4. As a rule of thumb, you can have one inch of fish per gallon of water. So you can have ten 1" fish. Do your research and make sure you buy a good book when you get your tank. I suggest Aquariums for Dummies.

Click on these links for more info:

http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=276
http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/category.aspx?id=55
http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=63
http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/category.aspx?id=66
http://www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/category.aspx?id=80
http://www.hartz.com/Our Products/Browse.asp
http://www.all-glass.com/products/hoods/index.html
 
Corey's like a softer substrate and an get injured on jagged gravel. You may want to consider.
Also walmart has a 10g kit with fillter and aquarium lid for $29.
The deluxe 10g kit comes with heater,filter,net,food and flouresent light in lid for $39-49$.
But don't buy fish there, they dont treat their fish very well, they just dont know how.

My 2 cents.
 
The 1" of fish per gallon is not a good reference point. It does not take into account territorial requirements, bio-load of the species, maturity issues or spawning characteristics. It also does not concern itself with diet issues of the fish, water parameters that may differ or temperature issues.
 
I used to know the requirements like the 1" of tropical fish to every 24 cubic inches. I don't know if that is right, so correct me if I am wrong. I do not like the kits from wally world as the tanks leak, fish get in the filters, and the filter isn't that reliable. The light is crap and nothing really lasts too long that is in the kit. The book that comes with it has misleading information. You may spend more at a petstore, but you are getting more quality with it.
 
my .02

if you can get a larger tank..my exerience is that the larger tanks don't require much more maintenance and are less prone to small changes in the environemnt having a large impact.

do you have access to craigslist.org?

if they have a craigslist for your state check out the ads for fish, aquariums etc.

walmart does not make their own stuff..other companies make it and brand it for walmart.

did you know that there are retrofit kits to turn the regent aqua-tech into a penguin??

(I think it's cost prohibative but if you already have the filter i think it cost around 20-30 to convert.)

regent is the brand mass mkt style.

some of the filters look like whispers
 
I have had several whispers and I havent had good luck with them. Although in their defense if I had cleaned them weekly they probably would have lasted longer. But the first 1/2 years of keeping fish I often let the filters go too long. The one penguin bio-wheel filter has done me pretty good and was only a few dollars more than the regular whisper ones. Dont forget to consider buyinf stuff online rather than lfs since its usually much cheaper and more selection. The 2 places I go are http://www.petsolutions.com/ and http://www.bigalsusa.com
 
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