10 Gal Glofish Tank

**ekfishlover2011** · 01-03-2013, 11:48 PM

Ive decided after yet another one of my new crabs i bought died that im done buying them. I will take store credit instead of their replacement and buy something else. I only have two left, so when income tax return time comes (aka next month) i will start up a Glofish Tank and they will get kicked out if still alive to go live in their old 5gal. Doubt they will be alive, i just dont have good luck with them it seems.

Visual:
I already have a homemade blacklight setup on the 10gal, and i have plenty of spare caves and things for the fish; a glow-in-the-dark cave, two tree trunks, and a build-a-cave rock arch cave thing. I have noticed that normal green plants turn an ugly brown color in my blacklight, so im going for a not-so-natural look for this tank. I will buy out one of each of all of the special glofish plants my LFS has so that they look nice still. :)

Filtration:
I need an internal filter because this tank has a wierd hood with no way to put a HOB on it unless i completely remove hood, but then i wouldnt have my lights and the danios would all jump out. Does anybody know of a good internal filter rated for 20gal and how much it costs?

Stocking:
I want one of each color my store carries. Red, orange, green, blue, purple. That should make a nice rainbow school. :)

Pre-setup Questions:
If the crabs die this month and i buy the filter awhile, would a 5inch shubunkin goldfish be okay in it for a few weeks?

I ask this because i would want to use a filter from my 75 to seed the new filter but i need something equal to the 10 glofish to be in there beforehand to keep BB fed while the new filter grows its own colony, and the goldfish should be dirty enough i think, plus its much easier to catch and move one goldfish than it is to catch and move 10 small fish.

If thats not a good idea, what is the best way to keep it fed other than using ammonia? Ammonia just sounds complicated to me and i dont want to accidentally overdo it or underdo it and then uncycle the filter or have it not be able to support the all the danios...

**blu** · 01-04-2013, 12:01 AM

I think a 10 gal would be too small for a proper group of glo fish. Zebra danios are very active and I would not recommend them for anything smaller than a 20 gal tank.

If there are fish in your 75 just put the new filter on there for a month or so, then stock your tank slowly.

It is not any more fair to put 1 5in goldfish through the cycling process as opposed to 10 glofish. 10 glofish would also overstock a 10 gal. Plus you are still left with the gold fish to take care of.

**ekfishlover2011** · 01-04-2013, 12:15 AM

Well it wouldnt really be a cycle since it would have the old filter that has more than enough BB to handle one goldfish from his old tank, but i understand what you are saying. O yea, duh that would make more sense to put smaller new filter on bigger tank for a few weeks instead of trying to fit both on the small 10gal, lol. Silly me. Ok, i guess thats easier than catching my goldie, moving him, and then catching again. What if i got a 20H, would that be sufficient for 10glofish? Then i could still use my same hood with the glued on blacklights...

**blu** · 01-04-2013, 12:57 AM

Oh I thought you meant you were going to buy a goldfish XD Thats what I meant by saying you would still be left with the goldy. I also misunderstood how you were doing the filters, but I would still put the little one on the big tank instead of the reverse. I think a 20H would be ok for them, one of the pros might jump in and disagree though.

Edit: even after the filter is seeded I would still stock only a couple at a time. Since the filter will only be seeded with enough bacteria to cope with a goldfish in 75 gallons of water, so it will still have to play catch up

**Cermet** · 01-04-2013, 12:59 AM

Use the aqadvisor in my sigature to get a good idea on stocking with a given filter/tank (also suggests water changes.) Aqadvisor is a good program but not the end-all know all but will give you a good idea. A 20 H is a very good tank.

**ekfishlover2011** · 01-04-2013, 01:55 AM

Aqadvisor tried to say a 10gal with 20gal filter was perfectly fine for them, so i dont know now. I guess ill just buy the 20H and stock slowly.

**blu** · 01-04-2013, 02:00 AM

I don't use aqadvisor for that very reason. always confuses me!

**Goes to 11!** · 01-04-2013, 02:29 AM

Originally Posted by ekfishlover2011

Aqadvisor tried to say a 10gal with 20gal filter was perfectly fine for them, so i dont know now. I guess ill just buy the 20H and stock slowly.

Good call, Go with the 20g as a minimum.

Danios as mentioned are VERY active fish and should not be in any tank smaller than 2' long IMO. They like room to zoom and a 10g does not provide this.