| Fatso & Fry (2 Zebra Fish) |
The Three Kings (2 Neon Tetras) |
The Three Queens (2 Glowlight Tetras) |
| Bruce Willis (1 Phantom Tetra) | Tim the Flactulent (1 Dwarf Gourami) | Apple Snails (Infinite Apple Snails) |
1 INCH OF FISH /PER GALLON.
It doesn't sound like much, but your fish will die off and lose oxygen if you don't. If you have a little tiny 1/2 a gallon tank, one small fish would realistically live in it. But, I had a ½ Gallon tank and the fish lasted for years (still have them. Fatso & Fry) and I had put in two fish. If you want to get two fish, make sure they are really hardy!! You can take zebra fish, pick em up, drop em on the floor and put em back in the tank and they will survive. Also, ½ gallon tanks are hard to keep. You really can't use much of a heater and other stuff doesn't fit in them.
I personally use a 10 gallon tank, so I can have 10 inches of fish.
| 10 Gallon Tank |
There are a number of other factors that can affect the amount of fish you have like:
How many live plants you have,
How hardy the fish are,
How much equipment you have.
In my tank, I also have a potted plant. It adds oxygen to the air and cleans it out. It is also always good to have some fake plastic plants in the tank as well. I have 5. Two large ones that are long leaves with roots extending to the gravel, and 3 little bush like ones that sit at the bottom of my tank. The ones I have are much better than the pictures below.
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| Potted Plant | Plastic Plant |
To have a good and operationing fish tank that is healthy for your fish, you must also have the right equipment for them. All equipment should be suited for your tank and fish (tropical fish need heaters that have temperatures between 20 - 25 degrees Your aquarium should have:
| A Heater | A Filter | A Thermometer | A Light/Lid |
| A Pump | Tubing | A Bubbler | A Gravel |
The specific brands I use are :
Heater : Radiant©
Filter : Proquatics©
Thermo : Tropical Fish (has a line to measure what temp it should be)
Light : I just use a lamp
Lid : A regular lid that comes with the tank
Pump : Force 2 (Use Elite799 for ½ Gallons or less) Tubing : Plastic Tubing
Bubbler : The regular kind
Gravel : Hagen (I have three colors : green, blue and grey - looks awesome)
Cycle : A fish/tank cleaner in the form of bacteria
Another important thing : Fish Food!
| Food |
Nutrafin Max
Complete Flake Food
For All Tropical Fish
In a 422 ml/60g container.
Also, a good tank also has ornamental things. I have: A skull,
A skeleton that dances when is plugged in,
About 19 different shells.
Too many is a bad thing, and they blend in with the plants as ornaments. I got all my shells from an actual shell place, I have some pretty neat ones.
Cleaning your tank:
If the snails, filter, or bubbler haven't kept it clean its been a long time since you last cleaned it. What I do is this :
1. Remove all electrical equipment (Unplug!) 2. Put fish in my ½ gallon tank. (put them in something with warm water)
3. Put live plants and snails in bucket of warm water
4. Take out all ornaments (put them in something too)
5. Remove all water (throw it off the deck, flush it)
6. Put gravel in margerine container
7. Rinse aquarium, scrub, bleach if needed (get rid of all algae)
8. Bleach gravel, rinse about 20 times over (bleach can kill fish)
9. Rinse some more
10. Clean ornaments and fake plants(more bleach!)
11. Remove filter from filter and clean that too
12. Once aquarium is fully cleaned (and rinsed), fill with fresh water (spring water, not tap)
13. Put gravel, plants and ornaments back in
14. Put in bubbler! It might come out later
15. Get those fish and snails back in, they've been waiting
16. Hook all the electrical stuff back up
17. Put in some Cycle© if you have some
And it should look 100 times as clean, if it doesn't, you have a problem.
Prices:
All this fish stuff could cost money, this is a list of the items and their average costs. If it has a star(*) then it is optional (fish are starred because you can have however many of whatever kind).
| Item | Average Price |
| *Fish - Zebra Fish | $2.49 |
| *Fish - Neon Tetra | $1.13 |
| *Fish - Glowlight Tetra | $1.13 |
| *Fish - Dwarf Gourami | $8.99 |
| *Fish - Phantom Tetra | $3.49 |
| *Fish - Molly | $4.99 |
| *Plant - Live | $7.99 |
| *Plant - Plastic | $4.99 |
| Item - Heater | $9.99 |
| Item - Filter | $19.99 |
| Item - Thermometer | $2.99 |
| Item - Lid | $6.99 |
| *Item - Lid and Light | $35.99 |
| Item - Pump | $12.99 |
| Item - Bubbler | $1.99 |
| Item - Tubing | $2.99 |
| Item - Gravel | $6.99 |
| *Item - Cycle | $23.99 |
| Item - Tank (10 Gallon) | $63.99 |
| Item - Tank (5 Gallon) | $47.99 |
| Item - Tank (½ Gallon) | $20.99 |
| Item - Food (422ml/60g) | $8.99 |
| Item - Food (Small Size) | $2.99 |
| --------- | --------- |
| Total(10 Gallon): | $160.12 |
| Total(5 Gallon): | $123.65 |
| Total(½ Gallon): | $92.91 |