I got it!! So what do I do now? :D

Rava

Rava

Betta Babe
Dec 26, 2002
223
0
16
CA
I just bought a Galaxy 5 five gallon tank on Ebay for $20! It comes with:

Penn-plax silencer 10 air pump, Hartz 50watt heater, zoo-med 35-70 gph water pump, penn-plax adjustable fake rocks, penn-plax 4-way air gang valve, 3 plant- 2 of which glow in the dark.

I don't know what half of that stuff is, or if I'll use it, but boy am I excited! :D So once it gets here... What do I do as far as water? As it stands now, my female betta is the only fishie going in. I still haven't got a conclusive answer on whether or not my friend's betta is coming home with me or not. So for one fishie going in... I assume I'm putting the same gravel in her current tank in, as I don't have any other. Eventually I may change it, but that depends on what I do as far as fish go. Water, I always just use tap water with a water conditioner in it.

Anything else I should know for before adding the fish, adding the fish, and maintenence? Thanks so much for all help! I'm so excited to finally have my tank!!
 
to start off: your tank is almost too small for the equiptment you have for it, but it may work. I'd say if you have bettas in the tank your tank is far too small. I'd suggest going to a local fish store and buying a 10-15 gallon tank if you can, otherwise, you're gonna have to buy a bunch of new equiptment to suit your small tank!
The air pump would be unnessesary if you are not using a corner filer.(which I'll talk about later)
The heater is bigger than you need but that is no problem you can still use it. Just remember that once the heater is plugged in it STAYS IN THE TANK, otherwise you'll wreck your heater, because it will adjust to the outside temp, and if you put it back in the water it will shatter the glass! and if it is out too long, it will wear the heater out in a matter of hours.
The pump is fairly big but it will work. And the other thing about the pump is that it has no real practical use unless you want to circulate the water in the tank (and with bettas you don't want to do that very much) What you need instead is a filter I'd buy a corner filter (a clear little box that you fill with carbon and "angel hair" filter media. ) A aqua-clear mini that you fill with various sorts of media, some are included(You'll need a sponge and carbon filter for this set up) or an undergravel filter that requires no media, but a air pump. It goes, as it says, under the gravel.
The 4 way gang valve is for air line tubing for your tank, it will only be useful if you opt to use the air pump (to drive either a corner, or undergravel filter)
I don't know what you mean by "penn-plax adjustable fake rocks" I thinkyou mixed your words a little there so I will let you correct yourself.
In addition I wouldn't put two bettas in the same tank. If they are both males they WILL fight and one or both WILL die. If it is a female and a male, then the male will likely torment the poor girl to death. so in a tank that size, NEVER have two bettas together unless you have the specific intent to breed them.


Penn-plax silencer 10 air pump, Hartz 50watt heater, zoo-med 35-70 gph water pump, penn-plax adjustable fake rocks, penn-plax 4-way air gang valve, 3 plant- 2 of which glow in the dark.

you will also need to cycle your tank for about 3-4 weeks before putting any fish in it!
 
I don't want to use any of the equipment, actually. lol For one fish, I don't feel the filter is necessary, and I've never used heaters because the temperature in my room stays stable (and the room is always the warmest as well). Fellow members have told me 2.5- 5 gallon tanks are just fine for bettas. I can't imagine buying a 10 gallon setup for my one female betta!

I quoted the ad on Ebay as far as supplies, so what adjustable rocks are, I don't know. lol! Don't worry about that. I'll take inventory when the tank arrives, and then see what exactly all that is!

I didn't mean putting the bettas together, sorry. I wasn't overly detailed in my post because other members have been answering questions for me for awhile now, and they all knew my best friend has a (male) betta in too-small a bowl that I may or may not take from them. If I take it, the male will be put in the 5 gal., on the other side of the divider from my female. I failed to mention the divider, again, because the other members that had been helping knew that's what I was considering. If I don't take the male betta, I'll pass my 2.5 onto that family, so he has more room until they can afford a tank for him (he was a gift, so they weren't prepared for him at all!).

Why do I need to cycle the tank? Like what does that do? I've read a little about cycling on here, but I wasn't sure if I had to do that for such a small tank, and because I'm just moving all the current gravel and ornaments over.

Thanks for your help, and sorry for the confusion. I was so excited I didn't want to just repeat everything I'd said already. :) So hopefully that clarifies things. :) Thanks again!
 
Thanks, Vato! I was searching for threads on cycling when you posted. :) I finally found one on cycling a 5 gal., so that was very helpful.

And thank you AFG! I can't wait to get the tank and switch Vitara over. I'll be sure to post pictures and let y'all know how things go with the switch. :)
 
Question

If she uses everything from her previous tank, including the water, couldn't she just add more water to fill the remaining space and everything be ok? That's what I would think, since she has the gravel and ornaments already from her previous set-up containing the essential things that are formed when cycling a tank. This is just mpo, I may be wrong, please correct me if I am.

Emaan
 
A filter is where most of your "good bacteria" is held at, so without a filter cycling IS possible, however its much more difficult. And when your talking about a smaller aquarium, its even more troublesome. If you read the majority of my posts, you know I do not usually recommend not cycling the aquarium, however this is a special circumstance. Thats JMO.

If you do regular water changes about every 3 days or so, and do not over-feed you should be fine in regards to ammonia and then eventually nitrates. The tank will probably cycle on its own.
 
That sounds perfect! Thanks so much you guys. :)

How much water should I remove every 3 days? I'll definitely plan to do that, and be careful about feeding. Vitara got a little chubby while I was gone, so she could use a little less food. ;) Hehe!

And what about adding a live plant and different gravel and all that? When is it safe to add new items?

Thanks again! I'm crossing my fingers the tank was shipped today, and *hopefully* it'll be here sometime this week! I can't wait! :dance:
 
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