How long does a Tropical fish tank …..?
I am getting tropical fish and it's only a small starter tank (20 pint).?
If anyone keeps them and knows How long the tank has to be set up for before adding the fish. Thankyou.
shop said (pets at home) get the smallest tank first if your a beginner to know if your going to enjoy the hobby first.!!
Pets at Home lied to you (and probably greedily took your money too!)
I hope you mean 20 litre, tanks aren't measured in pints. Either way, that's small and the smaller the volume the more difficult it is to keep, meaning you're more likely to suffer fish loss meaning you're more likely to be turned off the hobby!! Silly pet store.
I suggest you read these and see if you still have a receipt for that tank.
Http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/The_Nitrogen_Cycle
Http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Beginning_Fishkeeping
I used to give it a fortnight and take readings
References :
Hello , it all depends how long it takes for the ammonia & nitrates/nitrites to go to zero. You need to buy a tester kit & test the water every few days , once the tests show there is no ammonia etc then it is safe to add fish. There is no time scale as it can take a week can take 2, Smaller tank will be quicker but your not gonna get much in a tank of that size . Have you got everything else sorted ? Maybe you could find out where your getting your fish from whilst waiting for your tank to cycle. Once your reading is zero for several days your tank is ready xx
References :
trop fish keeper
20 pint (worked out to be about 10 litres when converted) is too small for any fish. 80+ litres are best for biginers
EDIT:
Shop was wrong (like most of them)
bigger tank means more water
more water means less chance of something going wrong (more dilution)
small tanks are hard to keep stable
References :
To begin with as fish man said the tank is too small!
If and when you get a larger tank, you should have it running for 4 weeks without fish changing 15-20% of the water weekly then on the fourth week add some hardy fish like platties to get te correct bacteria in your tanks filter still changing the water each week, but this is only if you have a larger tank, keep the small one for quarantine or hospital tank because before yu introduce more fish quarantine for 14 days they might have a disease and kill the others.
References :
1 cold water and 5 tropical tanks and loads of fry
Pets at Home lied to you (and probably greedily took your money too!)
I hope you mean 20 litre, tanks aren't measured in pints. Either way, that's small and the smaller the volume the more difficult it is to keep, meaning you're more likely to suffer fish loss meaning you're more likely to be turned off the hobby!! Silly pet store.
I suggest you read these and see if you still have a receipt for that tank.
Http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/The_Nitrogen_Cycle
Http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Beginning_Fishkeeping
References :
Wow i didn't know pets at home sold tanks that small. The pets at home near my house is very good and consistent. Any way…
20 pint/ 10 litres is way to small for any fish accept one solitary breed called a betta ( siamese fight fish ). When i first started keeping tropical fish i bought a 75 litre fish tank ( around 16 UK gallons ) i would go back to pets at home and give it back or let the tank cycle for 2 weeks and add a betta fish.
betta fish should be kept on there own, you will need to get a male as these a happiest on there own, they come in varity of colours, red, blue, green, purple and many more.
the only problem i can think of is that the heater, filter etc are going to take up valuble water space in your tank !!??!!?? so im not sure what you should do
References :
5+ years of tropical fish keeping 10 years of maine fish keeping, breed betta fish ( siamese fighter fish )
The bigger the tank is the better it is for a beginner. It has more volume to play with, as when your just learning your going to make mistakes. A 10 gallon tank is almost perfect for a few species to breed and live in, they are called Dwarf Cichlids, and in a 10 gallon tank its one pair only. As for adding the fish to the tank, usually its 4 weeks if your going to use them to cycle it. Otherwise its when the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate reading drop to 0 (1 or 2 for Nitrate).
Fish tanks are never measured in pints, its Gallons and then Litres.
References :
20+ Years of Fishkeeping Experince
Beginner Breeder, Winnipeg Aquarium Society
Intermediate Horticulturalist, Winnipeg Aquarium Society
Former Member, International Betta Congress
Former Member, Canadian Rift Lake Cichlid Association.