Hi, ive never posted on a fish website but im sure you guys are just like all the other forum people ive met, always helpful, so i was wonderin if i could get some input, im found my old 15 gallon tank, its 10inches wide 18inches tall 19 inches long, im wanting to have an open tank with an external filter and plants growing out of the top, the tank is in an old tv entertainment thing and i was going to put two flourescent lights in the top ceiling and have the tank below, i was wondering if anyone could recommend a more in depth site for having multiple live plants with a few community fish, i dont know the specifics on what i need as with lighting and soil/substrate, or filtration, any help would be great, im going to stick to fish that get maybe 4 inches big
One good place to start is to "search" this discussion forum for those keywords and you'll find many, many threads discussing this very topic. I'd offer advice, but I haven't graduated to live plants yet, I'm trying to keep fish alive!
Hmmmm, and 4" seems big for a 15 gallon. With the "inches" rule, that would only allow for 3 fish, assuming "normal" mass, messiness, low activity level, zero aggression, etc. I have a 20 gallon and I can't think of too many 4" fish (x3) who would be in there comfortably and humanely. IMO
Here's a very good article http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article35.html that will explain how much water your "15 gallon" holds (roughly 10.5 gallons). My "37 gallon" actually holds 26 gallons at the most, so when I use that rough "inches" rule of thumb, I apply it to 26 gallons, not 37.
Lighting is easy enough to suspend (about 6-8" above the tank) from the ceiling with two chains one on each side, and for a 15 gallon you'd need a minimum 45w fixture to give you 3 watts per gallon of lighting more is acceptible but not necessarily necessary --lol
You could probably find some sort of flourescent fixture at Lowe's/Home Depot for a pretty cheap price. You'll just have to be sure the fixture is secure as it would create a big mess if it were to ever fall into the tank, especially if you accidentally bump your head against it, etc.
You may have to hang two side by side and split the difference in wattage (22-25w/ea) to two fixtures as 19" is pretty short for a decent wattage.
As far as the fish...there aren't too many acceptible fish that reach a length of 4" I'd recommend in a 15gal. I do keep kuhli loaches (the guys in the photo to the left) in my 16gal and they top out at 4" but they create very little waste.
yea, so i went ahead and talked to my uncle in las cruces, he has a 170 gallon with live plants and co2 compressor and wut not, i tried finding a search button on here as in other forums but couldnt find one, i think im going on a good track right now listening to my experienced uncle, yea i didnt kno wut i was talkin about when it comes to 4 inches, i bought a power filter thats for a 30 gallon tank and i have a hood that im gonna cut up and make it slimmer to hang, hopefully have pics up as i think its a pretty cool setup, i bought a diy co2 device with the tabs, and am taking a break from the heat, should be up and running tonite
