Wow, an aquarium! You know I used to have an aquarium...
That’s
what I said to my wife Victoria when I unwrapped my ten gallon tank at
Christmas in 1993. My interests had been rekindled. Every now and
then though, Victoria wonders about the ramifications of that
Christmas purchase. Luckily, she also has become interested in the
hobby after a little coaxing from me.
This is just a short discussion of my experiences with a ten gallon tank over the past two years. I have had tons of fun but also some frustration, in part is due to the fact that I would have liked to set up a bigger tank. Though several reasons have kept me from setting up a bigger aquarium, I have been attempting to learn as much as I can about raising freshwater plants and fish using my ten gallon and lots of literature. The following is a list of some diffuculties I found (I believe) to be associated with keeping fish in a small tank:
I believe I lost some fish because of overheating while on vacation (this was in the sweltering East with the air conditioning off). The small volume of water can quickly attain a high temperature resulting in two problems; a dangerous lack of dissolved oxygen, and disasterously-high ambient temperature.
A lot of us have had algae problems, but when one is maintaining a
small tank the concentration of nitrates and phosphates will build up
quickly. Add the high light intensity required for good plant growth,
and one ends up constantly walking a fine line
between great plant
growth and great algae growth.
I also disvocered another dilemna when I removed most of my fast-growing plants, because I had made them very ugly by trimming them back. (From now on, I will be trimming from the base and replanting the stems in most cases.) The algae bloomed because it did not have to compete with the fast-growing plants for the available nutrients.
The size of the tank seems to complicate dissolved gas management. The use of carbon dioxide (CO2) injection to stimulate strong plant growth may in turn result in the rapidly-growing plants generating an overabundance of dissolved oxygen (O2). I had the turbulence at a minimum in order to insure that much of the CO2 remained dissolved, but likewise the O2 remained as well. I observed what seemed to be gas bubble disease symptoms in a couple of fish.
The chemical equilibrium of the small volume of water demands frequent attention, so I do 10-20% water changes ever seven to twelve days.
The plants also demand frequent attention. They quickly begin to grow out of the water (which might be fine if I had an open top aquarium) and require pruning. The confined space of the small tank makes the trimming, replanting, and thinning somewhat tricky.
As many of you are aware, some fish simply require more space than others. Therefore, the ten gallon tank will limit your reasonable choices for aquatic pets.
I discovered that some fish, usually considered members of a peaceful schooling species, will become aggressive in confined quarters in order to claim personal territory. My school of silver-tipped tetras abandoned their belief of safety in numbers and instead established a dominance hierarchy that left the smaller fish pale and thin while a lone tyrant patrolled the open waters. This resulted in most of the weaker ones stressing out and dying off. (I took the rest back to the store to avoid further carnage.)
The small tank has a few benefits over larger tanks simply due to its tiny dimensions. It has been my best option thus far and may be yours as well... just be alert so you can respond to quick environment changes!
Scott Cartwright has been a member of GSAS for about a year. Commuting all the way from Tacoma, Scott begins his tenure on the board this month.