Newbe lookin for advice

[hillbillydeluxe]

I'm thinkin of startin a small 10-5 gallon aquarium in my dorm, i was wonderin if u had any advice on what fish i should use to start the cycling process and what i should put in it after and how many. I sould like a male betta and some tetra and an angle fish or two, any advice or red flags on what i plan to do would be appreciate.

Also if i want to use something to boost the nitrogen cycle by placing a spounge in another aquarium how long does it ned to be there?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Welcome to AA Hillbillydeluxe!

You may want to check out fishless cycling. It is faster and easier compared to cycling with fish. If you can get your hands on some Bio Spira, that would be the fastest way to go (granted that it was kept cold during the shipment, storage, and your transit home). If you have another aquarium to put a sponge in, your best bet would be to run your entire filter on that tank for 2 weeks then put it on the 10 gal. What size is the other tank?

Regarding your stocking, skip the angels completly. They grow far too large for a 10 or 15 gal tank. Be cautious with a male Betta because they can be very aggressive towards other fish. Do you have any particular tetra in mind?

 

[mom2reds]

10 gal. tanks can be very pretty. It depens on what you want in it I had one with a male betta and 8 neon tetras and some apple snails and several low light plants and one piece of driftwood. It was very easy to take care of. But if you can go bigger then go bigger and ten gets really sm fast and everyone always wants to add more fish than it can hold. Good luck and welcome to AA we have a lot of very smart fish pepole.

 

[hillbillydeluxe]

I was thinking about some neon tetras or something around the same size, and the other aquarium is just a small 3-5 gallon one with an undergravel filter

 

[mom2reds]

I think a 3 or five gallon tank would be to small for a school of neon you need at least 6 or so. a betta and maybe an apple snail would be good in that size of tank.

good luck

 

[hillbillydeluxe]

Got my tank today and i set it up but when i put the water in it went all white and murkey, did i not rince the gravel enough and how can i get rid of it? will it just settle away?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Did you clean the filter, tank, heater, decor, and gravel really well in hot water?

 

[mattrox]

In my experience murky water is quite common in new set ups. Give it a week or so to clear up before worrying too much.