Restarting my 10 gallon tank

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Veeshun

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Messages
23
Location
Albuquerque, NM, USA
Hi everyone, it's been awhile since I posted...

I have a 10 gallon tank that's been running for over 7 years that I've had nothing but bad luck with. My last fish died that I had in it so I want to start over with it.

First I want to remove the Undergravel Filter in it (I bought an Aquaclear 20 to replace it with) and change out the gravel (I have a really hard time keeping fish alive at it's current state so I want to start over). I want to know what gravel you recommend? I saw Caribsea's Instant Aquarium and I was wondering if that's good? Or is there something else you recommend?

Second, what do you recommend I clean the tank with? To really clean it and remove the algae?

Finally I bought some Seachem Prime (I read that it's awesome stuff) and Seachem Stability. I'm not too familiar with the Stability product, can I use it with the Caribsea Instant Aquarium?

Any other tips/advice would be very much appreciated!

By the way you guys are and awesome community and I wouldn't go anywhere else!
 
Pretty much any gravel would work. The "instant aquarium" products are gimmicky in my opinion, you're better off with regular gravel. Sand might even be a better option as it looks more natural and is easier to keep clean (just rinse the heck out of it).

Prime is great. The bacteria products like stability are hit and miss; sometimes they work, often they don't. You can try it but don't expect miracles lol Also without an ammonia source the tank can't cycle, so you'd need to either do a fish-in cycle or fishless. Here's a link if you haven't seen it: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

Oh, for cleaning the tank you can try water and vinegar. Rinse it well and let it air dry. Some even use very small concentrations of bleach to clean the tank and let it sun dry after rinsing but the idea of bleach in a tank freaks me out.

Welcome back! :)
 
Pretty much any gravel would work. The "instant aquarium" products are gimmicky in my opinion, you're better off with regular gravel. Sand might even be a better option as it looks more natural and is easier to keep clean (just rinse the heck out of it).

Prime is great. The bacteria products like stability are hit and miss; sometimes they work, often they don't. You can try it but don't expect miracles lol Also without an ammonia source the tank can't cycle, so you'd need to either do a fish-in cycle or fishless. Here's a link if you haven't seen it: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

Oh, for cleaning the tank you can try water and vinegar. Rinse it well and let it air dry. Some even use very small concentrations of bleach to clean the tank and let it sun dry after rinsing but the idea of bleach in a tank freaks me out.

Welcome back! :)
Thank you so much for replying to my post!

I think I'm going to stick to the plain old gravel that I bought but I've been really thinking about sand. Which do you prefer? I've never used sand before but like the way it looks.

Yeah I've heard nothing but good things about Prime. After doing a little reading I think I'm just going to return the Stability and invest in the Ace Hardware ammonia. I've never done a fishless cycle but I like the challenge and I think I need to do it at least once so I can get the hang of it :).

Yes the idea of bleach or any chemical in my tank freaks me out so I think I'll stick with the vinegar and let it air dry.

Thanks, it's great to be back! I've been wanting to get back into aquariums for so long now but since I graduated I just haven't had the time! Now that everything is stable, I can start by getting my 10 gallon back into shape. I'm very excited :).
 
Partial water changes are a must. I'd also recommend the api master liquid test kit. That way you can watch your water parameters.
Sand is good if you are planning on cories. They love it!
Do you know what kind of fish you want?
 
Forgot to add for cleaning algae the magic eraser works awesome! Just make sure it's the plain basic one.
 
I've had both, I prefer sand. It looks more natural and it's easier to clean, plus I have corys that do better in sand anyway.
 
I just bought the API Master Kit last night, found it on sale for $8 off :).

I would like some cories. Today I've been looking at all the possibilities for my 10g. What would you guys recommend? I'd like some colorful fish.
 
Tetras, endlers, badis, or a small school of barbs. You could do a.betta with tetras.
Awesome deal btw!
 
What would be my options with cories? I like badis, never had them before.

There is some debate about cories being in a 10g, but I think I'd you want cories your best bet would be pygmy cories, they stay pretty small. Also I prefer sand, just made the switch and I love it. Cories also prefer sand, I had gravel and mine are much happier with sand. You can do sand very cheap, you just go to lowes or home depot and get play sand, that's what I did and it was about $3.50ish for a 50lbs bag. I used half the bag for my 55g and still have a lot left over.
 
I'm going to take back the gravel and buy some sand. I'm also going to grab some pure ammonia from Ace Hardware for the cycling. Also going to take back the Stability and swap it for something else.
 
I'm going to take back the gravel and buy some sand. I'm also going to grab some pure ammonia from Ace Hardware for the cycling. Also going to take back the Stability and swap it for something else.

IMHO... I wouldnt even bother with any kind it bacteria supplement that claims to instantly cycle your tank. Most of those products don't work. This may have already been mentioned, I didn't read through all previous comments. Jut be sure to rinse, rinse, and Rinse the sand again. I did mine 10x's per bucket and I still had cloudy water when I filled my tank up, but it cleared pretty quickly, took a few hours for it to clear.
 
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