# 40 Dwarf rainbows in a 20G bucket - temp home



## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Hi guys, I picked up 40 dwarf rainbows from Big Als (it was a sale). I knew I had no place to put them yet but eventually they will be in their own species tank (maybe something like a 75G or a 90G planted tank.

In the meantime I've got themin a 20 gallon storage bin with a powerhead and a foam filter and some plants and gravel. Do you think they will be fine in there for a few months as long as the water parameters are fine? I'm worried about crowding or stunting growth or stuff like that. They are about 1" long right now. The water is kept at around 78-80F.

Here is what they are in for now until I get them a proper home.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

looks like a pretty decent home, except that it's crowded as hell. A few days, maybe even a few weeks in there might be ok, but the sooner they can get into a bigger tank, the better. 

If you can get like a 40breeder (cheap in the classifieds or sites like pricenetwork.ca) that would be a more fitting holding tank.

Oh yeah, point the powerhead along one of the walls so you get circular flow. The rainbows will like swimming into the current


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Yeah id definatly move them to a much larger holding tank. thats like .5gal per fish which is pritty rugged. Tanks Alone are pritty cheap u could definatly buy a used tnak for very cheap to hold them. 
Id definatly like to see the little guys when their new perm home is done tho .


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Hi guys, thanks for the replies. Instead of buying temporary fish tank, I went and picked up a large 44 gallon rubbermaid type bin. Its the same height as the round bucket they are in but its twice as long and is rectangular. 

It was $28 which is cheaper than a tank and I can use it later as a storage bin for all my fish equipment like sponges, powerheads, hoses..etc. 

So 40G would be ok for a few months right? I hope


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## Plaid (Nov 10, 2008)

They'll be able to DEAL with living in a 44gallon bucket, but it obviously isn't the ideal home. 
The real question is, did you cycle the bucket? If not, be expecting a mighty ammonia spike soon. If the bucket IS cycled, or if you are doing a mighty amount of water changes, than I can't see a problem arising. I've had rainbows go carpet surfing, though, so try to cover the "tank" somehow.

Wes


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Ooh I have not covered the tank so maybe I will put some mesh on top. Thanks for that tip 

The bucket was not cycled but I used water and some gravel from a cycled tank and I've also added a lot of plants. Checking the water parameters every two days I've noticed that I have very little ammonia - close to zero. There is a little bit of nitrates and nitrites are a little higher than I'd like but its not too high. I've been increasing the water changes to about 10% a day until the nitrites settle.

As for filteration, all I've got is a powerhead with foam. I'm hoping some beneficial bacteria will grow on the foam and on the gravel in a week or so.



Plaid said:


> They'll be able to DEAL with living in a 44gallon bucket, but it obviously isn't the ideal home.
> The real question is, did you cycle the bucket? If not, be expecting a mighty ammonia spike soon. If the bucket IS cycled, or if you are doing a mighty amount of water changes, than I can't see a problem arising. I've had rainbows go carpet surfing, though, so try to cover the "tank" somehow.
> 
> Wes


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

I'd do a 25% WC every other day just to stay on top of the water parameters but I think they're much better off in that new container... 40 of them eh? wow! Gonna be a nice planted tank for sure!


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

lol..did you cycle the bucket.

A simple transfer shouldn't produce a large spike so long as you don't have massive amounts of dertius trapped in the gravel. Your fish should be fine, but yes, they could probably use a mesh top or something.

Spacewise, I'd think they're fine. As long as you stay on top of parameters.


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## zenkeri (Jan 17, 2009)

*dwarf rainbows*

I agree the 40g bucket should be sufficient, they are dwarf rainbows so they stay pretty small. As for cycling, I recently setup a 40g tank and filled it completely w/ plants, all in one shot, from my 115g planted introduced fish right away and no problems at all. I've read some where that others have done the same. The plants having so many good bacteria on them that it helps the cycling( which really is letting the bacteria level build up in a tank to deal w/ ammonia).


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## svtcontour (Mar 15, 2009)

Due to finances and size restrictions, I was forced to get a smaller thank than I initially wanted  I ended up with a 46 gallon bowfront. Also I was supposed to have 40 rainbows but I've only counted about 30 so either I've been short changed or they have vanished without a trace.

Anyway what do you guys think then...30 dwarf rainbows in a 46 gallon bowfront - planted. Sounds ok or crowded?


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

should be okay for a while, you may have to rehome a few down the line but having the tank heavily planted will help. 
the reason we don't see spikes in newly set up/heavily planted tanks is because the plants use up the amonia/nitrates and not because they have bacteria on them


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## zenkeri (Jan 17, 2009)

*I beg to differ*

not to be argumentative but plants as far as I know do not use up ammonia. it is the bacteria that breaks down the ammonia into nitrates and then nitrite. The ammonia and nitrates is what is harmful to fish while the nitrite is not. You then remove most of it w/ frequent water changes. I do agree w/ a heavily planted tank being much better for your rainbows as plants also produce plenty of Oxygen and some also produce helpful antibiotics. 30 dwarf rainbows is not too many for a 46g planted tank. They will look beautiful. cheers.


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## ksimdjembe (Nov 11, 2006)

i think its actually nitrites produced first and then nitrates. 
the nitrates are used up by many fast growing plants as a fertilizer


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## zenkeri (Jan 17, 2009)

ur probably right wasn't sure which came first thanks for the correction


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

you can actually have a healthy tank set up with no filtration as long as you have plants to process the waste, just like in nature, and some sort of water movement to keep the tank from becoming stagnant.

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_silent_cycling.php

Silent Cycling

Since the plants consume ammonia and nitrate as nitrogen source, there is no preliminary need to build up nitrifying bacteria as long as there are enough plants growing well from the start. Cycling is all about building up "something" that can prevent deadly levels of ammonia and nitrites in the water...so why not plants? They don't just perform that function well, they look much better than an empty tank! They allow the addition of fish much sooner at little to no risk, and with time, there will always be a natural build-up of bacteria in the filter with or without our help. Preparing a new tank for silent cycling is very similar to following standard procedures for any tank intended to have live plants in it, with just a few extra precautions. Let's see what is necessary in order to guarantee a proper silent cycling of a new tank, and I will exemplify with my 180 L planted community tank during the description:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/cycling.php

If you keep live plants in your aquarium, they will also help eliminating waste products since they can metabolize ammonia and nitrate. They will remove ammonia and nitrate from the water and include it in their biomass. This means that the removal will only be temporary; the plants will release the nitrogen compounds into the water again as old leaves die and become decomposed.


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## zenkeri (Jan 17, 2009)

Hey Blue: I stand corrected thanks for the info.


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

no problemo! i only just learned this in the last couple months. wish someone had told me when i was setting up my tanks. i hope my answer didn't come across as rude. it wasn't meant to be.


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Ya beat me to it BKS 

Ammonia (NH3/NH4+) is a preferred nitrogen source than nitrate (NO3)for plants as they can easily, in simple terms, extract the N from H easier than N from O as the electronegativity (attraction of the two atoms) of N-H is weaker than N-O.

What seems to cloud the logical aspect of it all is that ammonia is toxic at concentrations greater than 0.5mg/L and for N assimilation into its biomass, not does one must have an adequate ampunt of plant matter but have the required nutrients (potassium, phosphorous, manganese, iron, etc) in proper proportions to assimilate the nitrogens source. Lacking one will slow down the plants' ability to "grow", thus no assimilation/lowering in the water column of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate that can make for an unhappy hobbiest.

Just chucking in my $0.02


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## Plaid (Nov 10, 2008)

Yeah, one of those things I read that stuck with me when I was on my way to understanding plants was something like 
"As soon as one of these nutrients becomes limiting, then... BOOM, ALGAE FARM!"
Not really relevant, but it just came back to me.

Wes


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