mikew@tahoe.unr.edu (Mike Wishart) (01/19/90)
What do I really look for when getting started? What do all the different pieces of equipment do? HISTORY I bought a 5 gal aquarium at Spencer's that has an undergravel filter and areator. I bought river gravel and a few more plastic plants washed them and put it all together. I put some ocean shells in that I cleaned with a wire brush to get most of the salt off (look fine under water, terrible out), we have very low hardness water here so I wasn't too worried. I let the tank run for a day and brought home 6 neon tetras and a heater as the tank got down to 60 at night. This was two weeks ago and they are doing fine. I have a pamphlet that tells about all of Tetra's neeto equipment and where to use it, how to set up and clean the tank etc. I'M WONDERING: 1) should I worry about getting another filter. OR, better, what do filters really do? What are the different types? 2) I have NO algae growth yet even though the tank gets about 2 hours direct and 5 hours indirect sun. Is this a concern? The book I got implied that some algae was good. Is this so? 3) Snails or algae eaters? Should I get some? How many? 4) What about water test kits? Do I not worry about water quality unless the fish start dying, or is it something I should constantly monitor? If you recommend testing constantly, what levels are good? what do I watch for? ammonia? nitrates? pH? hardness? 5) Besides fish, what other animals can I look at keeping in here? 6) Previously we used to keep a goldfish bowl where the fish would die in 1 week, so I'm happy that mine have lived this long and are still incredibly hungry and responsive. How long should fish live anyway? FUTURE I'm starting with a fresh water tank but being a SCUBA diver I would like to eventually move up to a BIG salt water tank. This way I could bring home my own fish, plants, anemone, coral, etc... Just as an archive (read it and save it until I get a chance to actually do it), has anyone else done this? Got any pointers? What about salt tanks in general? -- The frustrated aquarist mikew@tahoe.unr.edu