10-Gallon Starter, Please Help

[slurpbro]

I have a 10-gallon tank. I have five platies, seven ghost shrimp, and a gold snail. There are two problems, though. I have algae overgrowth, and i need plants. I was thinking of getting some Corydoras for the algae problem, but thats a bit much for the tanks capacity, I think. Are they schooling? Also I honestly don't understand how to tell if a tank is overstock. Someone told me it's an inch of fish per gallon of water. So the five platies at full 2" growth would already be enough for the tank. A three inch Cory would be too much, let alone a school of three. Does anyone know of a good, small, aesthetic bottom feeder?

As far as plants go, I can only buy from the walmart (small town). We have potted aquarium plants for $4, but the pots are so big they stick out of the gravel i have in there. The preservation of my tanks biome is most important, but i want it to look nice as well. Also, I am restricted as to what my bottom feeder is because of wallmart. I have Upside down Catfish, Plecostymus, Chinese Algae Eaters, and Corys. Will the fish survive an order from over the Internet? I tried some 'Hybrid Aponogeton Bulbs' but the snail came over and started munching on them.

Can anyone help me? Any response is appreciated.

 

[Todd2]

Welcome to aquarium advice slurpbro!

Cories aren't going to solve your algae problem. Otos will though, they are an algae eating sucker mouth catfish. Cories are good bottom feeders though. You could get 2-3 cories, pigmy cories are pretty small. Yes, cories are schooling fish. The 1 inch per gallon rule applies to small fish under 3 in. Because you could put 10 1 inch fish in a 10g but you couldn't put a 10 inch oscar in there. Do you have a standard hood? I have a standard hood for a 10g and its 1.5 wpg. You could grow some java fern, java moss, anubias. Those are low light growers. The fish will probably survive if you order them over the internet but the shipping is expenisve. www.liveaquaria.com has a large selection of fish. Is walmart the only fish place around? Usually big chain stores don't have a very good fish. I could be wrong though some big chain stores are good. Check for dead fish in the tanks and dirty tanks. Hope this helps. Post back if you have further questions.

 

[FawnN]

How long has the tank been up and running? Has it completed cycling? I personally wouldn't add anymore fish to your 10 gallon.

Cories are better in a small school of at least 4 and by adding that many, you would be overstocked. Oto's are very sensitive to water conditions and depending on how old your tank is, I wouldn't add any. Besides, you would be creating more waste with a bottom feeder. When was the last time you did a water testing and a water change?

As for the green algae, how long is your light on during the day? Is it near a window?

 

[slurpbro]

I have a few more problems since i last posted. First, there are Platie fry hanging around the smaller sunken ship decor i have in there. Second, my snail eats dead shrimp and doesn't clean the rocks or decor, just the glass. He might be carnivorous. The baby fish will eventually be adult fish, and my tank will be crowded. Really crowded. I've counted two fry in there but there coud be more. A fry is a baby aquarium fish, right? Am I screwed? What do i do?

My aquarium light is on anywhere from 6-10 hours daily. I had the tank operational since the beginning of october, and shortly after I added fish, they came down with ick. They are over it now. The tank was near a window, but I moved it around Oct 25. Thats probably why they had Ick. I geuss the tank is still new, and I heard that the smaller a tank is, the less stable its conditions are. As soon as I log off I am going to try to find a bigger tank on the internet for cheap. I dont have a lot of money though, and I have none imediately. A bigger tank shoould slove most of this, right?

 

[Billsgate]

slurpbro, i would suggest you read through the articles on this website about cycling and setting up a new freshwater tank. This should help you to see that you didn't start of properly.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showfaq.php?fldAuto=2

Now, to help you with your problems: you should start doing daily water changes. I would say about 30% per day for about 2-3 weeks.
This should help your fish get through the cycle and help you get rid of some algae.
Also, to remove Ich from a tank, you should first try to do this by raising the temperature to 80 F and adding some salt to your water.

The platty fry ? You shouldn't see it as a problem, it's a good sign, your fish are doing OK (although these fish will reproduce in almost any conditions).
They may survive or they may be eaten, you'll have no control over that. You could provide them with some more cover to make sure they survive, but i'm not sure you want to keep them.

The dead shrimp? Remove dead things from your tank man!!! OR is it possible that your shrimp are all still there, but they have molted?(Shed their skin)

Your snail will not do allot about your algae i think. They will eat almost anything though, so it's normal that they go for your dead or molted shrimp.

HTH

Read the articles!!! You'll learn allot from it!

 

[Menagerie]

[center:181cdc7709] Welcome to AA, slurpbro!! [/center:181cdc7709]

What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

 

[slurpbro]

I've never done a chemical check before. Can somone tell me how?

The molted thing is probably true. Today I saw a 'dead' shrimp held to the filter intake by the suction. It was probably an old carapace. Then again, they are supposed to be short lived. They only cost a quarter apeice!

Can someone tell me the definition of cycling so i can figure out what articles to look at, and so i will understand what they were talking about. I definitely don't expect you to explain everything, though. I could get more info by looking at other articles anyway.

The platy fry are hanging around my gravel near the bottom. I think it provides moderate cover for them. Ive seen 12 at one time. How long does it take them to grow to movable size? I have a friend who has nothing but a beta and 2 chinese algea eaters in a 30g tank. I also hope to get a bigger tank before then, so i could keep some.

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[Todd2]

To test the water parameters you will need a couple test kits. Ammonia, NitrIte, and NitrAte test kits. Don't get the ones with the "test strips", I've heard these are unreliable. Cycling is the the process of getting bacteria in your tank that converts Ammonia (toxic) to NitrIte (less toxic) to NitrAte (only bad at high levels). There is an article in the articles section on cycling http://aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21
Hope this helps.

 

[mgkaelen]

your local fish store will also be able to provide tests for you, for free. however buying your own test kid is what you should plan on using in the long run so you can see the quality of your tank at any time