I am thinking of fiddler crabs or something else kinda unique. When I set it up do I need fish in there to get the cycle going? Maybe a couple cheap feeder fish or something? And how long do I wait to put other fish in? Any help is appreciated.
2007-12-28 02:54:00 · 6 answers · asked by Big D 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
yes you do need to put fish in the tank to cycle it. But if you do this you may have to take the fish back when you get the crabs as they can eat fish mainly when they are sleeping. The time you need to wait to put the other fish varys. It depends on how many fish you want to cycle the tank with as the filter needs to learn to cope with the waste. so if you add all the fish at once you would be adding loads of Ammonia,Nitrite and Nitrate. So if you want to put crabs in your aquarium you might want to consider a fishless cycle. This is when you add pure ammonia to your fish tank and leave it a couple of weeks to cycle.
2007-12-28 03:02:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
If you want something unique, how about land hermit crabs, or african land snails, or a scorpion? They would all be fine in that size tank and are a lot less hassle and cost less to set up. I sell all of these things, as well as fish. I think the most unusual is the land hermit crabs but they are cool
Fish tanks are expensive to set up, light + lid, filters, heaters gravel, plants, ornements, air pump, all the rip off chemicals the pet shops try and sell you + the fish themselves and the actual tank. Then the weekly water changes and everything else. Its not something to be taken lightly
Fish tanks dont just have to have fish in :P
I use zebra danios to cycle new tanks because they are hardy fish but you can do a fishless cycle with fish food or liquid ammonia
2007-12-28 11:30:25 · answer #2 · answered by Cambridge Aquatics 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You should put 2-3 cheap fish in there to start the cycle. This should normally take 4-6 weeks. After that, get you ammonia and nitrite levels tested. When they reach zero, you can begin to add 2-3 fish a week untill you reach you 10 inches of fish. You could keep several shrimp or some african dwarf frogs but if you wanted a community tropical tank I always suggest a dwarf gourami, two cory catfish, and 6 of your favorite tetra.
2007-12-28 12:13:24 · answer #3 · answered by Marine 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm assuming you got a tank kit with a top, light, pump, filter, sand, fake plants, de-chlorinator, and some sort of ornament. If all you got is a tank, you can put lizards or something in it because you'll need all the other stuff for fish.
Fiddler crabs are fine if that's all you want in there, like the other guy said, they eat fish.
I'd go with a small number of small fish like tetras, guppies, zebras, etc. One or two little corydoras catfish will help keep the bottom clean. You'll be limited to a dozen or so small fish in a tank that size, so don't get too frisky in the fish store.
Forget about cycles. That's for large tanks and ponds. Small aquariums like yours have to have a filter to keep clean. The best thing to do will be to find a nice friendly knowledgable person at a fish shop to ask questions of. They'll help you immensely, and next thing you know you're going to want to move on up to a 55 gallon or so.
2007-12-28 11:10:07 · answer #4 · answered by thegubmint 7 · 0⤊ 7⤋
crabs are not begginer aquarium creatures, they are agressive and will wreck plants and will attack all the fish it can get near,and eat everything it can, go with some white clouds to start your tank
2007-12-28 11:32:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
try hermit crabs, and research it before buying it.
2007-12-28 12:18:23 · answer #6 · answered by ???? 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋