Newbie to Fish keeping!

[Platiesareawesome]

Hello! I'm new to aquarium advice (and fish keeping) and I understand it is a good community. I am hoping to get a 10 gallon fish tank soon (hopefully with some platies in it). Anyway, I'd like to know if tetra safestart is a good product to cycle my tank with. I've done quite a bit of research so I understand the cycle fairly well. If it is a good product, do I need a source of ammonia to keep the beneficial bacteria alive until I get my fish? Also, are the following stocking ideas overstocked?:
3-5 platies
2-3 platies + 5 neon tetras (I really like platies)

Thank you!

 

[XxNoobxX]

Hello! I'm new to aquarium advice (and fish keeping) and I understand it is a good community. I am hoping to get a 10 gallon fish tank soon (hopefully with some platies in it). Anyway, I'd like to know if tetra safestart is a good product to cycle my tank with. I've done quite a bit of research so I understand the cycle fairly well. If it is a good product, do I need a source of ammonia to keep the beneficial bacteria alive until I get my fish? Also, are the following stocking ideas overstocked?:
3-5 platies
2-3 platies + 5 neon tetras (I really like platies)

Thank you!

Welcome to AA..

 

[XxNoobxX]

To keep ur bacteria alive u can add fish food but the thing is that is gonna be such a mess the day u want to put ur fish in

 

[XxNoobxX]

Or u can keep adding ur source of ammonia.. I mean the one which u started the process from..

 

[XxNoobxX]

Read^^^

 

[XxNoobxX]

The number 22)*^^

 

[Platiesareawesome]

Thank you so much! Have you had any experience using safestart?

 

[XxNoobxX]

Thank you so much! Have you had any experience using safestart?

U re more than welcome.. And no any experiences with it..

 

[freshwaterashley]

That does not sound over stocked at all.. i had 9 mollies in my ten gallon and they did perfectly fine.. they are also all family and tend to stick together...

 

[Platiesareawesome]

That does not sound over stocked at all.. i had 9 mollies in my ten gallon and they did perfectly fine.. they are also all family and tend to stick together...

Cool, thanks! I'm assuming a few balloon mollies is okay, right? I know they get kind of big...

 

[freshwaterashley]

Cool, thanks! I'm assuming a few balloon mollies is okay, right? I know they get kind of big...

Mollies get up to 2.5 from what ive seen. All of my girls are about 2 and my males are a lil smaller. As long as they seem comfortable.. you should be fine.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Safe start worked a miracle for me, one night, one day was all it took to bring my ammonia all the way down, but still, I would recommend keeping the tank without fish for a week after adding safe start, also here is the deal
You are going to want to upgrade to a bigger tank soon, I g bored of so little fish I could have in there
Also, a 20 or 29 gallon s much easier to keep stable and clean

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Balloon mollies are awesome! Great personality
I wouldn't put neon tetras In a 10 gallon, they are al, over the place in my 29 gallon!
You could do some guppies

 

[freshwaterashley]

Balloon mollies are awesome! Great personality
I wouldn't put neon tetras In a 10 gallon, they are al, over the place in my 29 gallon!
You could do some guppies

Good idea i was gonna say something about that.. tetras like to have alot of room.. guppies are also great tank mates for mollies and they are both livebearers so your tank will stock itself. Also he is right 20+ gallons are alot easier to keep stable and in a ten gallon you will get bored of such few fish... i once had a ten gallon with about 20 guppies because of breeding mostly... and i always wanted more of a variety but couldnt have it because of the space available.. in my 20 i have mollies platies guppies and some ghost shrimp for cleanup

 

[Fishperson]

If you have 9 mollies in a 10 gallon you are nuts
Mollies can grow to 4 inches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also no platies, they grow to 3 inches and create a lot of waste. Guppies would work. Check out some nano fish:
Celestial pearl danios
ember tetras
chili rasboras
scarlet badis

 

[Coyne]

^^agreed^^

 

[Platiesareawesome]

Thank you all of you guys! You've been great! I think I've decided to start with 2-3 platies, and add 1-2 later! (2 males, 3 females)

 

[Platiesareawesome]

Good idea i was gonna say something about that.. tetras like to have alot of room.. guppies are also great tank mates for mollies and they are both livebearers so your tank will stock itself. Also he is right 20+ gallons are alot easier to keep stable and in a ten gallon you will get bored of such few fish... i once had a ten gallon with about 20 guppies because of breeding mostly... and i always wanted more of a variety but couldnt have it because of the space available.. in my 20 i have mollies platies guppies and some ghost shrimp for cleanup

Yeah, I would really love to have 20 gallons, but I sort of have limited space...

Again, thank you so much!

 

[Platiesareawesome]

If you have 9 mollies in a 10 gallon you are nuts
Mollies can grow to 4 inches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also no platies, they grow to 3 inches and create a lot of waste. Guppies would work. Check out some nano fish:
Celestial pearl danios
ember tetras
chili rasboras
scarlet badis

btw, I also like danios, how many celestial pearl danios could I keep in a 10 gallon? Do they school?

 

[Oceania]

Cycling Time

Hi, I'm fairly new to aquariums I already have a cycled 15g tank that has been running for 5 months now and just recently acquired a 5g tank that I have just started cycling using driftwood and plant from my 15g tank. I tested the water after a week and current results are: pH>7.6, Ammonia>0.25-0.50ppm, Nitrites>1.0-2.0ppm I didn't test Nitrates as I thought it was too early to test that yet. Will cycling this way take a shorter amount of time with a smaller tank?