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January 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| How do I calculate how many fish?
I have a 12 inch by 24 inch, 20 gallon tank but I have heard a couple of ways to calculate how many fish I should have. I will NOT be using full bodied fish, they will be thin and mostly between 2-4 inches. Anyway I heard that 1 inch per gallon rule but I also heard a rule that says to find the surface area of the base and divide by 12 (this would give me 24 inches, I have heard about this method in several fish books.) What do you use and what do you think I should do and why? Thanks so much! | 
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January 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| 1 inch of adult fish per gallon of water.
The easiest way to figure it out | 
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January 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| one inch per gallon is more of a guideline than a rule, but it really depends on what kind of fish you have.
having said that, what kind of fish are you considering? | |
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January 7th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Personally I never use those tricky little equations...
I just research the individual needs of each fish, and then figure things out from there. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| I am probably going to get some Zebra danios and a couple Dwarf Gouramis (since I have had success with them in my original tank) but I am having real trouble finding bottom level (as in swim near or at the bottom of the tank) fish that are fairly easy to take care of- I am a beginner so if you recommend something (please do!) make sure it's not super hard to take care of. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Cories are a good bottom feeder for beginners. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I'd say cories, or a small variety of pleco such as the bristlenose.  | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Or a clown. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| clown loach? i have to disagree with you on that one, they get too big for a 20 gallon and need to be in groups.
i'd say cory cats or otos. i personally have cory cats and i love them! they prefer to be in groups though, 4 or 5 would be best. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| This is a freshwater, heated aquarium- 20 gals. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I believe she meant clown pleco  | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| lol my bad | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Yeah, sorry!
I meant a clown pleco.
I have one.
He drives me crazy, but he's cute. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| why does he drive you crazy?
also, do pleco's need anything special because all I have is your average Aquarium rocks sold in 25 lb bags. Will they do OK with that or does that not work for them? | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| awww, i've never seen them before! so cute, maybe i'll get one for my new 29.... | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| most bottom feeders would prefer sand, not 100% sure about the pleco specifically, but definitely for my cory cats, as they have very sensitive barbels | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| He hides ALL day, coming out at night.
So I really don't remember that I have a pleco unless I'm cleaning the tank & he scurries away. Plecos can have any substrate, and like to eat blanched veggies. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Sorry if this is a dumb question but what are blanched veggies? If they are what I think they are then how exactly do you feed them to your fish? Thanks | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| blanched veggies are exactly what you think they are, you blanch them (cucumber, lettuce, squash, etc) and get some sort of weight/clip so they sink to the bottom of the tank | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| They're veggies that are cooked in water, that way they sink.
My pleco love zucchini. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| And it's healthy for them? | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| yep | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Plecos aren't picky about substrate. They'll most likely be hanging off the side, or off a decoration most of the time anyway. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanda  They're veggies that are cooked in water, that way they sink.
My pleco love zucchini. | Not quite... but very close.
Blanching vegetable consists of plunging the into boiling water briefly, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocked) to halt the cooking process. This softens vegetable but leaves them firm and not mushy.
I feed my clown pleco cucumbers and zucchini. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| not sure about the pebbles in terms of compatibility with the fish, but i used to have that kind and it was an absolute mess. and time the gravel moved at all, they would rub against each other and cloud up the tank. i only use sand and one kind of gravel now, and the gravel ONLY for my 2.5 gallon tanks as it can get very expensive, but it's the only kind i will use now after dealing with horribly messy gravel for a while. if you ever get more tanks (or decide you want to switch), i definitely recommend either sand or this type of gravel... http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/_...o-Gravel-Black | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Colored gravel can clous up your tank when you're doing water changes & such. And your filter media will be the same color as the dye. But other than that, it serves its purpose. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| even when i used non-colored grave it still clouded my tank, but that could just be the particular kind that i had. either way, i wont be going back to that anytime soon! | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| It's usually okay if you rinse it REALLY well before it goes in your tank. | |
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January 8th, 2009
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| | Fish Helper
| Mine is non colored and I rinsed the pebbles before putting them in the tank to reduce the amount of dust they released. | |
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