Dad of Dana

Hopefully, there's no question too dumb for this forum! We just started with a tiny one gallon tank for my daughter, Dana, who thinks she wants tropical fish in her room but hasn't had the experience I had years ago with normal-sized tanks and the effort they seem to require.

We just set it up with a pair of Orange Von Rio Tetras and one Gold Snail. We are told that is almost more than the tank can handle.

I note that some talk about feeding bottom-feeding fish as though the algae isn't enough. Does this mean we need to feed the snail? We are advised to clean the tank completely, periodically even with the snail so I guess he gets more than he needs to eat.

What's the deal?

fletch

the snail will constantly eat all day. It eats vegetable matter and algae from the glass. Its smaller than a fish so doesnt need extra feeding. You could experement by sinking courgettes or lettuce or other veggies. There is a thread about this somewhere on this site

Butterfly

You could also drop in a sinking wafer about once or twice a week.Do you have a filter and heater in there? (yes you need it)Do you have gravel in the tank? If so you really don't have a whole gallon of water in the tank. That is very crowded. Also cleaning the tank completely will wipe out all your beneficial bacteria and the tank will go through a cycling period each time. this is very hard on your fish. If thats all the fish you want for now then a five gallon tank would be perfect. This is a cool article on cycling your tank.http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/TheNitrogenCycle.htm Hope this helps.
Carol