New Aquarium Owner with a couple of questions.

[Jeff]

Hello all. New to Aquariums (Had one as a kid 35 years ago) and new to this
group of course. I was wondering if someone might answer a couple of
questions. I just purchased a used tank, 20 gallon. It came with tank, pump,
stand etc. I have set it up and it doesnt leak or anything, which is a good
sign so far. But I do have a couple of questions.

1. The pump sits on the edge and pumps water out and back into the tank (Do
I sound like an aquarium newby yet?) and through a bag of what appears to be
charcoal. My question is"Should there be anything there other than the
charcoal?" and "Is this what they mean by mechanical filter?" If not, what
do they call this?

2. The former owner of the tank says the tank should be filled 3/4 full.
Well that doesnt look right and looking at other tanks they appear to be
full. So the question here is "How full should the tank be?"

3. I have been reading some on this subject and one of the issues was algae
buildup in the rocks. Short of taking all the rocks out and cleaning them,
which I am under the impression you should not do, will the vacuum that came
with the tank do the job? Are there some sort of "Algae Eater" fish that
would assist in this cleaning?

4. I would like to have fish that are above average in hardiness. What are
some fish types that wont die off right away if I do something wrong?

5. Are there any negatives to having frogs in the tank?

TIA
Jeff

[Eric]

On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:14:24 -0500, Jeff wrote
(in article >):


> 1. The pump sits on the edge and pumps water out and back into the tank (Do
> I sound like an aquarium newby yet?) and through a bag of what appears to be
> charcoal. My question is"Should there be anything there other than the
> charcoal?" and "Is this what they mean by mechanical filter?" If not, what
> do they call this?

Is the charcoal in a little frame that has a covering of fluffy dacron? If
so, the bag is itself the mechanical filter. If you just have a loose bag of
charcoal flopping around, you've probably got an Aquaclear power filter.
Congratulations, these are quality products. However, you are correct in
inferring that there are missing components. Aquaclears have a little sponge
for mechanical filtration and a bag of little cylinders that support
nitrifying bacteria. You can get replacements at most big box pet supply
stores as well as at the local fish shop (LFS). Beware, Aquaclear also makes
zeolite ammonia remover bags. You want to stay away from these as an everyday
component of your filter setup.

> 2. The former owner of the tank says the tank should be filled 3/4 full.
> Well that doesnt look right and looking at other tanks they appear to be
> full. So the question here is "How full should the tank be?"

Up to the bottom of the black part of the plastic top frame. Maybe a little
lower depending on the surface action you want from the filter.

> 3. I have been reading some on this subject and one of the issues was algae
> buildup in the rocks. Short of taking all the rocks out and cleaning them,
> which I am under the impression you should not do, will the vacuum that came
> with the tank do the job? Are there some sort of "Algae Eater" fish that
> would assist in this cleaning?

Axiom number one: Algae will not kill your fish. Beginners sometimes panic
over this sort of thing and take fatal actions.

Using the gravel vacuum and taking out about four gallons of water every
other week and then topping off with dechlor water will is about the best
thing you could do for your fish.

Many people think that you just *have to* have some kind of algae eating
fish. This is not true. There are many benefits to having one, but there are
costs also. The otocinclus catfish is a good choice for smaller tanks, but
does not do well in brand new setups and will starve without adequate algae
or supplimental feeding with plant material.

> 4. I would like to have fish that are above average in hardiness. What are
> some fish types that wont die off right away if I do something wrong?

Start slow. Let the tank run for a few days before getting fish and then just
get a couple of little fish for the first few weeks. If all seems ok after
month, add a few more. Be mindful of the adult size when selecting fish.
Small is beautiful.

My number one beginner fish is the White Cloud Mountain fish. You didn't
mention that you had a heater and white clouds do fine without one. they do
fine with one too. Other faves are black skirt tetras, gold barbs, and zebra
danios. Livebearer supplies are unreliable, I wouldn't start out with them.


>
> 5. Are there any negatives to having frogs in the tank?

A couple of dwarf African frogs wouldn't hurt, but these guys are a bit
messy.

Hope all this helps

[NetMax]

"Jeff" > wrote in message
...
> Hello all. New to Aquariums (Had one as a kid 35 years ago) and new to
> this
> group of course. I was wondering if someone might answer a couple of
> questions. I just purchased a used tank, 20 gallon. It came with tank,
> pump,
> stand etc. I have set it up and it doesnt leak or anything, which is a
> good
> sign so far. But I do have a couple of questions.

http://www.2cah.com/netmax/basics/changes/changes.shtml was an article I
wrote on a variety of stuff which has changed or appeared in the last 30
years. It might answer some questions you haven't even thought of yet
;~).

> 1. The pump sits on the edge and pumps water out and back into the tank
> (Do
> I sound like an aquarium newby yet?) and through a bag of what appears
> to be
> charcoal. My question is"Should there be anything there other than the
> charcoal?" and "Is this what they mean by mechanical filter?" If not,
> what
> do they call this?

The is commonly called a powerfilter or an HOB (hang on back). They
typically have a sponge for mechanical & biological filtration and
optionally can have a bag of activated carbon (charcoal) for chemical
filtration. The life span of activated carbon is measured in weeks, so
it's just a bag of black rocks now. You can throw away the carbon and
for the first go around, add a fresh bag. After that, most don't
regularly use carbon, other than for special applications.

> 2. The former owner of the tank says the tank should be filled 3/4
> full.
> Well that doesnt look right and looking at other tanks they appear to
> be
> full. So the question here is "How full should the tank be?"

To within about 1 cm of the trim, at least high enough so that you cannot
see the waterline after filling, or after a few weeks of evaporation. If
your water level is low, your powerfilter will cascade the water down,
making a waterfall sound. Not neccesarily a bad thing unless you like it
quiet.

> 3. I have been reading some on this subject and one of the issues was
> algae
> buildup in the rocks. Short of taking all the rocks out and cleaning
> them,
> which I am under the impression you should not do, will the vacuum that
> came
> with the tank do the job? Are there some sort of "Algae Eater" fish
> that
> would assist in this cleaning?

First, algae is jusy another type of aquatic plant. If you are earnest
about keeping your tank free of all algae, then you will be making lots
of work for yourself. The objective is to either have the algae growing
where it is unobstructive, or to achieve a balance with the levels of
light, plants & fish which minimizes the amount of algae so that algae
eaters keep it completely under control. Algae eaters will not always
compensate for a severe imbalance, such as when sunlight reaches the
tank. In terms of algae eaters, there is a wide assortment of fish,
snails and even shrimp, depending on the type of algae (they don't all
eat every kind), but with a new tank, I would not even bother with an
algae eater for a few months. The algae you initially get will probably
not be representative of the type which settles in (generally the algae
you have is the type your fish will not eat, which is quite logical, as
your fish would have eaten it ;~). In regards to taking the rocks out, I
just turn them upside down sometimes.

> 4. I would like to have fish that are above average in hardiness. What
> are
> some fish types that wont die off right away if I do something wrong?

None, but the good news is that they are all mostly quite hardy once they
have acclimated, in clean water with a proper diet. Generally, the
smaller the fish, the less hardy it will be to bad conditions, transport
and acclimation. Size = reserve energy, which small fish do not have.
Also any fish with specialized diets might have you at a disadvantage as
they might not have eaten well for weeks before arriving at your tank.
Consequently, small fish with specialized diets are to be avoided for
several months (ie: Oto algae eaters).

> 5. Are there any negatives to having frogs in the tank?
Many, most will not happily co-exist with fish and other aquatic
creatures. They either sit above or below in the food chain. Also most
frogs have a terrestrial component in their life cycle. True aquatic
frogs such as the African gets to about 4-5" and is a very good predator
(if he doesn't get eaten before he grows up). There is an African Dwarf
frog which stays small and will co-exist with certain set-ups, such as
those having small fish and an availability of suitable foods (frogs can
be very picky eaters).

I'd suggest that you spend a little time here
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html especially in regards to cycling the
tank.

cheers
--
www.NetMax.tk

> TIA
> Jeff
>
>

[Jeff]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Jeff" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello all. New to Aquariums (Had one as a kid 35 years ago) and new to
> > this
> > group of course. I was wondering if someone might answer a couple of
> > questions. I just purchased a used tank, 20 gallon. It came with tank,
> > pump,
> > stand etc. I have set it up and it doesnt leak or anything, which is a
> > good
> > sign so far. But I do have a couple of questions.
>
> http://www.2cah.com/netmax/basics/changes/changes.shtml was an article I
> wrote on a variety of stuff which has changed or appeared in the last 30
> years. It might answer some questions you haven't even thought of yet
> ;~).
>
> > 1. The pump sits on the edge and pumps water out and back into the tank
> > (Do
> > I sound like an aquarium newby yet?) and through a bag of what appears
> > to be
> > charcoal. My question is"Should there be anything there other than the
> > charcoal?" and "Is this what they mean by mechanical filter?" If not,
> > what
> > do they call this?
>
> The is commonly called a powerfilter or an HOB (hang on back). They
> typically have a sponge for mechanical & biological filtration and
> optionally can have a bag of activated carbon (charcoal) for chemical
> filtration. The life span of activated carbon is measured in weeks, so
> it's just a bag of black rocks now. You can throw away the carbon and
> for the first go around, add a fresh bag. After that, most don't
> regularly use carbon, other than for special applications.
>
> > 2. The former owner of the tank says the tank should be filled 3/4
> > full.
> > Well that doesnt look right and looking at other tanks they appear to
> > be
> > full. So the question here is "How full should the tank be?"
>
> To within about 1 cm of the trim, at least high enough so that you cannot
> see the waterline after filling, or after a few weeks of evaporation. If
> your water level is low, your powerfilter will cascade the water down,
> making a waterfall sound. Not neccesarily a bad thing unless you like it
> quiet.
>
> > 3. I have been reading some on this subject and one of the issues was
> > algae
> > buildup in the rocks. Short of taking all the rocks out and cleaning
> > them,
> > which I am under the impression you should not do, will the vacuum that
> > came
> > with the tank do the job? Are there some sort of "Algae Eater" fish
> > that
> > would assist in this cleaning?
>
> First, algae is jusy another type of aquatic plant. If you are earnest
> about keeping your tank free of all algae, then you will be making lots
> of work for yourself. The objective is to either have the algae growing
> where it is unobstructive, or to achieve a balance with the levels of
> light, plants & fish which minimizes the amount of algae so that algae
> eaters keep it completely under control. Algae eaters will not always
> compensate for a severe imbalance, such as when sunlight reaches the
> tank. In terms of algae eaters, there is a wide assortment of fish,
> snails and even shrimp, depending on the type of algae (they don't all
> eat every kind), but with a new tank, I would not even bother with an
> algae eater for a few months. The algae you initially get will probably
> not be representative of the type which settles in (generally the algae
> you have is the type your fish will not eat, which is quite logical, as
> your fish would have eaten it ;~). In regards to taking the rocks out, I
> just turn them upside down sometimes.
>
> > 4. I would like to have fish that are above average in hardiness. What
> > are
> > some fish types that wont die off right away if I do something wrong?
>
> None, but the good news is that they are all mostly quite hardy once they
> have acclimated, in clean water with a proper diet. Generally, the
> smaller the fish, the less hardy it will be to bad conditions, transport
> and acclimation. Size = reserve energy, which small fish do not have.
> Also any fish with specialized diets might have you at a disadvantage as
> they might not have eaten well for weeks before arriving at your tank.
> Consequently, small fish with specialized diets are to be avoided for
> several months (ie: Oto algae eaters).
>
> > 5. Are there any negatives to having frogs in the tank?
> Many, most will not happily co-exist with fish and other aquatic
> creatures. They either sit above or below in the food chain. Also most
> frogs have a terrestrial component in their life cycle. True aquatic
> frogs such as the African gets to about 4-5" and is a very good predator
> (if he doesn't get eaten before he grows up). There is an African Dwarf
> frog which stays small and will co-exist with certain set-ups, such as
> those having small fish and an availability of suitable foods (frogs can
> be very picky eaters).
>
> I'd suggest that you spend a little time here
> http://faq.thekrib.com/begin.html especially in regards to cycling the
> tank.
>
> cheers
> --
> www.NetMax.tk
>

Thanks to both Eric and Netmax. Great information. I was headed out to buy
fish Sunday but know I have to wait. The pump is an Aquaclear and now I know
I need to get the spnge and replace the charcoal (which is in a bag). Just
thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it.

[danny]

hi,
im not sure on any of the others but a gr8 starter fish is a platy a
must have, and when full grown look lovely. make sure you only get 1
gender though otherwise they might get a little busy and your tank will
be overstocked.

danny

[Steve]

danny wrote:
> hi,
> im not sure on any of the others but a gr8 starter fish is a platy a
> must have, and when full grown look lovely. make sure you only get 1
> gender though otherwise they might get a little busy and your tank will
> be overstocked.
>
> danny
>

Any females may already be carrying young.

Males by themselves, if they're like my last sole swordtail, may harass
other species of fish. Mine seemed to think that harlequin rasboras were
female swordtails - stressful on the harlequins.

It's likely best to get a mixture of the sexes, and let nature take its
course.

I do agree that platies/ swordtails make great aquarium fish!
Steve

[Beano]

Answer to question 4:
Guppies. When I was a kid we had creek guppies breeding in chlorinated
water. That was when we were kids and didn't know about chlorine. But
they bred.

Fancy guppies, are a bit more sensitive but I have forgotten to
dechlorinate their new water once when I was more of a beginner at fish
keeping - the neons in the tank died within 5 minutes, but the guppies
swam merrily around! Having said that, I'm sure they would have died
sooner or later, so I definitely don't recommend forgetting the
dechlorinator! But in my experience, guppies are pretty hardy.

When you say "hardie" do you also mean fish that live a long time? I
used to think that I had done something wrong when the occasional fish
would die, but it soon occurred to me that smaller fish don't have the
biggest life spans...

[Eric]

On Sat, 1 Oct 2005 16:13:38 -0500, danny wrote
(in article . com>):

>
> hi,
> im not sure on any of the others but a gr8 starter fish is a platy a
> must have, and when full grown look lovely. make sure you only get 1
> gender though otherwise they might get a little busy and your tank will
> be overstocked.

be careful with platties. I don't think that livebearers are as strong as
they were back in the day.

I'd start with zebra danios, white clouds, or black skirt tetras.

-E

[Eric]

On Sat, 1 Oct 2005 18:52:00 -0500, Steve wrote
(in article >):


> I do agree that platies/ swordtails make great aquarium fish!
> Steve


Swords need a lot of space to reach their full potential.

-E

[Eric]

On Sat, 1 Oct 2005 21:59:04 -0500, Beano wrote
(in article . com>):

> Answer to question 4:
> Guppies. When I was a kid we had creek guppies breeding in chlorinated
> water. That was when we were kids and didn't know about chlorine. But
> they bred.

Creek guppies? If you were anywhere in the southern US, you probably had
mosquitofish of the genus Gambusia. Mosquitofish are tough customers. If you
had let your tank water have just a little time to dechlorinate naturally,
I'm sure they could have done fine.


>
> When you say "hardie" do you also mean fish that live a long time? I
> used to think that I had done something wrong when the occasional fish
> would die, but it soon occurred to me that smaller fish don't have the
> biggest life spans...

Hardy fish are not necessarily those with the longest lifespan, they are the
are the fish that best survive the harsh conditions of the aquatics trade and
are relatively insensitive to fluctuating water chemistries.

-E

[John D. Goulden]

> 3. I have been reading some on this subject and one of the issues was
> algae
> buildup in the rocks. Short of taking all the rocks out and cleaning them,
> which I am under the impression you should not do, will the vacuum that
> came
> with the tank do the job? Are there some sort of "Algae Eater" fish that
> would assist in this cleaning?

Welcome to rafm - newbies are always welcome here. We all hope you enjoy
your return to aquaria. Make sure you read up on "cycling" before you get
your fish. If you decide to venture into goldfish check out r.a.f.goldfish
as well.

You already have good answers to many of your questions, so I'll just throw
in my .02 on this one. I'm a big advocate of planted tanks - that is, plenty
of live plants. They do a lot for maintaining a healthy ecosystem for the
fish and also compete with algae for nutrients (so in other words live
plants help keep the algae down). The problem with so-called "algae eaters"
is that (a) many of them don't really eat much algae, especially as adults
and (b) their temperature and salinity requirements may differ from those of
the other fish you may desire to keep. Many tropicals do best in a heated
(78F or so) tank with some added aquarium salt; many "algae eaters" are
scaleless and can't tolerate much salt, and many prefer a cooler tank.

Let us know how it goes.

--
John Goulden
mostly goldies, guppies, swordtails and bettas

[A Man]

On Sat, 01 Oct 2005 01:14:24 GMT in article <Qpl%e.4077$zw5.3332
@tornado.texas.rr.com>, spoke thusly...
> 1. The pump sits on the edge and pumps water out and back into the tank (Do
> I sound like an aquarium newby yet?) and through a bag of what appears to be
> charcoal. My question is"Should there be anything there other than the
> charcoal?" and "Is this what they mean by mechanical filter?" If not, what
> do they call this?

This is a Hang On Back filter (HOB). The charcoal removes chemical
contaminants. The bag allows good bacteria to grow on it which eats ammonia
and nitrites. DO NOT CHANGE THIS BAG, change only the charcoal inside. DO NOT
USE CHLORINATED WATER to clean the bag, chlorine kills the good bacteria and
your tank will cycle. Which means ammonia will rise and some fish will die.
Actually, I have never used charcoal (actually it is activated charcoal,
which is different) and my tanks have been fine for 6 months. The filter also
keeps small bits of debris, like pieces of plants, from rotting inside your
tank.

So the filter is a combo filter: chemical (from the charcoal), mechanical
(filters out bits of debris) and biological (bacteria grows and eats
ammonia).

>
> 2. The former owner of the tank says the tank should be filled 3/4 full.
> Well that doesnt look right and looking at other tanks they appear to be
> full. So the question here is "How full should the tank be?"

Tanks can be filled to 1" of top, unless you have crayfish. For crayfish,
fill water no more than 12" because they need more oxygen, and so they won't
crawl out.

>
> 3. I have been reading some on this subject and one of the issues was algae
> buildup in the rocks. Short of taking all the rocks out and cleaning them,
> which I am under the impression you should not do, will the vacuum that came
> with the tank do the job? Are there some sort of "Algae Eater" fish that
> would assist in this cleaning?

Yes. Otocinclus is the best, or some type of cherry shrimp. NOT chinese algae
eater, NOT siamese algae eater.

>
> 4. I would like to have fish that are above average in hardiness. What are
> some fish types that wont die off right away if I do something wrong?

See www.thekrib.com and faq.thekrib.com.
Good starter fish: danios, white cloud mountain minnows, platys, guppies.
Bad starter fish: neon tetras, goldfish, plecos.

>
> 5. Are there any negatives to having frogs in the tank?

They are messy and will contribute more than their share of ammonia to the
tank, and they often eat only live food. Depends on the species. They will
also eat small fish, if the frog is big enough, like neon tetras and white
cloud mountain minnows. Otherwise they will not bother larger fish.

Go to www.thekrib.com and faq.thekrib.com for 2 good FAQs on aquariums, it
will cover all the common problems beginners and advanced people have.

--
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