For my 10 gallon?

[Sean28]

I am looking for some advice on what I should put in my tank.

The tank is currently going through the cycle and it's been over 48hrs now without any fish in it. It's a little cloudy right now but I just added an airstone/pump today so I'm hoping this will help a bit.

After my cycle is complete (yes I've been testing it daily). I'd like to add possibly a Betta with a set of school fish but which ones?
That's my first question.
Second, should I go with Corys or Ghost Shrimps or even then is there something else someone would recommend?

For the school of fish, I'd like to stay away from the Neons Tetras, I seem to always have bad luck with them. See my post in the Intro Forum for more details.

Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks

 

[Purrbox]

What about a school of Dwarf Cories? They are small enough that you could have a nice sized school without taxing the limits of the aqarium. In larger numbers they school very nicely and you get to see some fun antics as they play. They wouldn't bother the Betta and would have a good chance of being left alone by the Betta.

 

[JustOneMore20]

What are you adding to cycle the tank? If you don't have an ammonia source, its not cycling. A cycle takes around 4 weeks, so you have time to decide.

I personally don't like having dwarf Cories in a 10g, but not everyone thinks like me. They like to school around the tank and I don't feel a 10g provides enough space for 8-10 Cories to school. I think a school of 6-8 small Rasboras, like Harlequins or Microrasboras along with a male Betta would be a better choice.

 

[Paty]

Cycling the tank is extremely important before adding any of your fish, so make sure you're doing it right. There are some helpful articles here that will help you out. You wouldn't want to end up with sick fish like before : p You'll get great advice from everyone on AA so I'm sure you'll tank will be great. Good luck.

 

[Sean28]

Thanks for the info.
Still haven't decided on what to put in yet because my concern right now is still the cloudy water. It's been about 2 days now with this, I'm starting to think maybe one of my old decoration is done for and it's affecting the whole tank. I did clean all the decors with hot water and then let cool down before putting them in.

I used this "Cycle Biological Aquarium Supplement" to help the process and "Aqua Plus Water Conditioner from Hagen".

This evening I was thinking of doing a 20%-25% water change, would this be a good idea?
The tank has been running for 4 days now.

And should I try this "Particle Clear Water Clarifier"?

Thanks

 

[rich311k]

I find my bettas do fine all by themselves in the ten gallons. Their only company are some snails.

 

[Purrbox]

Don't use the clarifier. These types of products cause the particles to clump together so that it's easier for the filter to pick them up, but they can have the same affect on fish gils which is not a good thing.

 

[Sean28]

Even if there's no fish in the tank right now?

I've also removed one the decorations since it's losing it's colors (paint coming off it).

 

[Courtney8526]

In my 10 gallon I have a betta, glofish, & otto cats. Everyone gets along and it's a fun tank to watch.

 

[JessieVB]

What is your source of ammonia during the cycle? Are you using pure ammonia or raw shrimp. . . something else?

 

[Sean28]

Ok I just tested my ammonia and it's between .25 to .50.
So I decided to do a 20% water change to try to remove some of the cloudiness and it may have worked. But now I broke my airstone, no more bubbles

Tank looks like is getting better, I'll leave it be for another day and test everything in the morning.

 

[Purrbox]

I totally missed the fact that you didn't have any fish in the aquarium. It also doesn't sound like you've added anything to start the cycle, although you do have some Ammonia in your water. That "Cycle" product is pretty much considered to be worthless by most people. About the only thing that does work is Biospira if it's been handled properly (kept refridgerated).

1. Test your tap water to see if there is any Ammonia present. If there is this will explain where the Ammonia in your aquarium came from. In this case you'll want to get a quality water conditioner like Prime which also detoxifies Ammonia and Nitrites. You'd still need a source of Ammonia to cycle your aquarium (pure ammonia, raw shrimp, live fish, etc).
2. Good idea on removing the decoration that was pealing paint. This could have been causing some of the issues you were seeing. I'd recommend a 100% water change plus a good rinse of the substrate to get rid of anything from the decoration that could harm the later inhabitants.
3. Since there was some Ammonia in the water it's possible that the cloudiness you saw was a bacteria bloom. This is a good thing since it means your cycle is progressing, and it generally goes away in a few days as the beneficial bacteria makes itself at home on the aquarium surfaces and in the filter.

 

[Sean28]

Well after a few tests, my Ammonia is now at 0ppm!
And my Nitrite and Nitrate are also 0ppm, is my cycle done? well my tank is still cloudy!!!
So I went out to the LFS and bought a sm comet goldfish, to try it out. I know I know, it's a bit cruel to use the goldfish for this but for 0.17 is better then buying a few Tetras at 2 something each and end up losing them.

Now it's just that dang cloudy water!

 

[tawolcott]

Nope, your cycle hasn't even started. You need to read, listen and comprehend the advice people are trying to impart to you. Read the stickys on cycling a tank. You need an ammonia source (ammonia or a raw shrimg or something ) to get it started and KEEP IT GOING. Then you need to test your water as it builds, peaks and drops back to 0 for nitrites and ammonia. Then you add fish slowly

As far as adding the fish, I'm glad you think the 17 cents was a good investment. Though the fish may have other thoughts as it suffers through the inhuman poisoning that you've decided to inflict on it.

 

[Karegg]

It sounds like your cycle hasn't started yet - it's very unusual that it would complete so quickly. It normally takes about a month.

First, return the fish! There are other ways to cycle your tank. If you leave the fish in there, you will just be poisoning the thing constantly, subjecting it to the drastically changing conditions as your tank cycles.

The easiest way to cycle your tank is probably to add raw shrimp and let them rot in the tank. The decomposition will produce ammonia, which will result in the "bacteria bloom" of organisms that will eat that ammonia. So, at this point you will have had your ammonia spike and then it should be declining.

As the ammonia levels decline, nitrite levels will increase as the bacteria that eat the ammonia produce nitrite as waste. Next, bacteria will develop to eat the nitrite and produce nitrate, which is much less harmful to your fish. So now, your nitrite spike will have come and the nitrite levels should decrease.

Only after your ammonia and nitrite levels are 0, and your nitrate is very low (if not 0) is your tank cycled. This process will take around a month! Until then, do any fish you're planning on getting a favor, and don't put them in the tank until it's cycled. And even then, you will only want to add 1 - 2 fish at a time every few weeks. This is because as you add new fish, they will produce more ammonia which the bacteria will need to flourish to diminish the new levels. Once your levels are back to 0/0/low, add another fish or two.

Patience is the key! I don't even have my tank yet, and I've learned all this by researching and doing my homework. In this hobby it's especially important to know what you're doing in advance to avoid making deadly (at least to your fish) mistakes.

 

[aharcara]

Read the stickys on cycling a tank. .

Sorry to jump in here on someone else's question...but, where are the stickys on cycling a tank? I can't find them.

Thanks!

 

[tawolcott]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/your-first-tank-what-fish-should-you-get-53163.html

 

[Purrbox]

Actually the sign of a cycled aquarium is 0ppm Ammonia and Nitrite with rising Nitrates. The only time that Nitrates would be 0 or not rising in a cycled aquarium, is if the aquarium is heavily planted and the plants are consuming the Nitrates.

 

[Sean28]

Ok first off, I'm sorry if I upseted a few of you about the goldfish. Yes this wasn't right and I apologize. And you seem all correct that it wasn't quite ready yet because when I woke up this morning it had passed away

FYI, I did forget to mentioned before that I had added some Ammonia for it the reason why my tests indicated it at 0ppm. I also took the advice from Purrbox about testing my water tap for Ammonia and the tests shows .50ppm.

I haven't tested it since yesterday afternoon but I'll check it today. At that point everything looked ok, the Nitrite was at 0ppm and the Nitrate was a little high but not by much.

Now it's been about 5 days of this cloudy water, it shouldn't take this long?
I'm also thinking it could be either the gravel and fake plants that were not properly cleaned before putting them in or maybe the filter system sucks!
It's a AquaTech BioFilter 5-15 gallons from Walmart, so I don't know if I should go back to my old Hagen AquaClear 20 instead.

I don't mind starting over because at least I can explain to my 3 & 5 yrs old kids that the tank is not ready and Dad is having a bit of a hard time. Instead of them asking me everyday, why is it still cloudy, where's the fishys?, when can we put some in it? etc... Just try to explain to them about patience at that age.

No I'm not pulling some hair out of head yet )) but trying to figure why it's taking this long for the cloudy water to go away is annoying.

 

[tawolcott]

Good Deal...

I'd just start over. clean/rinse everything .. start from scratch..

remember the golden rule.. levels have to rise from 0 to a peak and then fall again. It takes time... The most dreadful and frustrating thing of all T I M E... When it's done, it's done.. 2 week, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, what ever it takes.

Also remember you have to keep an ammonia source going.. I you use raw ammonia you'll know ur getting some place when you keep adding ammonia and it keeps returning to 0.. same thing for the nitrates... Nitrates should rise and won't ever fall (unless it's planted, or filter for it or by doing water changes). you can let a raw shrimp rot in the tank as another way of doing it.. that will create an ammonia source ( and a nice smell). The key thing is that the bacteria you are growing need to eat just like a fish. So u feed it ammonia , they eat and excrete nitrites which other bacteria eat and excrete nitrates. When enough grow to consume everything then you're ready to add fish. Check out the link up a couple posts. There are several links in there that describe the process. and test test test and retest the water. Create a chart that you and the kids can follow the process. Good learning experience and quality time with the kids (and who knows they might learn something about biology and chemistry which is never a bad thing). I still get a kick out of overhearing my 9yo son explaining the cycle and why we use the test kits to his friends. Most amazing this is he gets it 100% right each time. Brings a quick proud smile each time.

The only other thing I would recommend is using a quality decholrinator on the tap water. Since you show ammonia in your tap water it's most likely chloramine(s). Personally I like and use Prime.