rainwater aquarium

[losfreddy]

hey all. I collected rainwater and filled a 10 gallon and 20 gallon aquarium that I'm gonna keep outdoors and fill with fish. IDK what exactly in gonna put in it. Perhaps neon tetras cause i think they"ll breed in rain water. Hope everything turns out well. Any suggestions/ ideas? Also planning on making a 10 gall CP terrarium on the same self outside

 

[theyellowdart]

Cool.

I wouldn't do anything tropical. They won't like big shifts in temperature... Which will be hard to control outdoors.

I would try out a couple of mosquito fish, small feeders, or some "normal" guppies (not the fancy ones). The feeder fish won't last in there long term though if you plan on keeping the tank up for awhile, they will need more space in a few years.

 

[losfreddy]

i was planning on routing an extension cord with an airpump and water heater. Thats about it. I was wanting to use those cotton and charcoal filters that work with the air pump. I'll probably put a netting of some kind over the fish tanks. Im gonna get some feeder fish first today to see how they work out. Ill get plants ect later. I wanna make it like some kinda bio-sphere. An eco system that self contained. I'd imagine some fish would eat the misquitos before they get outta hand, no? i could just boil a few gallons and fry them out if they get outta hand i think

 

[jimscott]

You'd have to know the chemistry of your rainwater. South American fish, like tetras, tend to want soft, acid water. So do discus and angels.

 

[EdaxFlamma]

And definitely go do some research about cycling the tank. Getting plants, media, the right filters etc is important especially when starting a tank from ground zero.

 

[jimscott]

Yeah, ya really wanna allow the tank to go through the Nitrogen Cycle (Ammmonia->Nitrite->Nitrate) and buy a test kit to monitor the progress.

 

[polywer2345]

Also, depending on where you live, it might be lethal to fish as the air is so polluted nowadays.

 

[losfreddy]

Ive had several aquariums, this is just my new project. Someone gave away my 55 gallon Im excited about this project thou. I came up with it cause i was collecting rainwater just for fun. Its so fun to experiment. i must say its like a PASSION

 

[theyellowdart]

Also, depending on where you live, it might be lethal to fish as the air is so polluted nowadays.

Huh?

-----

I was going to say something about the cycle as well, but I figured you knew what you were doing (which it turns out you do).

You may be able to get away with no cycle if you put in a filter & filter cartridge or some gravel from an established tank.

Edit: I've done a lot of reading about mosquito fish. Apparently they can live through just about anything, so I really recommend some of those if you aren't already considering them.

 

[polywer2345]

Huh?

-----

I was going to say something about the cycle as well, but I figured you knew what you were doing (which it turns out you do).

You may be able to get away with no cycle if you put in a filter & filter cartridge or some gravel from an established tank.

Edit: I've done a lot of reading about mosquito fish. Apparently they can live through just about anything, so I really recommend some of those if you aren't already considering them.

I meant the rainwater. It depends though.

 

[losfreddy]

Some people said not to get tropical fish, but i decided to buy some anyways. Hey, we living in Tx and this isn't an expensive project; just for kicks. I'll get a heater if it comes down to it. Fish have been doing good for the two days Ive had them. i purposefully bought fish that were pregnant and the next day one had little fishes. The next day, there were babies already in the tank. I'm probably gonna spend like 20 bucks on guppies/ mollies or whateva as long as they look pregnant. I'll put rocks and stuff so they can hide and thrive

and the 20 gallon

there just happened to be an outlet where i put the tanks at.
I'll probably get rid of the feeder fish and put the sharks in the 55 so i can make it all a tropical community

 

[Clue]

Nice, colorful platys. I'd like some of those, lol.