My First New Fish tank

jaspreetsl

Hey guys, its a 5.5 gallon fish tank. Its pretty regular, nothing special. Its about 1 week old. I decided to just add 3 fish in the starting, because i didn't want dead fish in the future. But i'm planning on adding more soon, perhaps next week or something.

Amphitrite

Hi jaspreetsl and welcome to the forum :) Your tank is looking good.

Do you know about cycling a tank, and do you have a testing kit to keep an eye on water parameters?

jaspreetsl

hmm, i did research on the cycling a tank thing before i got it, but i don't have a test kit for the water. Is it necesary ? Like I only have 3 fishes, i thought it would be important if i had like 6-7 fish in that 5.5 gallon ?

Amphitrite

Yes, a test kit is absolutely necessary. As the fish produce waste, the water will contain ammonia which is toxic to the fish.

To prevent the levels from becoming too high during cycling, you will have to carry out water changes to dilute the ammonia.

I would recomment a liquid test kit which tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. A link on cycling your tank can be found here:

http://www.fishforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3738

I would not add any more fish until the cycle is complete or ammonia will rise very rapidly. Keep feeding to a minimum and test the water on a daily basis. When carrying out water changes, ensure that the water added to the tank is of the same temperature, and has been treated for chlorines/chloramines.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions - it can all seem a bit confusing at first. :)

jaspreetsl

alright, thanks a lot. I was just also wondering, is it possible to add a ton of Neon Tetra's with those Red Eye Tetra's in the future and perhaps even a catfish ?

willow

hi
lovely little tank there.
i wouldn't say a ton of neons,as it's only a small tank,
maybe add some more plants,if possible.

jaspreetsl

oh, because i asked the worker at the Pet Shop and she said that with the 5.5 gallon tank, i can add around a max of 10-12 SMALL* fish in total. I'm really in love with these Neon Tetra's and I really wanna add them after i finish cycling my tank, but the concerns are about the size of the tank and if they'll properly adapt well with the Red Eye Tetra's.