5gal Hex-bio wheel-Betta & Cat or 2 small fish & Cat?

Hello,

I've been reading through some of the postings at this group and at
afew aquarium sites and just joined, any advice even though my new tank
is small would be appreciated. Perhaps later on I'll get a larger
tank...

After having had an aquarium many years ago when we were kids, I bought
a small 5 gallon Aquatech Hex with the bio wheel and the blue/white
carbon filter. I also got the 5-15gal heater since it is adjustable
and since we don't have central air/heating, it can get pretty cool in
our house during winter. I also have a small thermometer attached
inside and will get the small strip thermometer for the outside.
I set up the tank Sunday evening, with a little less than the 5# bag of
gravel, a few smooth stones, a plaster driftwood ornament (where fish
can hide or swim through underneath), 1 small round coral
ornament-about 2 3/4" in diameter, and bought two lilly bulbs in a
pack, will see how these grow, supposedly in about 20 days. I did
initially put 2 5# bags of gravel but read about how much harder it
will be to maintain and clean too much gravel-so took out a little more
than half, the bottom is covered well.
After reading on the web in this group and at other sites about the 1"
(full grown)/ gallon rule, I see how limited my options are. I didn't
want to start out with a large tank but perhaps I should have bit the
bullet and at least got a 20 or 29 gallon tank.
I'm leaning toward a male betta and maybe one of the small albino
catfish later on to help keep the tank kind of clean. I'll get the
vacuum gravel cleaner, will get the test strips that also check for
ammonia before I put any fish in. I've had a couple of male bettas
before, they are sweet-had them in bowls (medium sized, about half a
gallon), realize they do need better living conditions-I know the cool
house in the winter did them in, and they need more than betta flake
food-brine shrimp, blood worms for their diet.
If I get the small catfish, did I read right in that they eat algae
tablets and brine shrimp for their diet? Do they have to have the
algae tabs every day since don't they eat the stuff at the bottom of
the tank?
One more question-when I removed the excess gravel from the tank, I
noticed a small amount of fine dust from the gravel on some of the
larger stones, the driftwood ornament and coral, and a little on the
outer lower tube of the pumps intake, Would the gravel vacuum remove
this or will I have to take everything out again and re-rinse
everything?
I realize this is a small tank, not the larger tanks that most people
have but any advice would be appreciated, small tank owners chime in
also, please- thanks and
regards,

ko57

ko57 wrote:
Hello,

I've been reading through some of the postings at this group and at
afew aquarium sites and just joined, any advice even though my new tank
is small would be appreciated. Perhaps later on I'll get a larger
tank...

After having had an aquarium many years ago when we were kids, I bought
a small 5 gallon Aquatech Hex with the bio wheel and the blue/white
carbon filter. I also got the 5-15gal heater since it is adjustable
and since we don't have central air/heating, it can get pretty cool in
our house during winter. I also have a small thermometer attached
inside and will get the small strip thermometer for the outside.
I set up the tank Sunday evening, with a little less than the 5# bag of
gravel, a few smooth stones, a plaster driftwood ornament (where fish
can hide or swim through underneath), 1 small round coral
ornament-about 2 3/4" in diameter, and bought two lilly bulbs in a
pack, will see how these grow, supposedly in about 20 days. I did
initially put 2 5# bags of gravel but read about how much harder it
will be to maintain and clean too much gravel-so took out a little more
than half, the bottom is covered well.
After reading on the web in this group and at other sites about the 1"
(full grown)/ gallon rule, I see how limited my options are. I didn't
want to start out with a large tank but perhaps I should have bit the
bullet and at least got a 20 or 29 gallon tank.
I'm leaning toward a male betta and maybe one of the small albino
catfish later on to help keep the tank kind of clean. I'll get the
vacuum gravel cleaner, will get the test strips that also check for
ammonia before I put any fish in. I've had a couple of male bettas
before, they are sweet-had them in bowls (medium sized, about half a
gallon), realize they do need better living conditions-I know the cool
house in the winter did them in, and they need more than betta flake
food-brine shrimp, blood worms for their diet.
If I get the small catfish, did I read right in that they eat algae
tablets and brine shrimp for their diet? Do they have to have the
algae tabs every day since don't they eat the stuff at the bottom of
the tank?
One more question-when I removed the excess gravel from the tank, I
noticed a small amount of fine dust from the gravel on some of the
larger stones, the driftwood ornament and coral, and a little on the
outer lower tube of the pumps intake, Would the gravel vacuum remove
this or will I have to take everything out again and re-rinse
everything?
I realize this is a small tank, not the larger tanks that most people
have but any advice would be appreciated, small tank owners chime in
also, please- thanks and
regards,

ko57

I've got two 5 gall heated tanks - I have one male Betta in each of
them. I toy with the idea of adding some Cories from time to time but
haven't got round to it yet. The Betta's look great in these little
tanks and swim around them actively :-). I also have a 7.5 gall heated
Hex tank in which I keep Peacock Gobies (difficult to find) and Panda
Cories.

When looking at catfish what they eat really depends on the species.
Otos will eat algae but the otos I have in one of my larger tanks will
only eat real live algae - I had them in one of the 5 galls once and
there just was not enough food to sustain them hence their move. Corys
won't eat the algae but are great fun to watch - mine get catfish
pellets along with bloodworm and brine shrimp. They do root around in
the bottom taking up some waste food. Both Cories and Otos need to be
kept in groups - I have 5 in my 7.5 gall although I have heard that they
do well enough with just 3.

The main problem that I get with my 5 gall tanks is controlling the
temperature as the lights heat such a small volume of water quite
quickly so this is something to watch for - that being said I still need
the heaters when the temperatures drop overnight. The second most common
problem is issues with water quality - a smaller tank is less tolerant
to any changes - (less water to dilute it). Rather than a second
thermometer I would suggest investing in a Water Test Kit - you will
want to monitor ammonia, nitrite, pH and nitrate initially as the tank
cycles....You will also need to do more frequent (larger) water changes
on a tank of this size along with the gravel vacs to maintain the
quality. Personally I would get at least one ready grown plant in
addition to your bulbs.

As for fish there are any number of fish that you could put in depending
on your water type. I'm biased towards the betta idea - but a small
school of tetras could also look good....others on this group are also
full of ideas on this....

Gill

Thanks for your input, Gill-

I'm waiting to introduce any fish, keeping an eye on the heater-plugged
in and unplugged, how it relates to our fluctuating temperatures day &
night. So far, inside today, no house heaters-it's moderate at 74
degrees, the tank heater's not plugged in and hood light off the water
was 74 also. About half an hour ago I plugged it in, barely nudging
the lever, it hadn't come on and if so not right away, so at least it
does have an off or close to that setting. About 74.5 degrees now,
nudged the lever a bit more. If I put it to the arrow that it suggests
my tank the first night got up to 84d, so I unplugged it.

I realize the water especially in the smaller tanks might need more
careful maintenance. Gill, can you give me an idea of how much and how
frequent your water changes are? I'm wondering if you do something
like 20% once a week for say 3 weeks then at the fourth week maybe a
larger percentage? Any tips on this would be appreciated also. I got
my equipment at WalMart; I've seen testing strips that include the
ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, ph and perhaps a couple of other things on
one strip that I can order off the web if Wal doesn't have that. I
wanted to get those little strip thermometers that go on the outside
glass-about $1.49-for a quick look, and noticed they have the gravel
vacs, so will probably stop in this evening.

I notice that gravel dust looks like it's on the surface of the water
like a "pool", maybe slime?? Doesn't cover the top totally but it's
floating-I'd definitely say from the gravel. I'll check the filter
inlet tube, I don't think it would be clogged but... Do you think the
vacuum would clear that and the dust that settled on the rocks? If not
I guess I'll take everything out & do a final rinse with anti-chlor
added to my rinse water. When I got the kit, I noticed the blue filter
packs were out of stock. I'll probably order a supply of those to hold
me over.

I read where tetras might want cooler water-74-76 or so, where as I
believe the bettas can have a little warmer water, perhaps not so much
an issue in the summer. I think the tank will be fine in the summer,
the ac is opposite the wall of the tank, I can turn vents toward or
away as needed. I am leaning toward a betta, just need to get the tank
water right and take the plunge.

Thanks Gill, your comments opened my eyes a bit more, the bettas are
cute, they are playful, I just would want to keep it healthy. If you
have any more advice, especially about your water changing routine I'd
love to hear about it, I'm sure that would be helpful to a few of us
newbe's out here.

Best regards,

ko57
in s.e. Louisiana, where the weather seems to change every 5 minutes

ko57 wrote:
Thanks for your input, Gill-

I'm waiting to introduce any fish, keeping an eye on the heater-plugged
in and unplugged, how it relates to our fluctuating temperatures day &
night. So far, inside today, no house heaters-it's moderate at 74
degrees, the tank heater's not plugged in and hood light off the water
was 74 also. About half an hour ago I plugged it in, barely nudging
the lever, it hadn't come on and if so not right away, so at least it
does have an off or close to that setting. About 74.5 degrees now,
nudged the lever a bit more. If I put it to the arrow that it suggests
my tank the first night got up to 84d, so I unplugged it.

I realize the water especially in the smaller tanks might need more
careful maintenance. Gill, can you give me an idea of how much and how
frequent your water changes are? I'm wondering if you do something
like 20% once a week for say 3 weeks then at the fourth week maybe a
larger percentage? Any tips on this would be appreciated also. I got
my equipment at WalMart; I've seen testing strips that include the
ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, ph and perhaps a couple of other things on
one strip that I can order off the web if Wal doesn't have that. I
wanted to get those little strip thermometers that go on the outside
glass-about $1.49-for a quick look, and noticed they have the gravel
vacs, so will probably stop in this evening.

I notice that gravel dust looks like it's on the surface of the water
like a "pool", maybe slime?? Doesn't cover the top totally but it's
floating-I'd definitely say from the gravel. I'll check the filter
inlet tube, I don't think it would be clogged but... Do you think the
vacuum would clear that and the dust that settled on the rocks? If not
I guess I'll take everything out & do a final rinse with anti-chlor
added to my rinse water. When I got the kit, I noticed the blue filter
packs were out of stock. I'll probably order a supply of those to hold
me over.

I read where tetras might want cooler water-74-76 or so, where as I
believe the bettas can have a little warmer water, perhaps not so much
an issue in the summer. I think the tank will be fine in the summer,
the ac is opposite the wall of the tank, I can turn vents toward or
away as needed. I am leaning toward a betta, just need to get the tank
water right and take the plunge.

Thanks Gill, your comments opened my eyes a bit more, the bettas are
cute, they are playful, I just would want to keep it healthy. If you
have any more advice, especially about your water changing routine I'd
love to hear about it, I'm sure that would be helpful to a few of us
newbe's out here.

Best regards,

ko57
in s.e. Louisiana, where the weather seems to change every 5 minutes


Basically I have a weekly maintenance routine on all the tanks....the
betta tanks get around a 15-20% change once a week. The water is treated
for chlorine/chloramine and heavy metals....this is no different to the
way I treat all of my tanks unless there is a specific problem. A 15-20%
change on a small tank though is a lot quicker to do than on one of the
47.5UK gall tanks :-)

On the dust problem, I would say almost certainly it is coming out of
the gravel. As you have no fish as yet it might be worth taking it out
and doing a few more rinses....I'm a little bit fanatical on rinsing my
gravel before putting it into a new tank mainly as I see a little bit
more effort at the start gives better results....I do know others that
are not so fanatical that still get very good results as the dust
settles....very much how you feel about it and how important it is...

The temp control in these small tanks is forever worrying me but then I
look at the fish and see that they are happy and content and wonder if I
worry too much. In the summer when it gets really warm I vent the tanks
by leaving part of the hood open - you get a bit more evaporation but I
compensate by doing an extra water change if nec (I don't top up as this
just concentrates minerals etc....).

In terms of heating, I just checked my two betta tanks that are in the
same room within a couple of feet of eachother...the heater was on
briefly in Boris's tank next to the back door but off in Bob's tank
which is further into the room. In the summer, unless we get a chill
evening, I don't expect either heater to come on...they are just there
to stop any wild temp fluctuations especially as the house cools
considerably at night at this time of year when the heating goes off at
night - this is more to keep a constant minimum rather than heat the
water up to a max. The best bet is to set the thermostat to the optimum
temperature required by the fish that you chose and just watch for any
over heating and address as necessary. That way you ensure that they do
not get chilled....

Gill

In UK where the temp has suddenly dipped from 15C to around 2C max in a
few days...sneezing like anything - got my winter cold :-(

ko57 wrote:
Hello,

I've been reading through some of the postings at this group and at
afew aquarium sites and just joined, any advice even though my new tank
is small would be appreciated. Perhaps later on I'll get a larger
tank...

After having had an aquarium many years ago when we were kids, I bought
a small 5 gallon Aquatech Hex with the bio wheel and the blue/white
carbon filter. I also got the 5-15gal heater since it is adjustable
and since we don't have central air/heating, it can get pretty cool in
our house during winter. I also have a small thermometer attached
inside and will get the small strip thermometer for the outside.
I set up the tank Sunday evening, with a little less than the 5# bag of
gravel, a few smooth stones, a plaster driftwood ornament (where fish
can hide or swim through underneath), 1 small round coral
ornament-about 2 3/4" in diameter, and bought two lilly bulbs in a
pack, will see how these grow, supposedly in about 20 days. I did
initially put 2 5# bags of gravel but read about how much harder it
will be to maintain and clean too much gravel-so took out a little more
than half, the bottom is covered well.
After reading on the web in this group and at other sites about the 1"
(full grown)/ gallon rule, I see how limited my options are. I didn't
want to start out with a large tank but perhaps I should have bit the
bullet and at least got a 20 or 29 gallon tank.
I'm leaning toward a male betta and maybe one of the small albino
catfish later on to help keep the tank kind of clean. I'll get the
vacuum gravel cleaner, will get the test strips that also check for
ammonia before I put any fish in. I've had a couple of male bettas
before, they are sweet-had them in bowls (medium sized, about half a
gallon), realize they do need better living conditions-I know the cool
house in the winter did them in, and they need more than betta flake
food-brine shrimp, blood worms for their diet.
If I get the small catfish, did I read right in that they eat algae
tablets and brine shrimp for their diet? Do they have to have the
algae tabs every day since don't they eat the stuff at the bottom of
the tank?
One more question-when I removed the excess gravel from the tank, I
noticed a small amount of fine dust from the gravel on some of the
larger stones, the driftwood ornament and coral, and a little on the
outer lower tube of the pumps intake, Would the gravel vacuum remove
this or will I have to take everything out again and re-rinse
everything?
I realize this is a small tank, not the larger tanks that most people
have but any advice would be appreciated, small tank owners chime in
also, please- thanks and
regards,

ko57

Ko57...
Welcome back to the hobby. = )
You wrote:

After reading on the web in this group and at other sites about the
1"
(full grown)/ gallon rule, I see how limited my options are..

This isn't really valid in the hobby anymore. Hasn't been for many,
many years.
The length of a fish is not the only thing that needs to be considered
when choosing or housing fish.
If that rule were correct, you could keep a 10" Oscar in a 10g tank.
You couldn't keep a 10" Oscar in a 20g tank.
Things like territorial issues, body mass, waste production (some fish
put out tons more than others...ei Goldfish, African Dwarf Frogs, etc),
etc all need to be considered.
So forget that old myth. It's pretty useless.

Welcome back to the hobby. = )

A late thanks to you and your comments, Tynk. Here's an update since
my last posts:

I did get a male betta the evening of that post, he's red with some
blue-violet and I do enjoy having him. Here's some shots I have
posted:

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...a=31996266&f=0

The first 3 photos are a couple of days after I first got him, the last
four were taken earlier today. I try not to overfeed, he has a good
appetite. I use Hakari's betta bio-gold bits; baby brine shrimp-for
added roughage, Wardley's tropical flakes-came with the tank, and
bloodworms-so variety is there. I don't feed him all these things at
the same time, and feed about twice a day, and about 1-2 days in the
week I feed him once. I think he's part pig, would eat every few hours
if allowed. He swims around well, love to watch him.

When I bought him his fins seemed just a little bit ragged, seems they
still are, maybe more-so. Should I do more frequent/smaller water
changes? Say 10-15% every few days, and touch up with aquarium salt?
The gravel washer I have works but siphons out the water so fast; next
time I use it I'll keep a better eye on it, remove Rudolf (doesn't like
the net ;O ) and maybe stir it up more to get a good vacuum. I wound
up cutting the vacuum tube with a Dremel, it was too long-so I cut it
down to about 4 inches. I've seen a smaller diameter vacuum tube
online, might try to get that (or just make one) so I don't loose so
much water so fast.

I did the first water change-half the amount, on 12/8, and today I did
a 3 gallon out of about 4.8gals water change. 3 days ago I did add
some Fungus clear (Jungle, 1/2 tab), not the eliminator, I did not take
the carbon out of my filter (probably got wasted). I used and measured
(for the 3 gallons replaced) AquaSafe, stress coat, stress zyme, ace, 1
tsp aquarium salt, and about 1/2 hour after the change, 5 drops of
quick clear. Enough chemicals...
I left the filter in-should I change it out (it's been in only a week)
or should I wait until next week after a small water change and then
replace it? I guess that Fungus eliminator got neutralized in the
carbon I might try again.
When I first put him in the tank, he seemed glad for all the room to
swim in. He'd make and have his bubble nests. After I did the first
water change, and I "disturbed/destroyed" his nest, he hasn't made one
since.

I did get an air stone with a small pump and gang-valve adjustment set
up, after reading you need to add oxygen when adding certain water
treatments like a.c.e. He will play with the bubbles-not set high,
just a stream, but I don't leave it on. I'm hoping those 2 Lily bulbs
will sprout soon-due 12/17-so he can have a leaf to rest on. I have
some Java Moss ordered, so he can rest or hide on that too.

I tested our tap water, it seems to have no ammonia, but it looked like
the tank water I tested before the water change had a little: I had a
"safe" on nitrates, "caution" on nitrites, 150 hardness, 120
alkalinity, 7-7.2ph . I tested 2.5 hours after the water change, seems
no ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrates,150 on hardness, 120-150 alkalinity,
6.8-7ph..

I know I have a bit to learn, I think I get caught up in the technical
side, but I'm keeping an eye on his fins. I think I can add a tad more
salt for theraputic benefits for his fins, not just a maintenance dose.
If that doesn't seem to work I might order some Kanaplex or Maracyn.
The manager in pets at WalMart (he has tanks, birds, dogs...) said he's
never used testing kits, he claims let nature take it's course. It
does seem that his fins are growing, and the two long/thin fins in the
front behind his gills have white/light blue tips. I read this
indicates new growth. (Does't look like anything bad). Hope i'm not
worrying too much...

ko57 wrote:
Welcome back to the hobby. = )

A late thanks to you and your comments, Tynk. Here's an update since
my last posts:

I did get a male betta the evening of that post, he's red with some
blue-violet and I do enjoy having him. Here's some shots I have
posted:

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/Albu...a=31996266&f=0

The first 3 photos are a couple of days after I first got him, the last
four were taken earlier today. I try not to overfeed, he has a good
appetite. I use Hakari's betta bio-gold bits; baby brine shrimp-for
added roughage, Wardley's tropical flakes-came with the tank, and
bloodworms-so variety is there. I don't feed him all these things at
the same time, and feed about twice a day, and about 1-2 days in the
week I feed him once. I think he's part pig, would eat every few hours
if allowed. He swims around well, love to watch him.

When I bought him his fins seemed just a little bit ragged, seems they
still are, maybe more-so. Should I do more frequent/smaller water
changes? Say 10-15% every few days, and touch up with aquarium salt?
The gravel washer I have works but siphons out the water so fast; next
time I use it I'll keep a better eye on it, remove Rudolf (doesn't like
the net ;O ) and maybe stir it up more to get a good vacuum. I wound
up cutting the vacuum tube with a Dremel, it was too long-so I cut it
down to about 4 inches. I've seen a smaller diameter vacuum tube
online, might try to get that (or just make one) so I don't loose so
much water so fast.

I did the first water change-half the amount, on 12/8, and today I did
a 3 gallon out of about 4.8gals water change. 3 days ago I did add
some Fungus clear (Jungle, 1/2 tab), not the eliminator, I did not take
the carbon out of my filter (probably got wasted). I used and measured
(for the 3 gallons replaced) AquaSafe, stress coat, stress zyme, ace, 1
tsp aquarium salt, and about 1/2 hour after the change, 5 drops of
quick clear. Enough chemicals...
I left the filter in-should I change it out (it's been in only a week)
or should I wait until next week after a small water change and then
replace it? I guess that Fungus eliminator got neutralized in the
carbon I might try again.
When I first put him in the tank, he seemed glad for all the room to
swim in. He'd make and have his bubble nests. After I did the first
water change, and I "disturbed/destroyed" his nest, he hasn't made one
since.

I did get an air stone with a small pump and gang-valve adjustment set
up, after reading you need to add oxygen when adding certain water
treatments like a.c.e. He will play with the bubbles-not set high,
just a stream, but I don't leave it on. I'm hoping those 2 Lily bulbs
will sprout soon-due 12/17-so he can have a leaf to rest on. I have
some Java Moss ordered, so he can rest or hide on that too.

I tested our tap water, it seems to have no ammonia, but it looked like
the tank water I tested before the water change had a little: I had a
"safe" on nitrates, "caution" on nitrites, 150 hardness, 120
alkalinity, 7-7.2ph . I tested 2.5 hours after the water change, seems
no ammonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrates,150 on hardness, 120-150 alkalinity,
6.8-7ph..

I know I have a bit to learn, I think I get caught up in the technical
side, but I'm keeping an eye on his fins. I think I can add a tad more
salt for theraputic benefits for his fins, not just a maintenance dose.
If that doesn't seem to work I might order some Kanaplex or Maracyn.
The manager in pets at WalMart (he has tanks, birds, dogs...) said he's
never used testing kits, he claims let nature take it's course. It
does seem that his fins are growing, and the two long/thin fins in the
front behind his gills have white/light blue tips. I read this
indicates new growth. (Does't look like anything bad). Hope i'm not
worrying too much...
First let me say, congrats on the new boy. He's a pretty one and will
soon be spoiled. = )
I guess I'll be the first to mention that you need to slow down, back
away and maybe even walk far away from adding so many chemicals and
medications in the tank.
The less chemicals the better.
I don't remember what A.C.E. is, but you had at least 3 other
dechlorinators doing the same exact purpose, cycling product that
doesn't work, something to clear cloudy water and a fungus medication,
and then salt. Woah! That's a alot of chemicals.
Why are you treating him for fungus? You didn't mention any fungus,
just so fins being a little raggedy when you bought him.
Bettas fins regenerate very easily, very quickly, and usually without
any need for medications. Nature made them heal up so easily and fast
because of their fighting nature. You need to be able to heal up fast
in the wild to keep on surviving.
You only need one dechlorinater. StresCoat is great. I use it myself.
However, it doesn't remove chloramine. I know it says it detoxifies
chloramines on the bottle, but I called the company. Chloramine is
chlorine and ammonia bonded together. A regular chlorine remover will
take care of the chlorine, but leave the ammonia behind. Stress Coat
breaks the bond, detoxifies the chlorine, and leaves the ammonia. It
even tells you to use another product to remove the ammonia!
Anywa, call your local water dept and ask if they use chloramine in the
water and tell them you have a fish tank and need to know which water
conditioner to use.
If they do use Chloramine, then get Amquel. Ity'll take care of both
the chlorine and ammonia.
As for the cycling product...it a waste of money. Wrong bacteria.
The salt is ok, but don't go to up to a medication type amount of it.
Just a little is fine, but when you add anythig else, they would have
to be compatible with salt in their water.
Keep up on weekly water changes with only one water conditioner! lol
Now if the Betta isn't sick and just had some minor fin damage from
shipping, etc..then stop medicating him.
Get back to me on the "is he sick or not" thing. I hope he's not and
that he's just a bit of a raggedy man.

Tynk,

I hear you loud and clear. Not to be over-concerned about his fins,
but I've noticed from one day to the next another small piece has torn
off. I had noticed after adding a little salt to the tank, then the
next day testing, found the ammonia, nitrates & nitrites a little
higher than usual. That evening did another partial water change, 1
gallon, and did change the filter. ACE is made by Jungle Labs, I guess
it is something like AmQuel, it removes ammonia and chloramine from tap
water. I tested the water today, seems the nitrates were at almost 10,
nitrites were at .5, lower than the 20, and 1 after the change. Water
seems softer-75-than usual, kh at 120, ph at 6.8. That is usually at 7
or 7.2 from the faucet. Ammonia was not exactly 0, but not at .25 (the
next indicator) either, I'd say somewhere in between.

Last night I didn't feed him, this morning fed just a little. I think
I need to back off on that also, even though his appetite is very
good-don't want to see him on Slim Fast. I'll keep doing smaller, more
frequent water changes and watch the feeding-not too much. But that
ACE seems to work okay. I guess the tank/biowheel are cycling?
Hopefully...

Thanks,
Kerry

Anyone want to comment or advise about this please feel free-you can
email to my address if you want, hopefully it is just over concern on
my part. Here is a shot of how his fin had torn a bit more (above
where it was torn) the next day:

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/View...p=73396242&f=0

I've read about "throwing tail", and I can understand that their fins
being so long might tend to tear or split. He's a good swimmer, I
don't know if threy caught on the ornaments, I don't necessarily see
sharp jagged edges in the tank except for perhaps some of the gravel.

I don't see anything on him as far as fungus, or anything, and I didn't
add salt when I did the last water change, waited til last night to add
a small chunk, as I think I may have added too much at one time (not
overall) after the 3 gallon water change, so would rather add
gradually. Will keep testing his water.

We don't have central air & heating, and it was pretty cool this
morning in the house, his tank was at 75 degrees-the room was about 66
degrees, he seems to like it at 80-82 degrees. Last night the
temperature got up to 84 so I did lower his heater a bit. Gill
mentioned about having to adjust the heat for his tanks, well that is a
constant concern of mine because of the cold weather and our heating
situation. We use gas and electric heaters throughout the house. The
tank mostly stays pretty steady temperature wise unless I have to
adjust, but last night's drop was too much I know, I know that will
stress the poor guy and hated to see that. It is steadily going back
up, at about 78-79 right now, might be a bit fast.

One more thing, I've had this tank set up since November 21st. I've
changed the filter media 2 times since, should I keep the filter in
there as long as the water is able to circulate (not clogged) to help
the tank cycle? The biowheel spins fine. I've read and bookmarked
several posts & pages on this, from Tynk, Netmax, and Anna Hayward, to
name a few. Really appreciate all the comments and help, this forum is
great, I did not realize about "cycling" and all there is to it when I
decided to buy the tank but knew there was more to it than just setting
it up and adding fish. Thanks to you guys for all the help.

One thing, he did eat a spot of green bean last week, and he had a
taste of pea the other night (didn't have peas cooked but had the green
beans...)

Any comment on fins and anything else appreciated, thanks...

Kerry