pehcao Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Hey guys, I recently set my eye on starting the aquarium hobby, the panemic has us all indoors and limiting our activities so I thought it would be a great hobby both because it's 100% indoors and it can be a challenging and cool hobby. So I did a little digging, went to my local petstore and I came up with a beginner's aquarium idea and I'd like to see what you guys think about it: So my idea is to basically get a 16 gallon aquarium, and startup with the following fish: 6 Rasboras, 8 Zebras, 3 bolivian rams, 3 kuli loaches, 2 chinese algae eaters, and a single angel fish. I'm also thinking about getting a couple of live plants to go with it, and knowing some beginner friendly plants would be great as well. Do you guys feel this idea is adequate? Or what would be some improvements I could make to the plan before I actually go ahead and buy it. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Overstocked, don't do it. Please research the minimum tank size for each species and the recommended school size. Also make sure your tank is fully cycled before you start off or you'll just kill everything within a couple days. The Easy Guide to the Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM Are you getting started with your first fish tank? Then you may have heard of something called the “aquarium nitrogen cycle,” followed by a bunch of complicated scientific terms and graphs that seem a little overwhelming. No... Freshwater Fish Tank Cycling - How to Prepare for New Fish WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM Have you ever seen a fish in the wild living in pure, crystal clear water with no other contaminants? Probably not. That’s because life doesn’t flourish in “pristine” conditions, but rather when there’s a whole ecosystem of... Beginner plants: Top 10 Easy Aquarium Plants for Beginners WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM Planted aquariums are very popular nowadays because of their natural beauty and amazing ability to consume toxic waste compounds. However, many beginners have trouble keeping their green foliage from turning... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehcao Posted October 17, 2020 Author Share Posted October 17, 2020 Thanks for your response! What would be a good tank size for that sort of setup? It's only 23 fish in total so I thought 15 gallon would suffice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDukeAnumber1 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 # of fish isn't really a good metric, Bio load is what really matters here and that is directly dependent on how much you have to feed. The more you have to feed the bigger the bio load. First off cycle the aquarium get things running... Read up, good luck we are here to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 I would suggest to start with buying a water test kit and getting to know your water first. Is it soft or hard? What pH does it have? Are there nitrites, nitrates or ammonia present in your water? Your water might be great for some species and not so good for others. Then proceed slowly with plants and the hardiest fishes like zebra danios. If they are doing great and there are no issues with your tank for some reasonable length of time (say, couple of months at least) - only then try adding other species. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehcao Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Thank you, this has been really helpful. I guess I was too overeager to get this going but it will just harm the animals, i'll cycle it properly with plants for a couple of months before starting to add more life to the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepy Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 On 10/17/2020 at 6:26 PM, pehcao said: Hey guys, I recently set my eye on starting the aquarium hobby, the panemic has us all indoors and limiting our activities so I thought it would be a great hobby both because it's 100% indoors and it can be a challenging and cool hobby. So I did a little digging, went to my local petstore and I came up with a beginner's aquarium idea and I'd like to see what you guys think about it: So my idea is to basically get a 16 gallon aquarium, and startup with the following fish: 6 Rasboras, 8 Zebras, 3 bolivian rams, 3 kuli loaches, 2 chinese algae eaters, and a single angel fish. I'm also thinking about getting a couple of live plants to go with it, and knowing some beginner friendly plants would be great as well. Do you guys feel this idea is adequate? Or what would be some improvements I could make to the plan before I actually go ahead and buy it. Thank you. The plan seemed ok up until the Chinese Algae Eaters and Angel fish that definitely will not work in that tank I would also probably just stick to 1 Bolivian Ram other than that the rest seems fine to me. Also as stated make sure to get a water test kit and don't add all the fish at once add them over time and let us know how it goes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric W-Farmhouse Fish Room Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 Welcome to the forum and to the hobby! Great to see you're doing your homework before you get started. As others have said, the stocking list you have is too much for the tank. Looks like you're understanding of that, so you're off to a great start. Also be aware that Chinese algae eaters grow larger and can be jerks. You'd be better off with siamese algae eaters, flying foxs, otocinclus or a bristlenose pleco. You'll find in this community a wealth of information. Look forward to interacting with you and seeing what you come up with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquarius Aquatics Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 If you had the space and money you should set up a 40 gallon instead the space is better for more species of fish and aqauscapes. Also kuhli loaches can be shy in small numbers I have 5 and barely see them. Very nice fish just get a bigger school once your tank is cycled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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