I know that most people are going to say "get a 10 gallon," "get a betta instead," or "bowls are cruel." I don’t need any of those as an answer. I am responsible. I have been doing research for quite a while and not asking around – til’ now obviously. I do not intend to purchase fish until I have a decent setup going and feel that it is good and ready… no ‘tester fish.’

I live in a dorm with certain size restrictions on aquariums (very small – desktop size if preferred) and they prefer that students have a bowl for aquatic life over a big and noisy aquarium. Again, the answer is not ‘betta.’

I have kept goldfish alive for about 5 years at a time and bettas at 3 years before in a bowl setup AND have had guppies in an aquarium setup before. I would like to step it up quite a bit and get a few glassfish (NOT painted – they are beautiful as nature intended them to be – I am against fish painting.)

Here is where I need help. I have been doing my homework and I just get lost in all of this information. I have read that glassfish, in the wild, live in fresh, still standing water. The reason why people place them into brakish (salted) aquarium water is because it seems to reduce stress more and those that have been painted surive better. Again, I am NOT getting painted fish. I may salt the water a bit.

My questions are:

How many gallons to each fish? (Not going by one inch fish = 1 gallon rule here —- think more along the lines of how much ammonia they produce – are they cleaner than most fish or messier?)

Glassfish survive well, in the wild, in still standing water… can I keep them with minimum cycling and some plant life, can I keep them without cycling and regular water changes?

If I get a 5 gallon, how many Glassfish can I keep without overcrowding?

If I get a 7 gallon, how many Glassfish can I keep without overcrowding?

Help if you can. Thank you!
Actually, Darwin, they are NOT brackish. I will repeat myself: "The reason why people place them into brakish (salted) aquarium water is because it seems to reduce stress more and those that have been painted surive better. Again, I am NOT getting painted fish. I may salt the water a bit."

Here is just one site… prove it as not being credible and I will follow the advice in your answer:
"Glassfish have a reputation for being difficult to keep alive, but this belief largely stems from the myth that they require brackish water to survive. In nature, these fish live in standing water such as bodies created from dammed mountain streams, not estuaries or other areas of brackish water. If they are kept in true freshwater, they seem to be fairly hardy fish, no more difficult to keep than many tetras" (FishLore.com).
Parambassis ranga! NOT ‘Chanda ranga.’

The reason why some people keep Parambassis ranga in brackish water isn’t stress-related, but rather because of the old myth that they’re brackish fish, when they’re actually freshwater fish. While they can certainly tolerate it, they do not require any salt in their water.

As for how many you can keep in a 5-7 gallon tank – zero. Parambassis ranga is a schooling fish that grows to around 3", and have no place in such a small tank.

I am creating a new nano reef tank that will be in a 5 gallon mini bow tank….

I would like suggestions on what types of things to put in it….
Type or brand of:
Live sand
Live rock
Hard coral
soft coral
fish
inverts
anything else?

A five-gallon tank is too small for most of the things you mention here.
You could have a small piece or two of live rock, and a few very small invertebrates in that tank. That’s about all.

Of all the popular kinds of aquaria, the nano-reef is the most difficult to maintain in a healthy state.

Of course I’d like to have a fancy salt water set up with a lionfish, or something like that. But that’s probably too much for a beginner. What’s pretty cool and easy to take care of?

I think guppies are definately the best or even tetras. (But watch out, guppies breed alot! so only get males or only get females in one tank)

And for a beginning, tank maybe you should try a 5 gallon, or if you’re prepared for the work ahead..10 gallons!

I think it’s best to buy ones that come in a kit..that includes filter and hood with light. Or you can just buy the tank and buy everything else separately.

Here is a list of some things you’ll need to be a successful fish keeper on the first try:

-filter: extremely important- helps make sure your water doesnt get too dirty too fast. If there’s too much waste in your aquarium, ammonia builds up and pretty soon algae will grow. It’s not a pretty sight.

-heater: water temperatures need to be kept around 76-80F for tropical fish. Keeping a constant temperature is very important- fluctations can stress fish out and even kill them.

-thermometer (optional for now)- just to make sure your heater is doing it’s job. sometimes heaters go haywire and just mess up the temperature

-gravel, decorations, plants: optional but provides a good home for fish and gives them a sense of safety when there are things they can hide in.

-water conditioner: needed to make the water safe for your fish. it neutralizes the harmful metals in tap water.

And finally, water changes! Even with a filter, water changes are extremely important to keeping you fish alive. 20% water changes 3x a week for aquariums 5 gallons. 30% water changes 3x a week for 10 gallons. and 20% water changes for aquariums smaller than 5 gallons 2x a week. Doing this, ensures that algae will not grow and cover your tank. And it’s really annoying to get off.

Good luck!

Lets add some Live Rock and Live Sand in the fifty eigth episode of LA Fishguys as Jim Stime of Aquarium Design in Thousand Oaks CALIF., picks up Live Rock and Live Sand from the fish wholeaslers and adds it to a 100 gallon coral reef tank.

Duration : 0:10:8

» Continue Reading

Technorati Tags: LA Fishguy

this is our 180 Gallon aquarium it’s only 1 1/2 years old and still has lots of real estate to cover in corals. this is my first attempt at filming our aquarium so sorry about the shaking and lighting

Duration : 0:2:40

» Continue Reading

Technorati Tags: 180, aquarium, corals, fish, gallon, large, live, reef, rock, salt, saltwater, set, tank, tropical, up, water

125 Gallon Marine aquarium. Relax and enjoy.

Duration : 0:8:17

» Continue Reading

Technorati Tags: aquarium, aquatic, clownfish, coral, damsel, fish, marine, reef, salt, sand, tang, tank, tropical, water, wildlife, Yellowtail

I just started my reef tank 2 days ago but i want to start off by getting about 2 clown (nemo) fish for my daughter….. but after that what other type of fish can I get together with them ?

I would suggest talking to the supplier you get your fish from. Advise them of the size of the tank and what you already have. They will be able to tell you your options so there is no fighting and or the eating of tank mates.

I would suggest into looking into various shrimp and crabs. There are some wonderful species out there and depending on what you get they also help keep the tank clean.

I would also suggest some live rock and coral species.

My personal faves are arrow crabs: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS328US328&um=1&ei=E8hYS8nYIsTO8QbJ79W0Aw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=arrow+crab&spell=1&start=0

First if you don’t have lots of experience with salt water do not answer!!!! I have a 110 gal aquarium tank and I have done fresh water planted tanks that thrive. Well now I would like to start a reef aquarium. I cant afford to stock all the live rock at one time so how would I put in 10-20 lbs at a time and should I wait until I have all the rock I need to add fish and or inverts?
I would like to have as much live rock as i can and I herd that you should have 2 lbs per gal is that true?

if you want to put 10-20 lbs of live rock at a time make sure if they are uncured live rocks you don’t have any fish and inverts in your tank until you have all the live rocks in your tank that you want. after you have all the rocks you want wait for your tank to cycle and than put your fish and inverts. every time you put uncured live rocks in your tank you are going to start the cycling process again. now if you are buying already cured rocks than you are fine. to add live rocks whenever you want even if you have live stock in your tank. just make sure before you start adding any live stock your tank is finished cycling. the amount that it is recommended for a saltwater tank is at least 1 pound of live rock per gallon. but the more live rocks you have in your tank the better. you are going to have a lot of natural filtration and it is a plus that it is going to look very nice in your tank

I was wondering if you can keep a jellyfish in a coral reef tank?

I don’t think it will work, 2 major reasons.
Jellyfish are not strong swimmers, they can get sucked up by a filter intake, blown around by a powerhead, you name it. It’ll get kicked around.
Corals… and jellyfish both sting. If the jellyfish pumped into your coral, they’d probably sting each other and both die. If you have an aiptasia problem or other invasive anemone, they will kill a small jellyfish; the jellyfish doesn’t stand a chance.

If you must have a jellyfish, they do make special aquariums that keep the water circulated around them in such a way that they won’t get sucked up or blown across the tank. And you can pretty much only have jellyfish in there.

http://ReefBuilders.com is the source for all your reef aquarium news. This is Richard Ross’s home California Style 150 gallon reef aquarium. This tank contains more coral species than most fish stores. Wow!

Duration : 0:3:29

» Continue Reading

Technorati Tags: aquarium, california, diverse, reef, rich, ross, style, tank