A few things...for a Freshwater tank

The first day, you are about to come home with a fish tank, you might have a picture of a colorful tank with fish swimming all around, eating food and listening to what you say. I wish I had known a few things before:

• Beginner's should ideally start with a 20+gallon tank. A smaller one works, only if you want to have 3 or 4 of them. 
• Thumb rule- size of full grown fish x number of fish = gallons required. 
• The filter size, should be on the higher side- for 20 gallon, you might go with the filter for 20-30gallon tank. This will help to balance ammonia and nitrite level in the tank. 
• For fish that lay eggs, like Tetras, be careful when you gravel vac the tank. You might scoop out some of the eggs and it will certainly cause stress, aggressive behavior. 
• Overfeeding is a common thing. Feed as much the fish eats in 3-5mins. 
• When you move decor around or introduce new fish, or clean make sure the aquarium light has been turned off. The heater as well, during cleaning and water change. 

Red wag platy

Red wag platy- 2.5", freshwater fish, live bearers.

Fig: 6.1

24th Feb: We introduced 3 of these in the tank (2 females, 1 male). They usually recommend 1:2 ratio. Look at the fin to differentiate between male and female. The male has its fin pointed, where as in the female it fans out. Water test indicated high level of nitrite. Adding aquarium salt (non iodized) prevents nitrite poisoning, reduces stress levels and could also treat certain diseases.

• 10% water change, replaced water in the tank and added aquarium salt.
• Placed red wag platy in the tank.
• Next day: one of them started itching itself against gravel and other decor items in the tank. It seemed as if it was suffering from Ick or Itch. A day later, another platy showed the same symptom.

We did 25% water change, added aquarium salt, removed carbon from the filter and put one ick tablet. It turned the water greenish blue for a while. I hope they all survive.

Adding another pair

Fig: 5.1

We added another pair of Tetra within the first few days. Since they are schooling fish, it is usually recommended in groups of five or six. The dynamics of the whole tank changed! They got along well with each other, there was less fin nipping. It seemed as if they were doing well.

A month later, we wanted to introduce another variety of fish - Platy.

We bought five (Sunburst wag Platy) and added it to our tank. They were amazing. Beautiful, colored.

Introducing new fish-

• Turn off the lights, Float the bag for about 15mins.
• Let the temperature of the  water in the bag and the tank equalize. 
• Using a net, transfer them into the tank, one by one. The new ones will try to look for hiding place as soon as they get in. The tetras were busy fin nipping. By next day morning we found most of the new ones had their dorsal fin nipped :(
• Three days later, we lost one platy and one tetra. 

The ammonia and nitrite levels increase. Fish undergoes stress, adjusting in its new home. At times bullied by the fish occupying the tank prior to its arrival. As a beginner we are so excited to add new fish, that we do not take into account the size of our tank. If you do the math right, 5 Tetras and 5 Platys would need a tank size 22.5 Gallon. A thumb rule, (size of the full grown fish) X (number of fish). 

Tetras usually grow up to 2" and Platys up to 2.5". 

We returned the platys and added one more tetra and left it at 5 tetras in the 15 Gallon tank. 

First meal for our friends

Fig: 4.1 Fish food

9pm: I introduced the first few flakes and sat patiently in front of the tank waiting for them to go fetch the food. But they didn't care. Minutes later, due to the flow of water, the flakes reached the bottom of the tank. They tried to nibble some, but as soon as the food touched the gravel, no one touched it! We had to go clean the food particles during our biweekly clean ups.
This continued for a week and I tried feeding them with the tank lights turned off. This time it worked wonders! They all came up to get some food and would make several trip up and down.
We were recommended to add blood worms too at times to treat the fish. They really enjoy freeze dried blood worms, a change from their usual diet - flakes!

Cleaning 10% and its after effects

Yes, just the way you clean your home, the fish tank needs cleaning ... removal of food decay and daily wastes. We bought small gravel vacuum, by Topfin. It is easy to us. The first time we did it, it was interesting to see the changes in the fish tank after cleaning. Here are a few steps:

• Turned off the filter and heater and of course the light! 
• Introduced the cleaning pipe, which works mainly using the principle of siphonage. 
• Placed a large container and emptied about 10%-15% of the water. Food particles were scattered all over the place. Removed a terracotta ornament that we had placed in there, and thought the Tetras wont miss it! 

Oh boy! As soon as we were done with the cleaning, tetras were breathing hard, and swimming frantically. They were hitting the glass surface and the place where we had the terracotta piece, they collectively stood there starring at us from inside!

Introducing the first three

Fig. 2.1

Bringing home the first three fishes! 
2nd January 2012, our trip to Petsmart a week after we set up the tank with filter and heater on to make sure the water is good enough for the new fishes. 
Platys, Tetras, Guppies, Mollies, Algae Eaters, etc were some of the non-aggressive Tropical community fish. Here I liked Bloodfin tetra and he liked the Long fin Red minor Tetra. So we settled for that! 3 of them came home with us. All excited, eyes set on the tank to see if anyone was floating up there. They made it through the first day. 

Fig. 2.2

We brought home some flakes "Omega Fish food" to enrich their color. They say do not over feed the fish. We started feeding the fishes at 9am and around 9pm. The light stays on for 12 hours too! Location wise the is away from the window, not on the way of foot traffic, away from the draft of the main door if any. 



How to introduce the fish in the tank for the first time?
This is what we did: 
Took a sample of water to Petsmart, made sure that the ammonia level and the ph of the water is safe for first time fish. We bought Long fin red minor Tetras from the store straight home. They say no stops anywhere on the way. Place the bag in the tank and wait for about 10-15mins so that the temperature of the water in the bag is the same as that of the tank. Then with a fish net introduce the fish into the tank.
Observation:
The little ones were confused. They started moving around in panic, settled at the bottom of the tank and then gradually started fin nipping the smallest fish. They say its a common behavior of the tetras. We observed them for a night and next day morning saw the little one's tail was irregular shaped! We figured it was the other two who were responsible to it. We decided to add two more that would be five of them. This would help them set their hierarchy and the little one would be saved. 

Setting up the fish tank

Fig. 1

Introducing our Fish tank! 
Friends and people who know me... please don't think that I have forgotten about dogs. Its just not time yet for the dogs.   
This is our first pet venture other than my Dog Care and Training Center for undergraduate architecture thesis. 
23rd December 2011, we were at Sanket's place for dinner and fell in love with his fish tank. He's our "mentor", you can say "Guru". First day of Christmas holidays and we were at Petsmart and Petco trying to get the best deal for a little fish tank. I wanted something "small", that I could lift with my hand and may be with one Goldfish in it. We came home from Petco with- 15 Gallons - Tetra Tropical Community Fish tank with a light, heater and water purifier. Gravel to fill the bottom of the tank. Sid and his family joined us and bought the same! 

Fig. 1.2

Fig. 1.3 (Plan View)

 My questions:

1) Do fishes like colors? do they respond to shape and texture?

2) How will I clean the tank?

3) Will they have enough hiding space? or if they hide, will I still be able to see them?

4) and of course the Cost??

My thought- 15lbs of gravel same color and fill the tank with colorful fishes and green artificial plants. Easy to clean and maintain. 

My client (my hubby who was paying for it) here, wanted something colorful and filled with pebbles and shells. 

This was out final output: 

Fig. 1.4 (Front View)

15lbs of gravel, 5lbs of red gravel, 5lbs of blue gravel, with some decor on the right bringing in the shells and on the left some rock with moss on it! (all artificial ornaments from Petsmart) Dark pebbles to add some contrast. some green plants and a piece of Roman sculpture to add the effect of archaeological remains underwater. We added a thermometer for the temperature control. Ah yes and then a glass bowl from Michael's to give them the feeling of "A fish in a glass bowl".