# Some Beginner Tank Questions



## tallsmartman (May 18, 2010)

Hey, I'm in the process of planning out my first tank. (Since I was a kid anyway)

Any help on these questions would be greatly appreciated.

1. I understand that I need to have a tank "cycled" before I fully stock it, so the appropriate amount of bacteria is there. I have read up on the fish-less cycling and the cycling with a couple "sacrificial fish." Since I am not experienced, I am not sure which is the best way to do it. However, while skimming through the forums I have found people recommending "BIO-Spira." Is Bio-Spira a fish-less cycle that doesn't require putting ammonia in the water?

2. When I do get my tank cycled, I read you are supposed to do a 25% water change every week. Do you leave the fish in the tank for this? And how do you treat the water you are about to introduce into the tank? Do you just make sure its a similar temperature and treat it for chlorine and hardness? Or do I need to do something similar to the cycling process?

3. The tank I will be working with will be 20g. I would like about 3 or 4 mollies to be what I build the tank around, but I would like some other fish to add some variety (Maybe some neon tetras and a couple of platys). I found a website http://www.elmersaqu...3livebearer.htm where it lists some good compatible fish for different communities. I was wondering if you experts here feel this is a correct list?

Like I said, I would like to have 3 or 4 mollies to be the main fish, but I would love to have like 5 to 7 little neon tetras as well. Does this leave room for 1 or 2 platys with out overstocking it? Is 3 mollies with 7 neon tetras already overstocked for a 20 gallon tank? I have read the 1 inch per gallon rule, but I want to be sure. On one hand its a nice visual to have a full tank but the fishes health of course comes first. And I do realize that there should be brackish water for the mollies. Ive heard 2 tablespoons every five gallons, and Ive heard there should be more?

Anyways, sorry for being long winded, any help would be greatly appreciated, if any of these questions seem dumb or obvious, realize that I am a beginner

-MW


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

1. Bio-spira is an "instant cycle" product that supposedly immediately give you all the filter bacteria you need in a bottle. You use it and add the fish at the same time. It can be hard to find. There are other instant and 'quick-cycle' products on the market. When they work, they are great. Bam, you're done. But if they fail (and they do), you are forced to cycle with fish, and usually you have a lot more fish than if you were intending to cycle with fish. So you scramble to find another "seed" that will work. 

2. For a 20 gallon tank, I'd change water with a 5 gallon bucket (I'd buy 2, one for clean water, one for dirty). You could treat the water and add anything you add (like salt for mollies), even let the water sit out overnight (in a warm place). You leave fish in the tank, siphon the water into a bucket, dump the dirty water in the toilet or flowerbed, then add the clean, treated water to the tank. There are hoses that go directly to sink, python is one. If you fill from the tap, you need to match the tank temp, and add enough dechlor for 20 gallons to the tank, before the clean water. If you treat in a bucket, you only need enough for 5. But you can see the appeal of pythons for larger tanks. 

3. I don't think neons and mollies would be overstocked, but I would never keep them together. Mollies do best in water that is either very hard or salty (lots of dissolved ions) and a ph > 7. Neons do best in water that is very soft (almost no dissolved solids) with no salt and a pH of < 7. I would probably do a school of tetras, a shoal of cories and maybe even one small dwarf cichlid (like an apisto). Or I would do Mollies. Which I would suggest depends on your tap water. It is easier just to pick fish that thrive in your water than to adjust it every time you change water. 

IMO variety is overrated. New fishkeepers often pick one of this and one of that in the hopes of getting a interesting tank. But although it makes a pretty picture on the boxes in the petstore, it actual makes for a boring tank. Fish are more interested in their own kind and schooling and breeding behaviors are more interesting than just a bunch of bachelors growing old together. If you have male and female mollies, you will have fry (babies) and may end up needing a second tank.


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## tallsmartman (May 18, 2010)

Thanks for the advice, 

Since the more I think about, (and look at the fish in the pet store) I seem to really be attracted to the neons. So A neon tank with cories does look appealing at this point. So for a 20 gallon tank, how many neons and how many cories would be appropriate?


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

1. Instant Ocean Bio-Spira is for marine tanks only. Don't use it in your freshwater aquarium. Try Seachem Stability instead. You don't need to add ammonia, but you do need either fish or an ammonia source. Stability is like an accelerant for the bacteria. It makes it cycle in a week instead of a month, which is not hard on the fish at all. 

2. You have it basically right. You will drain 25% of the tank. Try to get the gunk off the bottom of the tank when you do this. Fill a bucket with a similar temperature water (the human hand can tell the difference of down to a half a degree Celsius). Dechlorinate this water. And dump it in your tank.

3. Your stocking is fine, but as emc7 pointed out, the water requirements are different. The two fish will live together fine, but one will be slightly more prone to illness. The platies wont overstock it but they will push it to the limit of a new fishkeeper. 

You could probably do like 15 to 18 neons, and 4 dwarf cories. If you do a live planted tank, it would look really cool with the neons.


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## tallsmartman (May 18, 2010)

Could I put some Long Fin Red Minor Tetras with neons?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Yes, they'll mix okay, since neons are shortfinned. The minors will shred anything with long fins, though.


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

i agree with emc 7 in a smaller tank of that size you really are forced to go with schools of like 1 or 2 different species of small fish however when you get a big tank with schools of a bunch of different species its awesome im very quickly finding myself becoming obsessed with different botias and corydoras plus my tons of guppies look amazing i also have different species of fancy plecos with dwarf frogs and a couple dwarf cichlids like emc said an apistogramma would do great and let me tell you mine is just about my favorite fish!


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## tallsmartman (May 18, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> Yes, they'll mix okay, since neons are shortfinned. The minors will shred anything with long fins, though.


The minors will shred anything with long fins period? or anything with long fins besides others of their same kind?

As far as I know they are a schooling fish, so I should get multiples correct?


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## tallsmartman (May 18, 2010)

hmmmm... actually on second thought, I've been finding myself liking some of the platys I've been seeing. I was told that platys of different colors will school together, does anybody else know this to be true or false?


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

that is true


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Platies know no prejudices... we have sunset fires, candy wags, and dawn platies, and they all hang out together. (Oh, and the swordtails too)


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## Tallonebball (Apr 6, 2009)

Yeah with platys i would use the word schooling lightly lol sometimes they will be around each other haha


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## tallsmartman (May 18, 2010)

cool thanks


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## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

yeah very low end of the schooling scale i guess you could say really depends on the tank size and how many there are in my tank with my mollies and such you will see like groups of 2-3 then the loaners patrolling the bottom for scraps but they most certainly do enjoy each others company.


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