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".