Enough space?

[lovechick]

I bought a 5 gallon aqua-tech tank with bio wheel + filter for my betta..he really seems to enjoy all the space(he lived in 1 gallon before), but the tank looked really empty so I bought couple platies today, since I heard they get along. My betta made scary faces when I put them in the tank but they totally ignored him so he stopped and now they fine. But the tank still looks kinda empty..maybe its just me, since i'm so used to seeing overcrowded ones at the store..
Anyways I was wondering if it would be ok to buy 2-3 tetras? That would make 6 fish for 5 gallon tank? I think it will be ok since tetras are so tiny.. what do you think?
Thanks...I will post some piccies later.. :p

[JohnPaul]

No way, lovechick. At least not for a good long while. The general rule of thumb is 1" of fish per gallon of water. You calculate, however, based on the size of the full-grown, adult fish...not the size they are when you buy them in the store as babies.

platies and bettas at adult size are at least 2". So that means your tank is already stocked at 6" of fish in 5 gallons--i.e. slightly overstocked. You are at your max. To add more fish on top of what you have now would be tantamount to suicide for the fish once they reach adulthood.

Now, if you know it will be temporary (a few weeks, maybe a month or two tops) and you have definite plans to get a bigger tank, then having 6 baby fish in that 5 gallons for a short while might be ok. But you are going to be pushing the limits of what your filter can handle just with the 3 fish you have in there now. Add more fish, and they are going to produce more waste than your biofilter can handle. Which means ammonia and nitrite will spike, which either will kill the fish directly, or else stress the fish out so much they catch some disease and die that way.

The reason you see so many fish in the tanks at the fish store is, one, because it is very temporary and the store knows the fish will sell fast and so not be so crowded for very long, and two, because what you don't see behind those tanks is that stores have these MASSIVE filtration systems...I mean, filter systems that can filter enormous amounts of water. And yes, pet stores also have large amounts of fish die.

Stick with the 3 fish you have now. If you enjoy the hobby, then consider upgrading to a significantly bigger tank (something on the order of 20 gal or more). You will have lots more options, and actually keeping your aquarium healthy and happy is much easier in a big tank than in a small.

[lovechick]

thanks for the info..I'm not too fond of the large tanks( dont have space in the room) I wanted something small for my table.

[JohnPaul]

P.S. -- If you're looking to add another "something" to the tank to give it a little more personality, consider ghost shrimp. I am not 100% sure whether or not the betta and platies will pick on them, but if they don't, ghost shrimp are fun little fellas and they add almost nothing to the bioload. Plus they are scavengers and will help to eat any bits of food that fall to the gravel. I would think you could put several (maybe up to 4 or 5) in your tank as long as they have some places to hide--little caves and so forth.

[lovechick]

Really? I didnt realize that, I used to have couple snails but they all died for some reason(I'm guessing its the aquarium salt), but I will buy couple of those shrimps and see if they can help with eating bits of food.
Another question, I purchased a vaccum but I have no idea how it works, I've read the package and followed the instructions, but its not sucking in anything!! I'm totally lost..any tips?

[cinnyandsimon]

stick the wide end of the vacuum into the tank down at gravel level , place the other end up and over the top and then down below tank level , suck on the tube until water makes it up and over the top . make sure you watch though , don't wanna get that in your mouth , yuck! fish poop . once it's going it should stay going until you take it out of the tank . there are other , more mouth friendly ways of doing this , but hard to explain with out being there .

[lovechick]

Thank you I will try that. was so frustrated today, the platys are real poopers and they eat a lot and I know have been offering a bit too much so the whole tank was very polluted and nasty. I took the fish out, wash it and rinsed the gravel, next time I will try the vaccum and change the filter.

[JohnPaul]

On my vacuum, all I have to do is put the big end in the water and then very vigorously swish it up & down a few times. It helps if you put it deep to begin with (more water inside it), as this will make the vacuum effect stronger.