Newbie help please

[MurrayMyBoy]

i received a 5 gallon fish tank for a present for Christmas and wanted to know what I can do with it? I've never had an aquarium before and want to do it right although I know it's tiny! I thought of having a shrimp tank. My concern is my water. I have well water and its high in tannins. It's been recently tested for safety and all is ok. I've filled up the tank and have had the tank running for 4 days. My ph is at least 8.5 nitrites are 20. Nitrates are .25 also the water is very soft and alkaline. Sorry if I have my nitrites and nitrates backwards. I don't have the test in front of me. I'm so new at this I don't remember which is which! Any advice what I can do for this water and tank? It literally looks like a black water tank without trying! Thanks!

 

[Toad]

Read about fishless cycling first, while that goes on you can start researching the types of shrimp that would be good for your setup/kinds you like. Cherry shrimp are usually a pretty basic shrimp that can breed in fresh water, so they're also fun too.

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