Matt C.

Hello all, I am a complete newbie to all of this so here it goes.. I have recieved a 20 gallon long tank and have 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Green Cory Catfish, and 1 X-ray fish... the tank has a layer of gravel, 2 fake plants, a filter, and an airater. i was just wondering if i could comfortably house anymore fish. and if so, what species. or if i would need more plants or anything like this.. any help would greatly be appreciated.

thanks,

matt

Callum The Cat

Matt C.

that is what it looks like. only mine has less color and is more translucent

Callum The Cat

Jacko

X-Ray fish are also known as pristella tetras.

You should add at least 5 more "X-Ray fish" and at least 3 more green cories because these are schooling fish, I would also recomend adding a female or male dwarf gourmi to make yours a pair for better coloration from them.

Matt C.

thank you for the help! how can you tell if a dwarf gourami is male or female? also would you think that my temp is ok? its at 82 degrees F

COBettaCouple

adding another gourami should be ok, but could bring some territorial issues into play if they begin to feel crowded. check: http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-DwarfGourami.htm for more info on them. the females usually have less color.

welcome to fishlore and best of luck with your tank.

Matt C.

ok, thanks! that link is very helpful.

Kevin

here is another link on a site that everyone trusts...one of the best info sites...
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=974

Matt C.

wow thank, you guys are so helpful.. im glad i can be accepted so fast on this forum.

COBettaCouple

no prob.. and i also gladly take cash or precious metals as gifts..

Kevin

if you dont pay up, the "FISH ALIEN GALACTIC OVERLORD" (aka. FLBettaCouple) will take your fish...when you get them...and store them aboard their ship, and eventually sell them on aquabid.com or something of the likes

vin

One thing I did notice is that your temp is a tad high...I would consider gradually lowering to around 76-78 degrees over a couplde of days. A drastic temp drop could cause the fish to stress out.

I would also consider adding 2 more cory cats....Corys like to be in groups to be happy. Adding two more would accomplish that. It appears that you have the room for them.

Have you cycled the tank yet or are you adding these fish and cycling at the same time? If cycling with fish, I would recommend treating your water with Prime. This will make the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates that will build up during the cycle less toxic to the fish.

Matt C.

OK, I will definitly pick up a couple corys next time I go into town.. yes i do have the fish in while cycling.. i had no clue when i first put them in. I have put the recommended dose of API's Stress Zyme, and the reccomended dose of Aquarium Salt.. im not sure if the Stress Zyme is the same thing as Prime so please help me on that one.

vin

You will want to eliminate the aquarium salt with cories. Cories generally cannot tollerate salt and it's not needed with the other two species of fish you are keeping...I'm not familiar with stress zyme, but the idea is to use a product that will lock up ammonia and nitrites to keep them in their non toxic state. If the stress zyme does that you're OK....Otherwise I would pick up some Prime and switch to that. It will treat the water and will replace other electrolites that are removed when doing water changes.

Have you gotten a good test kit? If not, most of us on this site use and recommend the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Freshwater Test Kit. It is a liquid based kit that is far more reliable than test strips that most stores sell or come with aquarium kits. You can get it on line at petsmart.com. Typically they're under $20.

You'll want to test your water regularly and change 25-30% of your water daily while going through the cycle.

Matt C.

ok so, Pick up prime, pick up test kits. No salt. sounds good. But im supposed to do a 5 gallon change each day? What is the easiest way of doing this without stressing my fish

Kevin

i wouldn't do it every day, if you vacuum the gravel every day, you will just be slowing down your cycle, b/c your removing about 45% of the good bacteria
i would do a 5 gal. water change every week, but dont do a really thorough gravel vac. just get water from different places in your tank

vin

The easiest way is to pick up a gravel syphon/vaccuum. You can get these at the fish store.These are tubes that you use to vaccuum the debris out of the gravel when you do your routine maintenance. You syphon out the old water into a bucket. Then, treat fresh water with Prime prior to putting it back into the tank. I have a clean bucket and a 'dirty' bucket. Though others use one bucket and just rinse it out prior to adding the clean water. There is another product called a "Python" that eliminates the use of buckets if you're in close proximity to a sink. During the cycle you don't want to vaccuum the gravel as the bacteria that you need to establish your tank grow here. Your goal is to maintain 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites and <20 Nitrates.

You gently pour the treated water back into the tank. Once established the tank should be vaccuumed weekly (I do 1/3 of the gravel each week) and the 25-30% water change done at the same time. This should help keep your water parameters in check.