22l Nano Tank - first ever tank

[Chopperheys]

Hi everyone. Some of you may of seen my other thread about buying a 125l and stocking issues, that's still going to happen but this tank has another purpose. It's my lads first birthday on new years eve and since he's just been spoilt rotten at Christmas we was stuck for what to get him. Then we got to thinking about how excited he got every time he saw fish in pet shops, sea life centre and aquariums. As pets at home had a sale on some tanks we decided to buy him a Aquanano 30, not the usual choice for a baby's first birthday present but it's something he can grow up with. This is also an excuse to have a practise tank and get all the necessary little bits and bobs together. It also benefits the step daughter (who's 9) as she gets to help pick the fish and she also got to chose an ornament, she chose the gravel and the current layout. Anyway that's enough of the who's and whys, so now we can talk tank, starting with a pic as it currently stands.



So as stated above its a Aqua One Aquanano 30 (22l). All the equipment is the standard kit what it came with. We bought a new aquarium start up kit by interpret, this was recommended to us. It has 2 products in it called fresh start and filter start, it also has 2 test kits in it for ph and nitrite. We've ordered a api master test kit, but can get it tested for free in the mean time while we wait for delivery. The plant in it is Amazon sword. The fish that will be going in is a male betta. All comments are welcome, positive and negative as we want to get this right. Also we was told that we could fit another species in with that tank so could you give me some recommendations please? The second fish will be for the step daughter, who has already said she wants neons but I've read they fin nip? I was thinking maybe corydoras (providing my water is suitable), but please recommend.

Thanks and sorry for the long first post.

[TropicalFishForums]

[kieron.young]

the one betta for you is probably nearly full capcity for such a small tank...

http://www.aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisor.php?AquTankName=&AquListBoxTank=Choose&AquTankLength=30&AquTankDepth=30&AquTankHeight=30&AquListBoxFilter=Choose&AquTextFilterRate=N%2FA+&AquListBoxFilter2=Choose&AquTextFilterRate2=N%2FA+&AquFilterString=&AquTextBoxQuantity=&AquTextBoxRemoveQuantity=&FormSubmit=%3C+Remove&AquListBoxSelected=1+x+Pygmy+Gourami+%28Trichopsis+pumila%29&AlreadySelected=200909300016%3A1%3A0%3A%2C200909300176%3A1%3A0%3A&FilterMode=Display+only+suitable+species+for+your+tank&AqTempUnit=C&AqVolUnit=L&AqLengthUnit=cm&AqSortType=cname&FilterQuantity=2&AqJuvMode=&AqSpeciesWindowSize=short&AqSearchMode=simple

is your tanks size with 1 fish in

[Chopperheys]

Hi Kieron. Just done aqua advisor and said the stocking level was 69%. Is that what your link was sending me too? I'm on an iPad so couldn't see your full link. Thanks

[kieron.young]

Yeah about 69% full.... i think nething else in such a small tank even though NOT over stocked would be very unethical... or it would make a nice shrimp only tank..

[plankton]

It is too small to support more than one betta. He will want all the room and won't take kindly to any infringements on his territory.

[Chopperheys]

Thanks for the replies.

So basically I was given false information when asking if we could fit some other fish in the tank with the betta? I would love to put 4 corydoras habrosus in. Despite them being bottom dwellers does that make a difference? If not what about some shrimp, or will the betta eat them? Also would some shrimp help speed up the cycle? I am listening but feel bad for my step daughter. As this is mainly for our some we didn't want her to feel left out, hence asking if more fish could fit in at the shop. When told yes, we bought and said she could have some fish in there. So basically just trying to find a solution if one actually exists.

Question about the tank too. I've just got home from work and the water has gone cloudy. It was fine 11 hours ago when I left but now it's cloudy. What could be the cause of this? What shall I be doing? I can't do a full test on water as my test kit hasn't been delivered yet but can test for ph and nitrites of that's of use?

Thanks

[carl01924]

It's more than likely a bacterial bloom not uncommon in new  setups, and will clear, how are you planning on cycling your tank?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kieron.young]

Persoanlly i would buy a bigger tank maybe something 100 litres and then you can get 20 fish or so

[Chopperheys]

It's more than likely a bacterial bloom not uncommon in new  setups, and will clear, how are you planning on cycling your tank?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi, at the moment the tank is fishless. It's had a product in it called fresh start which conditions tap water by removing toxic chlorine and heavy metals. The other product which I've added is filter start, which is a  bacteria culture which rapidly helps start up the waste breakdown process.  Both descriptions I got off the bottles. According to the instructions I add some more filter start and then it says 2 days after that I should add the fish. I do actually need to do a ph test tonight tho it says.

Thanks

[kieron.young]

It's more than likely a bacterial bloom not uncommon in new  setups, and will clear, how are you planning on cycling your tank?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi, at the moment the tank is fishless. It's had a product in it called fresh start which conditions tap water by removing toxic chlorine and heavy metals. The other product which I've added is filter start, which is a  bacteria culture which rapidly helps start up the waste breakdown process.  Both descriptions I got off the bottles. According to the instructions I add some more filter start and then it says 2 days after that I should add the fish. I do actually need to do a ph test tonight tho it says.

Thanks

i would persoanlly ignore/egnore the instructions and do a full proper fishless cycle better safe then sorry

[Chopperheys]

Persoanlly i would buy a bigger tank maybe something 100 litres and then you can get 20 fish or so

I will be getting a bigger tank eventually, a minimum of 125 litres. That being said tho.....when a 9 year old has been told that she can have some fish and she then is all excited with high hopes, it's hard to get her to understand that she must wait until I get a bigger tank. There's no huge rush on the bigger tank, so if I could somehow find a compromise for her then great but obviously the fishes health is most important.

Thanks

[carl01924]

To be honest bacteria in a bottle is a gimmick, the only real safe way to cycle your tank is a fish less cycle, have a read of sacha's article on the front page, it explains the nitrogen cycle in plain English, yes granted your tank will be fish less for 4 weeks+ but it's the best way for your fishies


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chopperheys]

@ Carl and Kieran - I hadn't read your last two posts until now and had,dome a PH test. The results of the test was in the 6.5-7.0 region, this is good right? However I will go have a read of sacha's article now.

Thanks

[Chopperheys]

Not much of an update, just an extra decoration has been added. I'm still waiting on delivery of the test kit, hopefully that'll be here before the end of the week. So here's a pic of the tank as it is now -



With regards to the plant, would any of you do anything specific to help its growth? Or just leave it as it is?

Thanks

[jjb]

Actually plant them in he gravel for a start, and if you want to add thing like root tabs to help them along then you can, but amazon swords are very hardy so will probably grow anyway

And if you want some more fish then maybe go for a few male endlers instead of the betta? Not sure if the tanks big enough so wait for others to confirm but I suspect it would be ok