Newbie saying hi from Vancouver, Canada!

[tmackenzie]

Hi Everyone! 

I'm brand new to the hobby, decided to get a tank partially because I thought it would be good for my toddler, and partly because I wanted some life in the house! We live in a strictly no pet building, but pretty sure I can get away with fish 🙂 . The irony is that the toddler barely cares (so far), and I am becoming obsessed. 

Got a 12 gallon tank and a bunch of plants about a month ago and just added five neon tetras a few days ago. I am absolutely loving it and looking forward to adding some more friends. I've been watching a lot of Aquarium Co-op youtube videos (thanks Cory!) and am still unsure about what the best would be for my tank. I'm thinking a female betta because I like the idea of a fish with some personality, and I think the toddler would like that too. If anyone has advice on what kind of bottom feeders are best, and how many I can feasibly (and ethically!) put in I would very much appreciate it. 

Happy to be learning from all of you, especially in what seems to be such a respectful and open forum. 

Cheers! 

Edited September 26, 2020 by tmackenzie
spelling mistake :)

[Daniel]

Wow! Very tasteful. I love the long low dimensions on the tank.

[tmackenzie]

1 hour ago, Daniel said:

Wow! Very tasteful. I love the long low dimensions on the tank.

Thanks Daniel! We live in a really old building with funny nooks, so I splurged to get one that fits the space. So glad I did! 

Edited September 26, 2020 by tmackenzie

[Aubrey]

I have the mr. aqua 12g. I love the look of the tank. Long, low, and rimless. I hope to upgrade in the future to something similar only wider. I probably have mine overstocked, but my nitrates are usually below 10ppm. I have about 9 rice fish, ~15 pygmy corydoras, and a bristle nose pleco. Not to mention ~50 shrimp and snails. I don't feed the tank all that much, a couple bug bite sticks for the pleco and a squirt of co-op fry food twice a day for the rest of the inhabitants. Everyone seems fine, the rice fish, corys, and shrimp all breed regularly. I do a ~20% weekly water change most weeks. I like how you did your substrate and your scape overall, very nice. A betta would be a nice show piece fish in there. 

[tmackenzie]

33 minutes ago, Aubrey said:

I have the mr. aqua 12g. I love the look of the tank. Long, low, and rimless. I hope to upgrade in the future to something similar only wider. I probably have mine overstocked, but my nitrates are usually below 10ppm. I have about 9 rice fish, ~15 pygmy corydoras, and a bristle nose pleco. Not to mention ~50 shrimp and snails. I don't feed the tank all that much, a couple bug bite sticks for the pleco and a squirt of co-op fry food twice a day for the rest of the inhabitants. Everyone seems fine, the rice fish, corys, and shrimp all breed regularly. I do a ~20% weekly water change most weeks. I like how you did your substrate and your scape overall, very nice. A betta would be a nice show piece fish in there. 

Thanks for this @Aubrey! Gives me hope that I can eventually have the busy and happy community tank I dream of 🙂 . In what order did you add different fish, and how long apart? Would love to see a photo if you're willing to share! 

[Aubrey]

I honestly couldn't give you an exact answer on when and how far apart. The tank was a shrimp and snail only tank for at least 6 months and after that I added the bristlenose. I would guess about a month to three months later I added the rice fish and shortly after the pygmy corys. It was a slow progression mostly due to me worrying fish would eat my shrimp and then finding the fish I wanted. I live 35 miles from a Petco and 75 miles from any kind of fish specialty store, so that kept me from just going and picking up whatever I was in to that week. Aside from the bristlenose everything is pretty small in the tank. I started with six pygmys and then one day I noticed that they had almost tripled.  

[tmackenzie]

On 9/26/2020 at 6:49 PM, Aubrey said:

I honestly couldn't give you an exact answer on when and how far apart. The tank was a shrimp and snail only tank for at least 6 months and after that I added the bristlenose. I would guess about a month to three months later I added the rice fish and shortly after the pygmy corys. It was a slow progression mostly due to me worrying fish would eat my shrimp and then finding the fish I wanted. I live 35 miles from a Petco and 75 miles from any kind of fish specialty store, so that kept me from just going and picking up whatever I was in to that week. Aside from the bristlenose everything is pretty small in the tank. I started with six pygmys and then one day I noticed that they had almost tripled.  

Thanks for all the info! Love the jungle-y look 🙂 . I've been doing so much research and I'm half paralyzed by making decisions on what to get/half so excited I have to keep myself from running to the store and getting everything.