General Aquaria Discussion • 3 Gallon Tank Setup

[velenc]

Hi- I purchased a 3 gallon tank for my nephew for his birthday and will give it to him on Saturday. The tank will probably house a couple of goldfish or white clouds since the tank is really an introduction for him to the hobby. I know that cycling should take place first but I wanted to make this simple for his mom. Could I use substrate from my established African cichlid tank where bacterial already thrive as opposed to do an official cycling of the tank? I would add the normal de-chlorinator as part of the water conditioning.

[mambee]

That would help get the process started.

I would forget the goldfish and go with a betta. 3 gallons is way too small for most fish.

[velenc]

Thanks for the reply. I think the fighting fish will be fine as long as he is in there solo. I have had bad experiences with keeping other fish with fighting fish.

[RobsFishTank]

Small tanks can be difficult for the beginner. When things go wrong they get bad very quickly. If you want him to have a good experience, get him as big a tank as possible.

Filter media from the established tank would be much better than gravel. There is a lot more bacteria in the media than in the gravel.

Bettas will be fine with other fish as long as they don't resemble another betta. You should be able to keep a couple White Clouds with one but that tank is quite small. A live plant and a decent filter would help.

[fmueller]

Great advice from mambee and Rob. I moved this to General Aquaria since 3G is definitely to small to permanently house any cichlid.