STOKED!

[Prune Tracy]

So I'll give a quick introduction for anyone who may happen to care. I've become the keeper of my brother's Oscar, algae eater, and beiker fish. The Oscar is a huge jerk, but just the kind that grows on you and he has his own 10 gal. It's small but it's all the room I can afford him. The other two share a tank with feeders, the oscar is HUGE!

Since I've become the keeper of these fish I have begun to harbor the crazy idea of starting a tank of my own. I'm hell bent on creating a blacklight tank starring various neon type tetras and ghost shrimp. I see this as just as much a biology project as a hobby since these fish depend on me for wellfare. I want a tank with the maximum possible biodiversity and I'm really excited about this site because I've already answered several questions. If anybody has any suggestions I'll be glad to hear from you. I'll be around but since I'm new I'm likely to be mostly silent.

 

[TaffyFish]

Is the Oscar called Troll?

 

[FroggyFox]

a 10G for an oscar...wow. Might I suggest if you want to start your own tank, that you start with a very large tank to move the oscar into as he will outgrow the 10 in a matter of months.

Welcome to the tank Tracy, hopefully you'll find a lot of information here...and if you can't find something, ask!

...Taffy...lets hope its not called Troll.

 

[ChadS98GT]

yeah that oscar needs something bigger than a 10.....hes' probably already to big for it from the way your describing him....and if not they grow very fast....

 

[Somonas]

I think it's called Troll.

 

[Prune Tracy]

You guys are soooooo wrong! His name is... Ebeniezer, cuz he's a total sour puss. He's not very happy in that 10 gal. Before I start my own tank I intend on having my brother come and reclaim his fish. He got kicked out of his gf's house one night and so I opted to let him stay with me until he could get back on his feet. Together they had several massive tanks and probably a dozen smaller ones (not to mention a house). I let him bring over his fish but they have to share space in this double studio with all of my stuff. He brought a 10 gal glass tank for Eb and a 5 gal (?) acrylic for the others. It's a tight squeeze and the oscar is likely suffering, if nothing else, from lack of community but he's moved back in with his gf, hence, "little brother's babysitting, Prune Tracy speaking."

I called "The Wet Spot," this morning. Everyone in town says that if you need to know anything, you call the wet stop. They totally poo poo'ed the idea that a blacklight will harm the fish in any way. They also shattered my dreams of pulling off a 5 gal tank, which had been rapidly disintegrating already. So I'll through these questions up in the air (since there seems to be a large enough community for people to have read my mediocre introduction).

When dealing primarily with 2 and 3 in. fish, what is the carrying capacity of a 10 gal tank?

Tetras are schoolers, right? How interchangable are the breeds? If their size is the same, will cardinals school with neons and so forth? Do I have any freedom in designing a school?

My ultimate goal for the tank includes pairs of 5 different bright variety tetras, three or four 2 to 3 inch fish for diversity, 3 ghost shrimp, 2 or 3 very small snails, maybe a hermit crap I could paint shells for, and lots of plants. Maybe even a super small frog or two. Basically everything in moderation. How many gallons of water will these fish need? Suggestions are what I'm here for.

 

[FroggyFox]

Tetras generally only school with their own kind...but if their coloring etc are close enough they kind of form their own school. I have ember tetras and harlequin rasboras in the 5G together...and the harlies are bigger than the embers...but have similar shape and coloring, so they all hang out together happily. Some types only school when they are feeling a little threatened. I would think Cardinals and neons go together easily.

Assuming the tetras you want will school and will be happy with only 2 (I would usually suggest at least 3 of each kind) then I think I would get at least 29G. 29 would actually be a great size to start out with...its not too big that you have to worry about where to put it (even in a studio) but its not so small that the size limits the types of fish you can combine in it. A bigger tank allows for a little more margin of error when it comes to a new person getting to know the hobby.

It sounds like you like the colorful fish...you might look at rainbowfish. There are a bunch of different varieties of them...and some are just absolutely gorgeous. I think if I were you I would decide on a tank size, get the tank, get it set up and cycling...then start scoping out the fish stores in your area, doing research online about the fish you want to keep...and then when you're finished cycling the tank you should have a pretty good idea of your plan for the tank.

Oh...and as for the 10G tank question...as long as the fish are smallish...a good rule of thumb is one inch of adult fish per gallon. In other words you could have five, two inch fish in a 10G. The two inch measurement of the fish needs to be the size it will grow to...not the size it is now. Most fish you see in pet stores are very young and will grow quite a bit.

 

[Prune Tracy]

To answer your comment, I do like the colorful fish but more broadly, I like the different fish. The whiskers on catfish make them cool. If I ever managed some super high end tank I would love to have an angler. Fish that school in a tight formation are fun. Basically you just have to get away from the stereotype grey blandy fish for me to be interested. I'm setting a close and a distant goal. First I want to get this tank planted and healthy, that is job number 1. The distant goal is something like a year in the future procuring a pair of zebra plecos and possibly trying to sucessfully mate them so as to reduce the ecological impact of bringing these beautiful fish to their enthusiests.

Here is my current (boo) situation. My father just left to return to southern Oregon... left me with a sweet Fluval 104. Thank you pa, even though you'll never read this. My brother brought me a 25G tank (I know, I don't get it either) and took all of his fish away so I've got no choice now. After the harty bite I got from Ebeneizer for trying to prime his filter I'm having a hard time figuring out why I miss the dirty so and so. The owner at the Wet Spot ensured me that the blacklight would not have the effect I was trying for so that idea is totally dead now but all for the better. Testing everything for blacklight was going to be a major pain and now I'm free to try for something natural which actually suits my personality much better.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I feel welcome already. This 25G tank is definitely going to be more of what I wanted and looking at it now I can honestly say that this is more like what the fish need. I still have alot of questions but I think it's time to let this thread pass on since I consider myself introduced. Still, feel free to make comments or suggestions.

Chum chum gimme some