My son wants a tank...help?

[geekgirl]

Hi everyone,
My 9yr old son has hinted *desperately* that he wants a bigger tank. He currently has a crowntail Betta for about 2mos and wants to get at least a 10gal. I said fine..in a few months if grades and all that are fine..Thing is he already has ideas of what he wants it it. And from asking at the stores I am getting conflicting responses. Can you help? I want to know if the size & fish are all compatible and check out.

10 gal tank...whole set up fro $40 from Petco...
but I may go and get him this filter:
Power Filter: Bio System Power Filter & Surface Skimmer from Drs. Foster and Smith

He wants to add his Betta to the tank along with
1 cory cat (no specific type)
A small school of Black Tetras ( i think only 6)
and lots of plants, because he read bettas like plants.

I think he should leave his Betta in his 2gal tank & the rest seems okay.
Does his idea seem fine to eveyone else?
I don't want him to get dissapointed or have to get
fish he doesn't want.
I thank you in advance for your help

 

[ishar]

ummm I am not sure, but I think that it should be ok as long as water changes are kept up with. The 6 tetras and a croy is compatible I believe, but I think 6 black skirt tetras might outgrow a ten gallon tank.

Wait for someone with a bit more experience then me to come and let you know what they think, but I would say that would be pushing the overstocked limit.

 

[geekgirl]

oops! sorry they are Black Neon Tetra...if that makes much diff. I believe they only get to about 1 maybe 1.5 inches.
and the blackskirts are a little bit bigger

 

[FishGeek]

You are right Black Skirts get quite a bit larger than Black Neons. I personally think that the tank set up is doable but there are a few things:

~ I would either get 2 Pygmy Cories or no Cories at all. Just isnt room for any other Cory

~ Go with 5 Black Neons, you will notice that odd numbers are more appealing.

~ Get your set set up/cycled then add all of the Neons and Cories BEFORE the Betta is put into the tank. Making him the last one in the tank will allow the other fish to become comfortable with their new home. It also makes the Betta take sorta a back seat (not will all circumstances, some Bettas are just nasty), they tend to be less dominant this way cause he didnt establish the territory as his before the others came. I would allow the other fish to live in the new tank for about a week or two BEFORE the Betta is added.

~Be prepared to take the Betta out should he become to ''fresh''. Not all Bettas will allow other fish to inhabit their home. Its just their nature and there isnt much that can be done about it.

~I would allow your son to read this post. He is old enough to understand most of what is being said here and I think that it would go over much better.

~Make sure to keep mantaince up as this is a full stock list.

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[MissFishy]

I think the set up sounds doable, as was said above, you may want to consider the corycats as they like to be in groups and just one won't be very happy. Make sure you and your son are familiar with cycling a tank, if you don't know what this means, take a peek at the stickies in the forum or the link in my profile for some basic explanations. Cycling needs to be done BEFORE adding any fish at all to the tank.

 

[geekgirl]

yes, thank you!
I was going to ask 'why 2 cory cats' but you answered my question!
I plan on using media from our 20gal to start off the new tank. But it is still a ways off. At least a couple weeks. I am not sure though that I have ever seen "Pygmy" cory cats, and I have no idea where he(my son) got the idea that he wants one. Cuz we don't have any at all. Every one in the family is going fishy crazy! lol, my mother in law, sister, & sister in law and us all have tanks now, and i want 2 more(one for my fry & 1 for som gouramis)..lol

One last thing..i read cory cats need 'smooth' substrate but all i find at the lfs & petco is gravel, 'bout the size of pencil erasers. Where can I find/what do i need exactly?

 

[MissFishy]

Pygmy corycats are pretty hard to find in pet stores, I never see them around here. They are basically miniature corycats. Usually a basic gravel from the fish store will be sufficient for corycats as long as it isn't very sharp since they do "rest" on the bottom of the tank. If you can, you can buy the rounded rocks instead of the typical colored gravel. Fishkeeping is definitely an addicting hobby, before you know it, you have a TON of tanks! Lots of fun for the whole family though! Make sure all your family is familiar with properly cycling a tank, you can definitely help them if you already have a cycled tank by cycling their media for them. Nothing gets you out of the hobby faster then losing all your fish right away.

 

[Mermaid20]

if your only looking for a cheap tank for everything included, you might want to try walmart. they have good deals, and its pretty descent stuff. as for your betta being part of the aquarium, remember not to have any fish the same size as him or bigger, because he will get on the defensive side and attack.

 

[ishar]

I got my 20 Gallon at Walmart and it has served me fairly well. Flourescent lighting with a decent filter and heater, all for about $120 or something like that.

 

[burnt]

I got my 20 Gallon at Walmart and it has served me fairly well. Flourescent lighting with a decent filter and heater, all for about $120 or something like that.

i got my 30 gal setup at walmart, everything include, minus gravel for 99, then i got a stand there for 65

 

[geekgirl]

I got my 20 Gallon at Walmart and it has served me fairly well. Flourescent lighting with a decent filter and heater, all for about $120 or something like that.

OmyGosh! thats a lot! I only paid $80 for my 20gal and it is pretty good..only thing is its 20galH not L..ah well.

*UPDATE*
We helped out a family member and got some
xtra cash, $!00
So we went to Walmart and got a 10gal complete setup for $29(good filter, water cond, 2pkg flake, even water test strips). And can you believe they had beautifu! dwarf(blu & redflame) gouramis for only $1.48.

I told my son it was for me *he's so gullible*
and put in 5 black neon tetras(On sale 5 for $5) from Petsmart. One of the tetras is gimpy tho. Its so sad, but i don't have the heart to kill it. They're just there to cycle it i tell myself. And if they do survive than yay for them. I am afraid to get my hopes up that they will ALL be okay.
I moved over some of my healthiest plants from the 20gal and 3 handfuls of our black gravel to mix with the white(my son's design). I even found some tiny clay pots fro $.50 from HomeDepot. It is all coming together nicely! But i think the new lily bulbs i bought are duds. *laughingc

 

[MissFishy]

If your sympathy for living fish is "if they survive then yay for them" you probably shouldn't be keeping any live pets. I hope you are planning on taking care that they stand a chance through the cycle, tetras generally are not recommended as hardy cycling fish.

To cycle the tank successfully with fish in it, you're going to need complete test kits and gravel vac for all the water changes you'll be doing.

 

[geekgirl]

Well, i never truly "cycled" a tank before, nor have I ever lost fish when i set mine up. I am going thru the steps of cycling as posted on numerous forums because I want my son to have a 'by the book' healthy tank and not half-a**ed one. I didn't know better when i started.
From everything I read & what my lfs explained, it is common that some fish might die in the cycling process.
In fact from reading, i got the idea that it was uncommon for all the fish to pull through. Yes, i thought it was mean to subject fish to testing out the tank, but it would be tragic if they died on my son's watch.
I do not wish it on them or anyone else. I am new to this and other than tiger barbs they were recommended to me by the petstore employees. They are in fact what I hoped to be the main fish in the tank, remember? I asked a million times and have taken every measure i can to make sure the tank has a head start on the cycling. (ie: borrowed media/plants from established tank, and they are under constant observation/monitoring)
Yes, i do have a gravel vac and other equipment. They are doing okay it seems.
Please don't think im harsh. I love all my animals and fuss over them for hours a day. I give testament that we have two little White Clouds that have lived for 3yrs! ..lol, 'ol geezars we call 'em. I read they only lived for several months...

 

[cchase85]

If your sympathy for living fish is "if they survive then yay for them" you probably shouldn't be keeping any live pets. I hope you are planning on taking care that they stand a chance through the cycle, tetras generally are not recommended as hardy cycling fish.

To cycle the tank successfully with fish in it, you're going to need complete test kits and gravel vac for all the water changes you'll be doing.

Black neons are often recommended as fish to use for fish-in cycling, as they are quite hardy.

As far as being cruel, using media from an established tank can prevent ammonia and nitrite levels from spiking entirely.

 

[JWright]

I'm with missfishy on this one... You might want to think before you type stuff like "if they survive...yay for them...". This is a community of people who work very hard to keep their fish in the best possible conditions, and it irks us when someone is perceived as being callous (especially when there is an easy and widely accepted method to avoid having to do a "fish-in" cycle).

~JW

 

[FroggyFox]

best advice I can give is to think outside the "this is what my fish store told me" box...because most of us have learned at some point (hopefully sooner than later) that pet store employees do not know what is best.

Yep, if you do your cycle the way that the store suggests, then you will most likely lose fish...thats just the way it is. However, learn about the different options you have for cycling a tank that WONT kill any fish in the process...that would be the best option right?