3 gal tank advice

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


iamgolden
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:35 pm

3 gal tank advice

by iamgolden

Hi, I am fairly new to this hobby (actually it's my sons tank, hah!) I have a 3 gal Eclipse set up which I just drained, bleached and cleaned as I stupidly had a goldfish in it and could never control the ammonia, then he got dropsy and died over a long period of time. Anyways, I am going to do it right this time and need your awesome advice. My son does not want a beta, as this was my first thought. I would like to put some anubias nana on wood and can you recommend substrate, I think I should stick w/gravel for cleaning ease. Are there a couple of small fish I could introduce once it has cycled and possibly a type of algae eater? Thank you in advance, this is a nice board!


spongebob4460
 
Posts: 603
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:37 am

by spongebob4460

does the 3 gallon have a filter, and what is the filter type? Without a filter, i wouldnt suggest that many fish, or you might be stuck cleaning it quite often. A hang on back filter would be relatively inexpensive for a 3 gallon and will really help the water quality and cut your work load... plus the fish will love you. having the plants will help tremendously. As far as the fish, tetras work well... they remain small... good luck though!


LeviNHeidi4480
 
Posts: 46
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:26 pm

by LeviNHeidi4480

Hello iamgolden. With a 3 gallon, you are pretty limited on the type of fish to get; however, there are some nice small schooling fish that may work for you. A Cory Catfish may work as a cleaner-uper as they stay pretty small. Neon Tetras are small and you could get a few in that tank with a Cory. As for substrate, you will not need anything special unless you are going to put a small rooted plant in it (not just on wood as mentioned). If you are going this way, there are several products out there such as flourite and Eco-Complete. I just put Eco-Complete in my planted tank and it looks great. The good thing about it is that it is a natural gravel mix that is packed in water rich in nutrients and bacteria. It gives a new tank a quick jumpstart on the cycling process. Just Google Eco-Complete and you will find a lot of information.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

I agree with these guys. Though many people have fish in the stereotyped goldfish bowl it's best to get a filter. Eco-Complete is a very nice looking plant substraight but don't use an under gravel filter with this as the particles are too fine. As long as you're not housing fish with huge fins compared to their body size you can have a moderate amount of current. This will be good for some fish giving them exercise and it keeps the detritus suspended until the filter can get it, and that should keep Eco-Complete, which probably can't be gravel vacuumed very well, pretty clean. With Angels, bettas, and guppies that have large burdensome fins it's best to reduce the current. Your Eclipse system won't create much current, but if you have fish that can tolerate it I would buy an air pump and have an air stone to get the water moving. Look up Eco-Complete and You can see how it separates leaving larger pebbles on the surface and finner grained particles at the bottom. The anubias on wood is my favorite plant for aquariums as it produces really cool roots than grow down around the wood and eventually get to the gravel. It's kind of the mangrove root idea, beautiful, and it requires little light. It even blooms with a flower that's green and looks kind of like those erotic Georgia Okeefe paintings, except that it's green. I like anubias as it comes in a range of sizes from the "nana" (very small leaves, down to about the size of a dime) up to "bartari" (very large leaves, up to about 6 inches).


Zambize4899
 
Posts: 499
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:35 am

by Zambize4899

I have an African Dwarf Frog in the same Eclipse System 3. Mine came with a Marineland Biowheel fillter. I have bigger filters on a couple of other tanks and I like it. Only problem is that the smallest biowheel has the water flow more over/around, rather than through, the filter pad. You may want to look into additional filtration of some sort if you're going to load the tank.

I have Guppies (with finnage) in another tank and they would do fine with the tiny current produce by this filter. I wouldn't put more than 2 or 3 in there. However, they can get to 1.5". The Neon Tetras are smaller and the tank could handle 3. The cool frog I have needs a gallon for himself so you could have 2 Neon Tetras and 1 African Dwarf Frog. The frog is quite clean too, and even cleans some of the food off the bottom.

Also, regarding your patience, you'll need some with these fish (or this frog). They are all fast and it will take determination to net and move them while doing a serious clean.

Depending on your source and the type of Cat, a Cory Cat can get to 2.5" or more, which makes it too big if you've already got 2-3 other fish in the tank.

Also, I don't know about yours, but mine did not come with a heater. You may want to consider one. The fish/frog mentioned are hardy in a varied temperature range, but they'll do better with a heater warming them just bit beyond room temp, and having a heater will stabilize the temp which is more important than the actual temp itself. I use a little 7.5 watt under-gravel heater and it manages about 76. Not exactly tropical, but it's consistent. I may add a second one.


iamgolden
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:35 pm

by iamgolden

Thank you all for your advice, I should have explained the tank better. The Eclipse comes with a Marineland Bio Filter, as Zambize said. I would never keep fish in a fishbowl, that seems cruel to me. It doesn't move the water around very much so I have put a long airstone at the back of the tank in the past. I do have a 25W heater for the tank. I will google Eco-Complete and see if it seems right for me, but I am a little worried about gravel vacuuming w/this stuff, but it does seem better for the live anubias nana I want to get. I guess at this point I should go with a cory catfish, although some of you think it may get too big?? Getting a dwarf frog scares me, I'm not familiar with these at all! And 2-3 neon tetras. Does this seem doable?
You guys all have such gorgeous tanks. Thanks.


Snowboss4492
 
Posts: 2098
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

by Snowboss4492

hello iamgolden...........My daughters BF {serial23} has a playsand substrate in his tank with drift wood....he takes the "collector tube" off of a gravel vac and just uses the plastic line {3/8 in line} and holds it about 1/2 inch off the bottom and it works great.......he keeps his tank spotless...lil time consuming but not bad....just a saltguys input, lol - - -i love the look of a well set up nano tank.....good luck look forward to some pics


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Anubis will root into pretty much anything. If you want to use a semi-fine gravel it'll be fine. Actually, that's what I used for years and I grew amazon sword in it too.


iamgolden
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:35 pm

by iamgolden

Thanks, that was the reply I was looking for, going for semi-fine gravel! Did you have any input on the fish I mentioned in my last post?


courtney8526
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:26 am

by courtney8526

I don't think I would do the neons in there because they should be in larger groups because they are schooling fish. They should be in groups of at least 5 or 6. You could keep snails & shrimp in there if you wanted.

3 gal tank advice

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