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Hello everybody! I recently got back into the fish keeping hobby, it has been many many years. Anyway, I have a Fluval Spec 5 gallon which is amazing, I am very happy with the tank so far. My concerns are the following: First, when the water evaporates I know I am not supposed to top it off and should wait until I do the 20 percent water change. However, I do not like the calcium build up on the top of the tank. What is a good way to get that calcium on the glass off? I fear that if I let it sit for too long it will just become impossible to scrub off. Second, I purchased the Fluval Edge water heater which according to the reviews is not too great. I am going to purchase a better heater soon, one that I can set the temperature on. What is the ideal temperature for a tropical tank and does anyone have good heater recommendations for a 5 gallon? Thanks!

Hi and Welcome Back to the hobby!

With that small a tank you will have to be careful about several items. First, of course is to avoid over crowding.
You can make it a "Shrimp" tank, or put one or two very small
adult fish in it. Some small plants would help with the water
parameters. Once you put fish, shrimp, or snails, in the tank
the water chemestry can change nearly over night and the tank will require more frequent water changes than once a week. It would be OK to top off the tank regularly, but the changes will need to be done without fail. Monitor your tank's chemistries (pH, Nitrite, nitrate, and GH/KH) at least twice, every day, until it is cycled and settles down.


TROPICAL FISH HOBBYIST (THF) has recently run a series of 4 articles on a small tank such as yours and you might want to look it up and read about the thought processes that went into developing that tank.
Lea Maddocks wrote the series titled "Adventures with Inverts: The Pico Riparium Project." It has a ton of information on small or "Pico" tanks.

Are your tank walls glass? If so, then a single edged safety razor will remove the calcium build up. Outside the tank you can use a mixture of vinegar and a sponge to remove it. Vinegar is an acid. It will disolve the calcium crust, but take care that none of it gets into the tank as it will affect your pH. You can put a small amount on a sponge, and then tap the sponge on the build up, dampening it. Get the build up moist, and then attack it with the razor.

As far as the tank is concerned, look online or in the varous magazines, for heaters designed specifically for those types of small tanks. I have no opinion about the Fluval heater you mention, I've not even seen one.

In a sense, on returning to the hobby, you have chosen to jump into the "deep end" to get your feet wet. The small tanks are harder to maintain, in many respects than the larger tanks holding 20+ gallons.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thank you for your response! I am currently monitoring the ammonia levels daily but I am not monitoring the Nitrite or Nitrate levels. I don't plan on putting more than three fish and maybe two shrimp, most likely the three Danios that are in there now and I will purchase two shrimp in a few weeks. I have had the tank up and running for a week already and the ammonia levels have stayed in the safe range so far.

I will be purchasing a thermometer as well so that I can see how well this heater I purchased is doing. If I notice a huge fluctuation in the temperature I will need to purchase a better heater. As far as water changes, I am attempting to stick to 20 percent water changes once a week but my LFS told me that I shouldn't start those until the tank gets a little more established, say in about 2 more weeks?

I tried finding those articles you mentioned but I was unable to. Can you direct me to the right location?

Thank you for your help!

Hi,
First, the fish. You say you have three danios in the tank. Do you mean the small silver fish with horrizontal strips, called "Zebra's?" If so, that is kind of a poor choice as these are extremely active swimmers. Kept is a school, they are continuously active swimming from one end to the other and all points inbetween. They will hardly get a good tail wag before the hit the other end of the tank. I think you might opt for something a little less active. If I'm talking about the wrong fish, then just ignore the above.

There have been two really good articles in the THF in the "Adventures in Aquascaping" column, that I recall recently.

The first was written by Frank Wazeter and was titled "An Elegant 5 1/2Gallon Nano. It began with the Jan 2013 issue and ran through the April 2013 Issue.
The second article, in the same column was written by Lea Maddocks and titled Adventures in Inverts: The Pico Riparium Project. It started wtih the September 2013 Issue and ran through the December 2013 Issue.

The shopkeeper is suggesting that once the tank is "Cycled" that you should start checking those values regularly.

As I subscribe to this magazine, I've got them on a shelf for easy reference. You might try the library, or go on line and see if they are available for reading.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Frank,

Thank you for your response, I will look up those articles. I do have the Zebra Danios, three of them. I am not sure if you have seen the Fluval Spec tank but it is one of the longest 5 gallons I have seen, if that makes any sense. The tank is not very deep but it is long and tall, what would be the minimum tank size for three Danios? Also, what fish would you recommend for a five gallon? I would not like to turn it into a shrimp tank.

Thank you so much for your help!

Hi,
Because of the small size of the tank, your choices of fish are extremely limited. Here is a web site that will help you realize how limited you may be:
http://www.howmanyfish.com/#page=page-1
This talks about inches of fish. It is only applicable to the smaller, thin bodied, fish such as neons, guppies, etc.

Another site is this:
http://www.firsttankguide.net/capacity.php
This is a bit more "advanced" but after you read it you will see what I'm getting at.

When I typed in a search for "what fish are appropriate for a 5 gallon tank?" I recieved several choices that ran along the lines of "up to three adult male guppies, or one Siamese Fighting fish.

There was one post from a person who said that tank made a great planted tank (use "micro" plants such as the micro swords) and one or two "medium height (foreground) plants) and one Siamese Fighting fish.

I really hate to say it, but for the average fishkeeper, these nano tanks can pose a real problem. They offer the opportunity to have a nice small tank on a desk or bookshelf and a way to get back, or start, up in the hobby. In the ads the pictures all look really, really, nice and attracting but practically speaking, they pose a whole bunch of problems... mainly, what to put in it so the tank has some "life" and how to keep the water chemistries within normal, healthy, fish water.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--