Help With 10Gal!

[Fisher81]

Hello AA

Im new and i hope you can help me.

Iv setup a 10gal tank and i was wondering whats better to use on the bottom sand or rocks? and if i use sand what will filter it?
right now i have a power filter on the back, rocks cheap ones on the bottom with [acronym:8c0c3b6f46="Under Gravel Filter"]UGF[/acronym:8c0c3b6f46]! my water is alittle cloudy right now and i was going to buy better rocks or sand to put in there!

And what will be best to put in your tank thats not going to make the water cloudy and that will help on making it not cloudy! in my tank now i have 4 fake plants a cut in half rock with crystals in it the size of my 4 year olds hand and 4 other little crystals rocks..

[Meredith]

Hi fisher! Welcome!!

If you have a [acronym:74c64e42b2="Under Gravel Filter"]ugf[/acronym:74c64e42b2], you dont want to put any sand in there. Did you just set up the tank? The cloudiness is probably due to some dust from the gravel (?) or do you just have the big rocks?. Give it a day or two and it should clear up. I am not sure about the rocks. I know that some types can alter the [acronym:74c64e42b2="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:74c64e42b2] of the water, but again (and sorry) but Im not sure what kind. Again, Welcome to AA and good luck!

[frog girl]

Well if you just set your tank up then it probably needs to cycle & this could be causing the water cloudiness.

Or if any of your rocks are limestone as it slowly dissolves in the water in some instances it can become a bit cloudy.

I don't think you can run a [acronym:e6e3fbf9cf="Under Gravel Filter"]UGF[/acronym:e6e3fbf9cf] with sand. I have sand on top of clay so I can grow live plants & I use a hang on the back filter. They are not to pricey. So my sand just sits there never getting filtered. I do vacuum up the debris once in a while though

One thing that will help to stablize your water chemistry & may prevent some of the cloudiness is to throw in a bit of hornwort. It is a plant without roots & floats around absorbing fish wastes. Its best to sort of anchor it to something like a rock or your filter tube (plastic twist ties work great for this or loosley tied string).

Also everyone will want to know what fish you have in there & what your water chemistry is like. If you don't have a test kit you can take some water to your [acronym:e6e3fbf9cf="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:e6e3fbf9cf] & they usually will test it for you. You will want to know ammonia, nitrites, pH, & [acronym:e6e3fbf9cf="Carbonate Hardness"]KH[/acronym:e6e3fbf9cf] at least but it would also be helpful to know the nitrates, [acronym:e6e3fbf9cf="General Hardness"]GH[/acronym:e6e3fbf9cf], & phosphates if possible. If you are serious about aquarium keeping & can afford it its a good idea to get a test kit. You can get advice on which brands are best by looking at old posts (just do a search). That way you can more closely monitor your water chemistry.

Good luck & Welcome to AA

For a 10 gallon tank, unless you are planning on doing something whacko with it, you would probably be further ahead to remove the [acronym:3aad8af080="Under Gravel Filter"]UGF[/acronym:3aad8af080] completely. Waste can get caught under the plates, creating some kind of harmful bacteria that could lead to problems down the road. (i read that on a site somewhere). I've heard just as much good and i have bad about the UGFs. I don't know if you are planning on powering it with an air pump with the little carbon cartridges or a power head, but in either case you can get a bubble wand/curtain to help create more flow or if using a powerhead, create a [acronym:3aad8af080="Do it yourself"]DIY[/acronym:3aad8af080] powerhead filter. I made one of these for my 29 gallon tank, and other than it just looking a little weird in my tank, it works great with dual purposes. It not only creates more flow (or even air if i add the air tubing to it) but also does a great filtering job. Here's the [acronym:3aad8af080="Do it yourself"]DIY[/acronym:3aad8af080] link, i'd suggest having a look at it, I think its really neat, a great project, and good bang for your buck. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...ead_filter.php
Also, what are you thinking of stocking it with? My personal favorite for a 10 gallon tank is to stock with a school of 6-10 neon tetras and a group of corry cats (dwarf) around 4-5 or them. Small bioload, just do regular gravel siphoning/water changes and it will be a real stable tank once everything has cycled. [acronym:3aad8af080="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:3aad8af080]

[Fisher81]

Hi

ok i dont have a test kit yet..iv had fish tanks before never was this cloudy iv taking the rock i had in there out with crystals in it and put it a cup over night and the signs was bad vary cloudy water... i think that was doing it, all so the rocks i have are blue and every time i wash them off the water turns blue and iv washed them 20 times cheap rocks!

Now about the fish right now i have ONE jack dempsey!
iv had one before in a 10gal for 3 years and was living good 7in, but then my vary vary stupid friend had a beer on top my tank and well it feel in!

[youronlysin]

Gravel or sand would be entirely up to you. There, of course, would be a wrong kind of sand to use, but jsut make sure your using a quartz sand like sterilized play sand or constructin sand and rinse it very well prior to adding it to the tank. Rinse it with lots of water in a bucket and waash away the finer particles...this will reduce clouding and settling time when you put it in the tank. Just make sure you dont use a calcium carbonate based, or marine sand. Those will alter the water chemistry. I would also remove the [acronym:746c5015f7="Under Gravel Filter"]UGF[/acronym:746c5015f7] completely. You already have a power filter on the back of the tank so I would replace the cartridge in that and use it. I would also remove your rocks...it sounds like they are not aquarium safe. Be careful when putting rocks in the tank that they are aquarium safe...and for freshwater use!! Let us know what you think and good luck!!!