New Tank Owner: Some questions..

[theFinn]

Hi everyone.

My wife got me a great Christmas present, a 20 Gallon Aquarium starter kit. So I've started doing some hardcore research on exactly how to have some fun with this hobby. There's so much information out there that I need to come an ask some questions from some people with experiance in this, so here I am

The kit came with everything listed here: http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=111&PROD_ID=01132200010101

So my first question is, this this decent stuff? Is there anything I should replace? (I can already tell the thermometer is a bit crappy so I think I'm going to get myself a nice digital one.)

Secondly, I have all kinds of visions for how I'm going to 'aquascape' this tank.

I'm going for some real astetic appeal here so I'd like to put down some nice black sand with white intermixed in it. Since I'm thinking of sand I'm wondering what kind of issues I might run into with the filter and such. Is it going to suck up a lot of sand or will the sand stay pretty stuck on the bottom?

What about cleaning sand? I've heard some people say they just need to skim the bottom a little and suck up the exess food that sits on top, and others that say they never clean their sand...

If you think sand it too much for the beginner aquarist can you suggest some nice, small grained, black & white gravel?

Next up, plants. Real plants seem like a bit too much work for me. I'm happy with tending to fish and checking water quality and all that jazz, it makes the geek in me happy (woo test kits!), but I'm not much of a gardener so the thought of looking after real plants kind of turns me off. What are some good fake plants I can get that look half decently real? The kit came with a couple plastic plants but they look awfully fake..

Lastly, the most important thing, fish. Since it's a 20 gallon tank I was thinking of getting a group of small schooling fish (black neon tetras most likly), then a couple of larger, slower moving fish, then a couple/three bottom feeders to keep things a little cleaner.

What are some of your recommendations in this area?

Thanks for any advice you can give! I'm really looking forward to outfitting my tank and starting to cycle it

 

[SnakeIce]

ok aquaclear filters are ok... don't know what size yours is but it should be ok

what brand is the heater... I have had some trouble out of some kit heaters.. ie they won't shut off or something or another

most thermometers these days work so replaceing it is a personal thing... go with what you are comfortable with


on substrate... sand is one of the things you considere if you want a planted tank... a small amount of an aquarium safe gravel would be a better way to go, you won't have to worry about compaction with gravel and the resultant troubles possible with that

an ideal amount of gravel is only an inch or less but if you want to have a little bit more to make your aquascape better just be sure to use a gravel cleaner syphon to take the gunk out of the gravel from time to time

there are silk plants that look better than most plastic plants and there are a few plastic ones that look good.. just look at some planted tanks and try to get some that come the closest to matching realistic live plants


first befor we talk about fish, since it sounds like you havn;t gotten any yet, there are two ways to make the tank able to support fish..

slowly add fish and doing lots of water changes or
use pure amonia to cycle your tank, using a test kit to put in a cirtain amount the good bacteria will build up to a level so you can put all your fish in at once

but iether way you need to be patient

edit:typos

 

[Leopardess]

I must praise you on taking time to research BEFORE you jump into sticking fish in the tank! Woohoo! And, you're thinking realistically in terms of fish, rather than dumping a foot long arrowana in the tank and then asking us why things are going wrong! Congrats!:dance

I would like to suggest the fishless cycling method that was mentioned (using pure ammonia). It is really easy and doesn't cause any fish to have to go through the cycle. Plus, since black neon tetras aren't *that* hardy...you'd probably lose a few during the cycle, unless you bought danios or something else that you'd have to end up return once the tank is cycled Just make sure you find *pure* ammonia with no additives - available at most any grocery store.

I would perhaps avoid the sand substrate. It does tend to compact and turn anaerobic...not good for aesthetics or your fishies

i'd suggest getting a gravel vaccum no matter what. I wouldn't go without mine You'd be surprised what yummy things you find in the substrate

i think it would be cool to have say, 6-8ish black neons, and say, three or four corydoras...and one of the gouramis as your slow-moving "centerpiece" fish. A dwarf gourami would work well also, but I'm partial to Pearl & Platinum gouramis.


Congrats again about checking BEFORE spending money and killing fish

 

[theFinn]

Leopardess: Thanks. I wouldn't dream of just throwing fish into a tank before figuring out what I need to do to keep them alive. Much to my wife's chagrin, when I told her I'd have to cycle the tank and it could take several weeks she rolled her eye's at me and said 'just toss some fish in it'..heh

I'll be doing the fishless cycle method, I found some good tutorials for it in the FAQ topics here.

It sounds like there isn't much support for using sand, I'll see what I can find in the way of nice black gravel...

Thanks for the fish suggestions I'll find some pics of the gourami and see if I like how look.

Keep the info comin' guys thanks.

 

[Leopardess]

Can't waste an opportunity to share pics! (Please forgive me lol...I got a digital camera for xmas)

Thats a neon blue dwarf gourami...almost all the ones at lfs's are males..females are dull and "boring" and are usually specially ordered...

 

[Leopardess]

Male Pearl gourami...

 

[Leopardess]

lastly, my platinum gourami....

Thanks for putting up with me !lol

 

[theFinn]

Hmm, can't say that I really like the looks of the gourami, not enough...fin...

I'm looking for something that's quite visually appealing for a 'centerpeice' fish, perferable something that I can get a pair of. Obviously the first fish that comes to mind is the Anglefish, but I've heard they're not too compatable with tetra's and need a rather large tank...

 

[Leopardess]

Not enough fin on a pearl gourami! Never! IMO they make awesome centerpieces. The pic I posted of the pearl is even a sub-adult male..he's still developing.

Avoid the angelfish...its hard to find pairs and they need a bigger tank than a 20g. plus the tank should be tall.

If you're looking for fin, try a betta.

 

[Grassguy]

If you want lotsa fin, get a betta....just one male!

I have found that the red bettas show off real well with black gravel...great contrast.