Hi I'm a noob and I have a fluval edge 6 gal

[Delaforce]

Hi , hope I have found the right place first of all I was slightly miffed on the random question asked about 'how many tires does a car have' and I said 5 don't you ppl Cary spares!!! Oh dear anyways about this tank that's staring at me in the face dry, empty, and full of birthday joy , the problem is I know very little about what I'm doing . I want a saltwater but after reading I need to change everything , seems daunting as my worst fear is something dying . So what's the best ? I hope this isn't too repetitive for the almighty knowledgable fish freaks, but a little help would go a long way
Thanks

 

[achase]

Well a car only has four wheels but you can carry any amount of tires (if you wanted to).
If it's a 6 gal and your a newbie to fishkeeping, I wouldn't do a saltwater tank. Saltwater for the first time is better with large tanks (50+ gals). When things go bad in tanks they go really bad, really fast in small tanks.

My suggestion for a 6 gallon tank is (1) Get a single betta, (2) Do a ADF/African Dwarf Frog tank or (3) Do a shrimp tank. Unfortunately, you don't have much selection with a 6 gallon tank as it is quite small. My personal choice would be the betta.....they are wonderful fish!

 

[Delaforce]

Ah ok great so can I fill it with driftwood or other cool stuff ? So i dont just see one little fella swimming around?! I have plastic plants but I want something more unusual for the centre piece , if I find something at the beach and clean it would that be ok? Thankyou !!

 

[Sean]

From personal experience, a fluval edge isn't a bad tank, but it's tiny filter and lighting isn't much for saltwater.. I might suggest using it for small freshwater wish and moving up to salt as you gain confidence/feel ready. Best of luck

 

[Thyra]

Use the advanced search on this forum for "driftwood and you will learn a lot. Natural wood is nice but it tend to turn the water brown for some time although that does not hurt the fish. Certain woods such as pine are not appropriate (softwoods) There is a lot of artificial driftwood around that looks nice. Start looking at bettas so you get an idea of what is available and then pick just the right one for you - you can't go wrong with a betta.

 

[Pleco mad man]

dose your tank have a glass top if so be carefull with the betta as the like to come to the surface to gulp air
best of luck with the tank

 

[Denther]

You could also add a snail in there. You would want a Nerite, Mystery, or Apple Snail. Make sure to provide him with Algae Wafers every few days.

Bettas do come up for air so you want to make sure you don't have the top sealed off but you also don't want to have it open because they're known jumpers. Bettas are great fish and are what got me started into fishkeeping.

You can go to you LFS (Local Fish Store) and normally find fake driftwood. I've attached a picture as an idea of what I have.

Good Luck and Welcome to the Forum!

 

[KcMopar]

What about some small fish like guppies?? Could a person do those in a 6 gal. Its been decades since I have done a community tank but it seems like I had a 10 gallon with a few guppies and neons. I am not the expert on community type fish so maybe some one else could elaborate on these type of tiny fish. I only say this because it sounds like this person wanted more then one fish.

 

[Denther]

I wouldn't suggest Tetras because they're very active and swim all over the place and would like more room. Sure a few could survive but they're happier with more room and in groups of 6 since they like to school. 6 tetra's would not be a good idea in a 6g.

I would suggest getting the OK from a more experienced member than myself on whether you can have guppies in the 6g but you might be able to make it work.

You can also check out AqAdvisor.com

Very useful site for stocking. Good way to check compatability and the like.

Best of luck!

 

[Delaforce]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, and the pic was cool denther , that's just what I'm looking for. I guess if I'm only advised 1 beta I'm leaning towards making it look as good as possible . The tank seems more accommodating than one beta , so snails sounds fun anything else that would work , would a few shrimp be ok? Thankyou for all you're comments and suggestions , I've ordered all the extra Fluval stuff I can find just so I can give it my best shot lol

 

[lauraf]

Snails and shrimp would be great in there with a betta. You all clear on how to cycle your tank?
Cheers, and welcome to the forum,
Laura

 

[Delaforce]

I've been reading about cycling, Seems to be a few different ways , I won't be using real plants either . I wanted to source some ammonia , and hope to get it on it's way in 10ish days. Any tips? Thanks

 

[Delaforce]

Well a car only has four wheels but you can carry any amount of tires (if you wanted to)

Well you could carry any amount of either it's non specific to my mind that's all i was pointing out hehe

 

[Denther]

Bettas love Freeze Dried Blood Worms.

I'm sure you know this but don't forget a heater. Bettas need water in the 75-85 degree zone with 80 degrees being optimal. (Fahrenheit)

For that size I would suggest a 50 watt heater. May be considered overkill but as long as it has an auto-shut off once it hits a certain temp you should be good.

 

[Pleco mad man]

Shrimp would be great in the tank my lfs has one of them tanks set up actually and in it they have 3 shrimp 1 baby ram (which will out grow the tank quick so don't be fooled by them) and some guppies. best of luck let us know how you get on

 

[lauraf]

I've been reading about cycling, Seems to be a few different ways , I won't be using real plants either . I wanted to source some ammonia , and hope to get it on it's way in 10ish days. Any tips? Thanks

The best way would be if you have a friend with a healthy tank, and you could get some of his gunk. I have read people having success with a product called Tetra Safe Start, but there's lots of stories that these insta-cycle bacteria products are bogus. If you can find plain ammonia, you can also use it for a fishless cycle. The other option would be to cycle the tank with the snails, or even with the betta, but that can be stressful to the animal. Any which way, please buy a liquid test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. You will use this as part of your ongoing tank care, so consider it a worthwhile investment for the health of your critters and your peace of mind.
Let us know what cycling option you decide on, and we'd be happy to offer more advice.

 

[Delaforce]

Laura- I can find a nitrate test kit online but I presume that's all it tests.. Is there a product you would recommend for all testing I need to do?.
Also my Lfs are all just petco or petsmart so I won't want to take any of there gunk as I don't want to chance disease or infection. I'll read up on that tetra smart thanks

 

[achase]

The test kit brand I use is API and they have a Master kit which has tests for all sorts of things. I'm sure you could find it online as well (very popular product).

I wounder if there is a way to "disinfect" a cycled tank before adding fish, so then you would be able to use the "gunk" from your LFS. Any suggestions?

Back to snails......
I wouldn't recommend getting a nerite snail get some other type as nerite snails leave little white eggs everywhere and they aren't overly easy to remove.
I find the eggs rather annoying but you might not.

 

[Delaforce]

So I went to my Lfs today, and picked up a few things- a tetra aquarium starter pack and that API master of the universe kit, Plus so much decor my mum would be proud. Lol, this is turning into 'i have all the gear and no idea' I even thought of buying a 7 gal pre treated cycled water .And at the end of the day I just get home and stare at all this **** in boxes . Tomorrow I'm going to arrange the tank and get cracking

 

[Thyra]

I can't imagine what "pre-treated cycled water" is. Sounds like a gimmick to spend money on.