Hi There =)

[jttt3]

Hello.

I'm James Tucker from Clearwater, FL, USA.

I have kept small 10-15 gallon tanks growing up in Alaska, but never tried really hard to keep one well.

My space is limited as I am in a 1 bedroom apartment. So I'm more keen to keeping a few smaller tanks than 1 large one. Not to say I won't at some point if I move, but for now a few smaller ones are ok, even if it will be a little harder to take care of.

I went out and bought a bow-front 24 gallon tank that could be used for Saltwater or Fresh water, as I knew I wanted a tank, and I knew what style tank I wanted, but wasn't sure if I was going to just "go for it" on marine. I decided I'm not ready lol.

Anyways, I tested all my equipment, tested all my water, and working on tracking down the rest of my decor.

After I get all my decor, I will either do a BIO-SPIRA cycle or a fish cycle. I don't have any one else that I know that does anything with aquatics, so getting bacteria from someone else isn't viable.

As for my fish, I think I know what I want, but might change my mind. I'm in no rush at all to get this all done, I've got time.

6 Zebra Danios
3 RoseyBarbs
1 Small Blue Gourami
1 Bristlenose Catfish

Taking into consideration their adult size, it is a bit more than 1 gallon per fish inch, but should be ok I think?

I've spent months researching on and off the internet, locating fish resources locally and online.

My plan is to get this tank setup in my Living Room. If that goes well, I'll setup another tank, 20 gallon, in the bedroom and another 10 gallon quarentine tank off to the corner.

My tank theme will be ruined medievil for the first one, then ruined greek for the 2nd. =)

Anyways, good to find a great source of information like this, thanks for any help ahead of time!

James Tucker

[cocoa_pleco]

welcome to ac!

[gm72]

Welcome aboard!

Do a fishless cycle, you will be very glad you did. There is a sticky post on the subject over in the beginner's corner. Also recommend you download and peruse the free ebook located in the menu on your left. Great information. Your stocking idea sounds okay if you had excellent filtration and spent time with maintenance, but I'd ditch the gourami idea and stock the rest.

[Drumachine09]

Welcome to the A.C.!


FWIW, the inch per gallon rule is crap. Think of it this way. You wouldnt put a 10" fish in a 10 gallon, but you could fit maybe a little over 10 inches in smaller fish, depending on their bioload.

[Chrona]

Welcome to AC

I would go a little less on the bioload. It makes maintenance much easier and I would say you are pushing more than just a little bit past the usual stocking levels with fairly active fish.

[WOLF]

Welcome!!!!

[crackatinny]

Welcome to AC

[xoolooxunny]

welcome to this great site, its great to hear you're doing lots of hw beforehand! good man

[jttt3]

Thanks for the warm welcome. =)

I'll be adding fish slowly over a period of 3-4 months, so depending on how the tank feels out, I might or might not ditch the gourami. I just wanted at least 1 smaller bigger fish (if that makes any kind of sense lol) that I could drop in. Lots of smaller fish are ok, but I gotta have at least 1 that stands out.

I am also going to also use this as a chance to study micro-biology, one of my interests I never got to persu, so I'll be keeping a pretty close eye on just about everything in the tanks I setup. I guess we'll see how the filtration handles it lol.

James

[Incredulous_Ed]

Welcome to AC!