One of the tanks I currently own is a fifty-five gallon community tank (hence the name of the blog). During the planning phase of the tank I decided to choose relativity peaceful fish. I wanted the tank to display fish with long flowing fins and contain many different colors. Being a college student, the girls seem to enjoy them the most (I can't complain if different girls want to come over to "see the fish.") Semi-aggressive fish tend to be notorious fin-nippers even if they are well fed. If I had decided to mix the two (peaceful and semi-aggressive) I would be sure to keep the fish of comparable size. If a fish in the tank can fit in another's mouth without much effort, don't risk putting the two together.
I went to a local fish store and picked out 55 pounds of fine gravel, basic plastic decorations, and Stress Coat (a tap water conditioner that removes chlorine). I then positioned the tank in a room where I thought it went best, and wiped down the inside with a hot wet rag. Taking a towel and placing it on the shower floor, I laid the gravel on the towel and rinsed it for about 5 minutes. I had to do this in segments to prevent gravel from clogging the drain. The next step was to place the gravel into the tank and fill the tank with water. After arranging the decorations, I added about six teaspoons of Stress Coat (about a teaspoon per gallon). Then I played the waiting game.
Two days later I brought the aquarium water to the fish store and had it tested. Following the previous steps, two days is about average for fish. When starting a new tank, an aquarist has to let it "cycle" in order to build up beneficial bacteria. The bacteria help bring the aquarium into balance to make life possible for the inhabitants. The "cycling" of a new tank sets up something called "the nitrogen cycle". In the nitrogen cycle, fish waste is converted to ammonia, which is then converted into nitrite, which in turn is converted to nitrate. Ammonia is toxic to fish, as is nitrite. The key factor in the nitrogen cycle is bacteria that resides in the filter that you have connected to the tank. Once the bacteria build up as the nitrogen cycle completes, the ammonia and nitrite levels decrease because the bacteria essentially consume them. This means it is safe for more fish to be added to the tank. I started with two Zebra Danios. Why? Because they are tough and can take the abuse of a new aquarium. I did not put any more than two fish in initially. About five days after the first fish are placed in the tank, bring the water to your local pet store to have it tested and have them advise you on putting additional fish in. About a week after, the Zebra Danios were put into my tank I got the pleasure of selecting more fish to put into the tank.
Again, with the thought of my female visitors, I went with a proven long-time favorite: the Guppy. I bought a couple males and a couple females. Generally with Guppies you want the females to outnumber the males. Although they are typically peaceful, Guppies get pretty pugnacious when competing for females. If you decide to take the Guppy route, know they are livebearers and they produce a lot of babies! No need to actively attempt to control their population though; often times they are highly cannibalistic to their young. The rule of thumb with Guppies: if they can find their young, they will eat them. Whoever said there was anything wrong with a little protein anyhow?
