first aquarium

NetMax wrote in message
...
Sounds like you have given this a lot of thought already. Some random
comments interspersed.

Thanks, I have been doing some reading, and I appreciate your help.

"Chris Arnold" wrote in message
.com...
I have gotten a ten gallon aquarium for free...I have cleaned it and
leak
tested it. I want to use a sand substrate with a simple sponge filter
and
plant java moss on 2 cocanut shells on each end

Sounds peachy so far )

I wanted to use somthing tall as well, perhaps anachris, but that has yet to
be determined.

, my desired fish are one
male betta, as a top dweller,

Excellent choice as having behavioural characteristics which are quite
unique. The odd one is problematic, and some will view male Guppies as
competitors and will attack them. Don't let that discourage you if you
can. You might need to do a switch if the first one picked doesn't work.
They aren't strict top-dwellers, and are known to pick around the bottom
as well.

I wanted the betta as a centerpiece fish, they are quite beautiful.

a zebra pleco on the bottom

With the sun exposure you mentioned later on, I would go with an algae
eating fish rather than a carnivorous pleco. Someone suggested Otos
which might be ideal. If your water is hard, neritas (sp) snails might
be another good choice (I recall something about you wanting
invertebrates).

I chose the zebra pleco based on appearance alone, I didnt look into its
diet yet, thanks. I will look into Otos. Perhaps also snails.

and a few guppies to occupy the middle,

Besides the potential problem with Bettas, Guppies like harder water and
you probably know about their ability to propagate ;~)

indeed, I will find somthing else that is small and pretty to take their
place, they were also an appearance choice.

I was intending to use the guppies as my cycle
fish....any suggestions?

I find Guppies are not as hardy as they used to be, so they make poor
fish for cycling a tank. Fishless cycling or using something a bit more
hardy and cross-seeding with used filter media would be my preferred
choices. You could cycle with the Betta and a snail. It would be a slow
leisurely 'cycle' but if you're not in a hurry, why not? The Java plant
will absorb some of the waste products, but can't be counted on to do the
whole job. You would still be monitoring the water parameters and doing
small water changes.

Hm...I like the idea of the leisurely cycle.

I will obtain a small piece of driftwood for the pleco,

Definitely a very good idea for algae eating plecos, which you don't
currently have any of. I'd still add the driftwood though.

are there any other small plecos that feed on algea?

and plan on feeding flakes and small zuchinni wedges...

With the algae you will probably culture, you will most probably be going
with flakes and some treats focussing on the fish you have (Bettas are
carnivores). The algae wafers would be used infrequently.

Yeah, I was going to grow mosquito larvea for the betta as treats.

I will light
it using natural sunlight in 12 hour cycles (by setting it in a window)
I
will make sure the water doesnt get too hot before I put anything in
it.

Before you put fish in, measure the water temperature at the end of a hot
afternoon and compare it with early morning. Ideally, there should not
be more than a 3F swing allowed in a 24 hour period, or the tank's
location will not be suitable. Window seats are usually problematic, as
there is radiant energy half the day and then there is the cold draft off
the glass during the night. ymmv To work around the temperature swings,
setting your heater high will sometimes work (depends on the severity of
your radiant exposure). Otherwise, the natural light to establish their
diurnal cycle is fine.

I live in florida, and I was going to put it in a north window, so there is
very little DIRECT sunlight, also a slightly smaller temperature change from
day to night than most places. But, like I said, I was going to check temp
with a full tank before putting fish in.

Is this a good mix of fish? I fear the male betta may think the guppies
are
other male bettas, and be overly aggressive... but I dont plan on
getting
any more than five guppies...it seems like a good fish load, will the
java
moss outcompete the algea for neutrients? I also want to have
invertebres...but not sure about compatability.

In non-direct sunlight, it's possible for plants to out-compete algae.
In direct sunlight (with my limited experience) I've never seen this
happen. You can achieve an equilibrium with enough of an algae crew,
unless/until you get an algae bloom (green water). It may be a
challenge.

I dont mind putting a ****load of plants in the tank, I was going to
experement.

As for the fish choices, I'd favour the fish which best matched your tap
water parameters, and the final temperature range you will be running at,
so more data is really needed. Maybe a mixture of snails (include some
MTS for your sand), shrimps, frogs (ADFs) and a Betta would work & look
well together. The Betta will keep your shrimp population down (with
pleasure ;~).

Tap around here is pretty hard, and there is clorimine in it, so obviously I
will be treating it before use, I was planning a two gallon a week water
change, or perhaps one gallon twice a week, I dont plan on neglecting it.

I also love clown loaches, but they are a bit too large for this tank,
perhaps a trio of clown loaches and a couple snails? feeding mosquito larvea
part of the year and flake the rest of it?

--
www.NetMax.tk