New tank newbie

[fishwhit]

My son recently brought a home a science project from school which included a very small female guppy, and a couple small snails in a 2 litre plastic bottle. We went off to Wal-Mart and purchased a basic starter kit, a few extras and have ended up with the following:

5 gallon tank
whisper filter
basic aquarium gravel bottom
a thermometer
two lily bulbs (one growing, one hoping to grow)
small resin arch structure

I told him if he kept the fish alive for a month, he could purchase some additional fish (no male guppies, I don't want to have to deal with fry right now). He and dad went off to the local fish store and came home with a black lyretail molly, a sunset wag platy, and a blueberry whiteskirt tetra.

We have done a 25% water change, changed the filter and so far everyone seems to be getting along. Temperature control doesn't seem to be an issue, the temp is staying in the safe range. I'm more concerned about keeping the tank cool in the summer. There is only one fish store in town and next nearest is over 75 miles away, so shopping options for fish and/or accessories is limited.

I guess my questions are:
1. Do we have too many fish for the tank size?

2. As long as we keep changing the water and filter are we okay without having to do more extensive maintenance?

3. Should I be concerned about keeping the tank cool?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Harlock]

First, welcome to Aquaria Central and to the hobby of fishkeeping. You have some work cut out for you. I want to ask you some questions as well and I will do my best to answer yours! First, how long has the tank been set up. Since you are new, please look at the threads abive this one labeled as "Sticky" and in particular the one titled Cycle. This will introduce you to the basics of fishkeeping which in reality is water keeping.

1. Do we have too many fish for the tank size?

Yes. I know this isn't exactly what you want to hear, but a five gallon tank is really ill-suited for a commnity aquarium. I mean community in the sense of a community of fish. It is better suited to something like a single betta (also called siamese fighting fish), a few African Dwarf Frogs, or a breeding trio of least killifish (extremely small livebearing fish) in my opinion. The minimal community size tank that most people would consider is a 10 gallon, but I would go so far as to even say a 20 gallon "long" aquarium is the smallest tank I would consider for a community of fish.

The reasons being are simple, really: the greater the volume of water in the tank allows more stocking options and gives you the bonus of greater flexibility in water quality. The rule you hear and see most often stated is "get as big of a tank as you can afford and have space for". I try to think of it like this: If I have a five gallon tank and my fish get ill, or my ammonia spikes or my nitrites get too high, I have very little margin for error. However, that same spike in a 55 gallon tank (just picked a tank size out of my hat, not suggesting that size for you) it would just be a blip in the radar and likely would not result in the loss of any fish.

2. As long as we keep changing the water and filter are we okay without having to do more extensive maintenance?

Actually, the answer to this question depends on semantics. When you say water changes, do you mean using a siphon of some type to suck the waste rfom the bottom and some old water from the tank, then adding treated water back into the tank? If so, then that is what most of us do for regular maintenance. I like to do 50% water changes and I do them at least once a week, but since I am a stay-at-home dad and have the time I generally do them every five days. Also, when you say changing the filter, do you mean taking a filter catridge out, throwing it away and then adding a new filter cartidge? If so, I would really encourage you to stop the practice. Once you read the thread on cycling it will become more apparent as to why, but long story short: Tanks need beneficial bacteria to convert fish waste (ammonia, and nitrites) into something less toxic; nitrates. Filter media is a prime place for this bacteria to grow and by chucking it out every week or so, you can set back the cycle of your tank which can lead to toxic levels of the aforementioned substances which in turn can lead to your fish dying. The general rule is to simply shake and rinse the old filter cartridge in water you have taken from the aquarium in a water change. This makes sure no chlorine gets on it to kill those needed bacteria and that they have a chance to grow and propagate in your filter media.

3. Should I be concerned about keeping the tank cool?

Well, since I am being so obtuse today, just how hot do you expect the ambient temperature to be in the summer where the tank is? Most fish have a preferred temperature range and that varies by species. I keep my tank at 79* F, for instance. On a small scale, in say a 5 gallon like yours, you could float baggies with ice cubes in the tank to help cool it off on especially hot days, but most people live in homes that stay cool enough for tropical fish in the summer.

Sorry to be so ambiguous. There is a learning curve in this hobby, but that's what is so great about this place. You can learn so much. If you have any more questions, please feel free to post them. There are a lot of friendly folks here willing to help and some of them are quite good at this as they've been in it for years. Good luck to you and your son.

 

[Kasakato]

Your a stay at home dad Harlock, well that explains a lot

Just to add to Harlock's great post:

1) Yes, you tank is over stocked. For the fish you have they need a 10g or evan bigger tank. WalMart is not the best for fish but their equipment is normaly fine.

2) Because your tank is over stocked I would do more water changes: like 50% every 3 days or so. This will also let you cycle your tank. Cycling is the process of ammoina->nitrites->nitrates *more details in Havlocks post*. If you wanted you could get a test kit so you can watch the levels of ammoina, nitritesm and nitrates.

3) What is the temp of your tank right now? If you have AC in your house chances are that you will have no problem. If you HAD to do what Havlock said about the ice. A chiller for your aquarium would be $$$$ and is not needed for a small tank.

 

[fishwhit]

Thanks for the answers so far. I had a feeling we were overstocked based on what I've read, but the deed was already done before I found this site.

We are considering a larger tank, but it won't be for awhile (fall '05). It will require some modification to where we want the tank in order to support the weight.

When we did our water change we used a siphon and sucked up the nasties off the bottom of the tank. I was a little concerned about sucking up the snails and guppy (since that was all that was in it then), but it seemed to be okay. We added back treated water and completely changed the filter.

So next time, I should go the siphon route, but just rinse the filter and reuse it? Also, with more fish in the tank, should I take them out during the change in order to avoid damage? Is a testing kit for Ph, nitrates, etc. really neccessary?

Regarding the heat - We live in South Texas and we only air condition our house to about 80 degrees in the summer. Otherwise the electric company would own the house. I'm thinking that a larger tank would help control temperature better just because of the mass of water.

Thanks

 

[Harlock]

Thanks for the answers so far. I had a feeling we were overstocked based on what I've read, but the deed was already done before I found this site.

We are considering a larger tank, but it won't be for awhile (fall '05). It will require some modification to where we want the tank in order to support the weight.

When we did our water change we used a siphon and sucked up the nasties off the bottom of the tank. I was a little concerned about sucking up the snails and guppy (since that was all that was in it then), but it seemed to be okay. We added back treated water and completely changed the filter.

So next time, I should go the siphon route, but just rinse the filter and reuse it? Also, with more fish in the tank, should I take them out during the change in order to avoid damage? Is a testing kit for Ph, nitrates, etc. really neccessary?

Regarding the heat - We live in South Texas and we only air condition our house to about 80 degrees in the summer. Otherwise the electric company would own the house. I'm thinking that a larger tank would help control temperature better just because of the mass of water.

Thanks

I don't remove my fish when I siphon, but I make very sure I don't suck them up. My siphon is a Python brand an so has a stop valve as well, so if I see something in the tube, I can stopt he flow and make sure it gets out. At any rate, leave the fish in. Removing them and placing them in a temporary home can stress them as well as irritate the slime coat and frankly, fish deal with stress terribly and it can actually be a leading contributing factor in their deaths, as their immune system seems to turn to crud when they are stressed opening them up for parasites, disease, what have you.

If you intend to go bigger, then yes, a testing kit is necessary in my opinion. Even if only for peace of mind. It realy helps you identify problems with water quality and also lets you test your water out of your tap so you can figure out exactly what you're dealing with. Here's a link to one at Big Al's Online Store. Big Al's is the cheapest place I have found for aquarium equipment and I buy nearly everything I can from them. My LFS (local fish store) was actually 120% more expensive on one item I bought.

By the way, what part of South Texas are you in? I'm in Central West Texas in San Angelo. We're about an hour and a half south of Abilene, but I have a cousin that lives in McAllen. I definitly know what you mean about the heat. Most tropical fish can deal with temps in the low 80s, though it isn't necessarily ideal. I have an older house with pretty crappy insulation,not to mention the room my tank is in is one of the warmer ones. I'll be floating 2 liter soda bottle that I've put water in and frozen overnight in my tank. I'll also decrease my heaters temperatures to about 77 in the hopes that at night with the AC on and the sun down the tank can cool down to that. The best thing to remember is that fish like things fairly constant. If your tank stays around 80* it's not a big deal so long as it's steady. If you see fluctuations by more than a degree or two, drop in the baggies of ice to head off a major change. Hope that helps!

 

[Kasakato]

I wouldent remove the fish because it stresses them out. Just dig into the gravel and suck out 25-50% of the water. Next time dont change the filter media. You need to let the bacteria build up and cycle. (See #2 in Harlocks post)

IMO testing the water is good no matter what. It will let you know what is going on in the tank. It can be used in a emergancy to fix a problem. Plus they arnt a lot of $ so I would say go for it!

I have no clue about how to keep your tank cold. I have a problem with keeping it warm because it takes a lot of power to heat up a tank in Canada. Id say the 2L bottle with frozen water isent a bad idea. Try it and see what happens. Just try to advoide temp. changes where possible.

 

[fishwhit]

Okay, I'll leave the fish in place next water change and just be careful not suck anyone up. I'll look into test kits soon. Thanks for the link.

Right now with no heater our tank is staying at about 78 with the light on. I haven't checked the temp with the light off. We'll just have to keep an eye on the temp this summer. We live in Bay City, which is about 75 miles southwest of Houston along the Gulf Coast. We have a fish store in town, but I'm only semi-confident with what they know.

 

[Harlock]

The high humidity will actually help keep your tank cooler. Once the AC kicks on cools down the air, that humidity will chill things out even better, so that's a good thing. I bet your tank will be fine.

 

[Kasakato]

Thats a good point. Its like weting your hand and then chilling it. Compareing that to if your hand wasent wet. Which would be colder?

 

[Harlock]

Thats a good point. Its like weting your hand and then chilling it. Compareing that to if your hand wasent wet. Which would be colder?

Trust me, I know. I'm from the part of Texas that sees 13 inches of rain a year sometimes... if we had humidity there would be no saying that ended, "... in the shade" in our vernacular. Dry heat is oppressive and there is no cure for it. If it's 110* F outside and there is 7% humidity, it's like 108 in the shade. And it's not much better inside a house. Oof, on those days you just stay inside and hope the AC doesn't go on the rfitz!