# New to freshwater tanks



## iidylii (Jun 24, 2019)

Hi everyone...as the title says I am new to FW tanks...I currently have a 93 gallon cube SW tank for about 5 years now...anyways my girlfriend would like to keep a 20 gallon glo fish tank in her classroom at school...I have done some research and what not and am hoping that a lot of things are similar to salt water...I see that one still needs to cycle the tank which I am of course familiar with that...I see that some people use QT tanks which I am of course familiar with this as well...what I am more concerned about is the places that sell the glo fish in starter packs? There are packs of 10-20 fish for example? Now like salt water I would assume you shouldn’t be adding 10 fish at a time? For of course the obvious change in water parameters? So I guess my question is...do I just purchase 1-2 at a time or...? Can I go with 5 at a time for schooling reasons or...? Also...I see there are water conditioners that are out there? Is this something I need? Seeing that I use an RODI system for my saltwater aquariums for there water...would I need to treat the water for the freshwater tanks if it is from the rodi unit?


----------



## lonedove55 (Jan 25, 2012)

Hmm, I've never heard of a "starter pack" even in glo fish. And I don't think I would add that many fish at one time, even to a fully cycled tank. You can just use normal tap water for fresh fish, but test the water first...you'd be surprise how many water supplies show some nitrates, even ammonia. And yes, you would need a water conditioner to remove chlorine and chloramine. A good one to use is Seachem Prime. It's very concentrated and is economical when you figure in what little you have to use. If you do use RODI, you will probably have to add back in minerals, etc just like salt water, as fish need them for growth and health. I recently set up a 20 gallon glo fish tank for my granddaughter and used part of my freshwater filter media along with new filter media (canister) for cycling her tank. It worked awesome, totally cycled, no mini cycle and we could add fish right away. Glo fish (the danio type) are very hardy fish, so you really can't go wrong there. My granddaughters has the glo fish tetras, so I'm not real sure how hardy they are. Oh, and the danio type really do not need a heater if the water temp stays constant between about 65 to 70ish. Consider using live plants! Her fish will thank you!


----------

