TripleB

My son is only 8 months old but everytime he sees fish in an aquarium he giggles, laughs, and is basically mesmerized by them.

My wife and I are thinking of getting a smaller (probably 2 to 4 gallon) and not so expensive (hopefully under $40) aquarium for his room.

What type of tank should I be looking at that would look nice and have a filtration system so the tank won't have to be cleaned out every week (which seemed to be the case in the little hexagon shaped 1.5 gallon tank we used to have for my daughter).

If possible I would like to have something in it other than just a gold fish or just a betta. A little variety for him to look at would be nice.

What type of fish would you recommend?

Is there anything else other than "fish" that I should think about putting in there (ie: algae eater, snail, kholi loach, etc.)?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

TripleB

Barbrella

If you live in the US, right now you can get a 5 gallon, bow front Mini Bow tank that includes a filter for 40$ + shipping. It's a very good deal and the tank comes in lovely bright colours and is very easy to maintain. It comes with an incandescent light, but I changed mine to compact flourescents to cut down on heat output and to grow plants.
http://www.petsolutions.com/Acrylic-...17921+C11.aspx


In a 5 gallon, you could have a small school (5 fish) of neon tetras and a small snail like a Zebra Nerite. Or you could have 7 White Cloud mountain minnows and two Otos to eat algae. That's about all that can go in 5 gallons. No loaches.

You will need to do a 25% water change each week and add a water conditioner that neutralizes toxins. Prime is a good one.

You'll have to cycle the tank before adding any fish to it.

A single goldfish needs at least 10 gallons so that's not a choice anyway!

TripleB

lilsoccakid

i have this tank. and it comes with a filter on the back of it, so ur all set.

by adding food to the tank, ur leting it decay and release ammonia. the bacteria need a steady amount of ammonia to grow.i would reccommend a 25watt filter, because the light itself heats up the water a little( but i would wait for a senior member to come on, im only 16!)

Barbrella

Yes, you need a heater. I use the Hydor Theo 25 watt in my 5 gallon tanks.

The tank that you linked to is basically the same one I did, except the one I linked to has an attractive base on it for the same price.

There are different ways to cycle a tank. I prefer to do it without fish, since it's very hard on them and you would need a place to put them after it's done since a 5 gal tank is too small for danios.

I just cycled a tank using fish food as has been mentioned. It worked very well, but it takes time and you need to test the water often to know when ammonia and nitrItes are at zero and nitrates are preferably under 20ppm.

If you know someone who has an established, healthy tank you could ask for some of the medium from their filter and maybe a little gravel and that would help cycle your tank faster by adding good bacteria quickly.

Undergravel filters are not recommended.

It's a good thing you came here, since a large percentage of any advice you get at petstores can be useless or very harmful!

susitna-flower

I love the idea of having fish in with your child, as long as they can be placed in a way that he can't get to them, and the electric cords etc. are protected from little hands, like all electric!

He should enjoy the fish and colors if you have colorful fish or decorations. Even lunar lights can add a lot as comfort like a night light.

As for heaters, I keep 125 watt heaters in my 10 gal tank, I wouldn't go less than 75 watt. The smaller tanks are, actually the harder they are to keep steady water temperatures. A bigger tank is harder to warm, but the mass holds the heat better. Your room will probably already be relatively warm, 70 or better, but most tropical fish need their water to be between 76 & 82 F. IF the light heats the water that is a help, but the heater is on a thermostat, which will go on and off as needed.

As for cycling, the "fishless" method is to put a pinch of fish food in the tank every 12 hours to create ammonia and feed the growing population of bacteria. You DON'T have any fish in the tank until the ammonia and nitrites go down to 0 and the nitrates go up to 5 or about that. THEN you do a 50% water change and start getting fish. SLOWLY Read up on the fish, and only get enough to add up to 1"/gallon adult size!!! If you have a 5 gallon tank that could be 5 neons and that's about it! Hard for your son to really see and get much enjoyment in! So before you buy, would it be better to get a 10 gallon? They really don't take up that much more space, and are still relatively inexpensive, but you would be able to have more fish.

Cycling with fish like danios is also acceptable. These fish need temperatures between 64 & 74 F, and may not be the ones you set your heart on to have in the tank eventually. In case, you will have to do something else with them, if you want to add something else!!!. The one thing to avoid at all cost is overcrowding your tank.

My 2 yo granddaughter LOVES to come to my house and her first word was - shish. She delights in watching the 125 gallon tank in my livingroom with bala sharks, white sailfin mollies and plecos.

Sounds like you are growing up someone who will be infected with MTS from the crib!!!!

TripleB

Thanks for incredible amount of information....all of it was of TREMENDOUS help.

As far as the 10 gallon tank...I'd love it...however, talking my wife, who thinks the 1.5 gallon hex tank my daughter had was too big, into it might be a little more than I care to tackle I think I'll be lucky to get her to agree on the 5 gallon tank .

TripleB

Barbrella

Actually, larger tanks are much easier to take care of. The more water, the more stability and you don't have the problems of small tanks in terms of temp and water quality fluctuations.

jsalemi

My wife thought I was nuts wanting an aquarium, so I waiting until she was away at a convention -- she came home to find a 10g tank in the living room. After rolling her eyes, she actually got into watching the fish, so when I suggested a bigger tank for the family room, she was OK with the idea. So now we have a 56g in there, and she watches the fish more than I do sometimes.

(Disclaimer -- we have been married 24 years, so she's used to me doing things like this. )

COBettaCouple

welcome to FishLore!

I think that an aquarium for your son is a SUPER idea!

That 5g minibow is a good tank, the filter is inside the tank and works pretty well. You can pick it up the cheapest at walmart. There is also a 2.5g minibow that's the same thing only half the size at walmart. But as mentioned earlier, the 5g is a little easier to keep maintained than the 2.5g - plus you get twice the room for fish and decorations.

You would still need a heater and if you want to pick up the Tetra submersible heater at walmart, it would work ok and although it says it keeps the tank at 78, count on it keeping the tank at 76 or so on it's own. 50W Visitherm Stealth heaters or Hydor Theo heaters are what we use in tanks the size that you're considering, both are submersible and work excellent at maintaining water temp.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...8&pcatid=11368
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113767

That website is our favorite place to order supplies. They're usually well below the prices at petco or petsmart.

I'd recommend Prime for treating your water. It will help protect your fish and is the best tap water conditioner. You'll want to buy one of those little travel-size empty bottles for shampoo, etc. to put the prime in. Then you can measure out the 1 drop per gallon easily.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+112994

As far as the fish (and food for them) goes, I'd have different recommendations based on what size tank you decide on. You'll need 3-4 weeks at least to cycle the tank, so there is time to look at fish, research and be sure that you get the fish that works best for you.

For testing the water, the most economical (and accurate) way is the API master freshwater test kit.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113074

Cycling fishless is the best way to go. Using fish to cycle, mostly results in dead or sickly fish and for your 'food' for the cycling you could pick up either a cheap container of fish flakes or a small bottle of pure ammonia. We've always used the flakes. The reason you want to add flakes every 12 hours is that the 2 kinds of good bacteria that you want in the tank have around a 15 hour life cycle. If enough die off, the cycling will go backwards so adding food every 12 hours ensures that doesn't happen.

There's a couple of things you can do to help the tank cycle faster. The first is to turn the heater temperature to maximum. The warmer water will help the bacteria multiply a little faster. The second is to put an air stone in the tank - which I'd recommend anyway. Air bubbles are fun for the fish and good for the tank. There's a $10 air pump at walmart that would work fine for the size tank that you're looking at. You'd just need some air tubing and an air stone.

TripleB

This Mini Bow 5 gallon seems to have become my favorite but after reading as many reviews as I can find it seems many people have experienced cracking with this unit: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...amily&keepsr=1

Has anyone here experienced problems with it cracking?

Thanks for everyone's advice...it has been a tremendous help and very enlightning. Now I know why so many aquariums (1.5-2 gallon usually) I've put together in the past have failed - no cyclinig and way too many fish.

TripleB

COBettaCouple

we have 2 of them and have had no problems with them.

jsalemi

I've been thinking of getting one of those mini-bows, or a Top Fin 5g kit they have to keep around as a QT/hospital tank.

tkfury

I've tried that heater three times - the first time the water stayed at 68 (room temp) and on the third try it just managed to bring the water up to 72. I ended up having to use a space heater for my room so I could use it as a qt for my otos. Learned the hard way, everyone keeps saying you can't go cheap with heaters but I didn't listen

COBettaCouple

They do seem to be better for really small tanks and I just keep the few that we have for emergencies, which is less likely with a couple dozen heaters in stock. They do seem to go to 76 for us though, but I like to be able to set the temp.