Subj : Re: Newbie-How Many Fish? To : All From : Iain Miller Date : Wed Dec 31 2003 06:23 am "JJG" wrote in message news:3763e95e.0312291919.40664880@posting.google.com... > My daughter got a 5 gallon tank kit for the holidays. We have an > African Dwarf Frog and a small tetra in the tank. We'd like to get > another frog and perhaps 1-2 more fish. How many fish can safely live > in a 5 gallon tank? Would a ctfish be a good idea (to help keep the > tank clean)? > > Thanks in advance for you help! First thing you need to do is read up on the nitrogen cycle. Pretty soon toxins (ammonia and Nitrite) will start building in the tank. These will then decline back to zero as the bio filter kicks in but it can take a good number of weeks for it to happen - basically bacterial colonies develop that deal with the Ammonia and turn it into Nitrite and then another one develops that eats the Nitrite & turns it into Nitrate which is relatively harmless to fish. That said you need to manage the nitrAte & you do that by changing 10-15% of the water in the tank every week or so. The ammonia is given off by the fish poop and rotting matter. The more you feed the more of the latter there will be so don't over feed! Feed as much as they will eat in 2-3 minutes twice a day. A slightly hungry fish is more likely to stay a healthy fish. You need to manage these toxins or you will have a dead fish & I would guess frog as well. The Tetra will not tolerate a lot of this at all. Assuming you have set this up in the last week you need to act on this quickly - the ammonia will be rising now - the Nitrite comes inside the next week or two. If you see the fish gasping at the surface then you know its struggling - not for air but because of the toxins & you should change some water immediately. The shortcut would be to go back to your LFS (or find a friendly local aquarium keeper) and get either some gravel/sand from one of their tanks or better yet a piece of used filter wool/sponge from one of their filters. This will carry the essential bacteria you need and so will kick start your own filtration very much more quickly. If you go there then take a sample of your water - they will test it for you for ammonia & nitrite & you will know where you are. You only need a small amount in a jar for them to test. If you don't have them you then should buy test kits for Ammonia and Nitrite as a minimum. You need to watch these for the first few weeks - testing every day if necessary. Once the filter is established you will have less need of these. If the levels rise too high then change some water making sure to use a suitable dechlorinator - ask your LFS if there is Chlorine or Chloramine in your local water supply & make sure you get dechlor that will deal with chloramine specifically if you have it. Also make sure you match the temperature of any new water you put in the tank to the water in the tank itself as close as you can (within 2-3 deg F. in a tank that small). Add the dechlor to the bucket of water before you put it in the tank . If you have some kind of small power filter then when you clean it do so only in a bucket of water from the tank - it doesn't need to be spotless just rinse away the worst of the junk. If you use some kind of filter with sponges/wool etc in it NEVER clean it under the tap - you will kill all the bio bugs & end up back at square one. If you use an under gravel filter then vacuum out the worst of the rubbish with a syphon as part of your water change routine. 5 gallons is a very small tank & so the toxin levels will rise quite quickly. Its not unmanageable at all but you will need to watch it closely till it stabilises otherwise you may have a very unhappy little girl on your hands. Don't know a lot about frogs & how big they get so suggest you ask the LFS as to populations HTH, good luck. I. --- þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info@bbsworld.com --- * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 12/31/03 6:23:18 AM * Origin: MoonDog BBS, Brooklyn,NY, 718 692-2498, 1:278/230 (1:278/230) .