cfosgate
Aquarium Advice Freak
No worries. Most of the tanks oxygen comes from the surface and disturbing the surface actually helps oxygenate the water more than bubbles in the flow. You're in good shape.
No worries. Most of the tanks oxygen comes from the surface and disturbing the surface actually helps oxygenate the water more than bubbles in the flow. You're in good shape.
Awesome. Thanks.
Still learning every day... After visiting the pet store today, I realized that my pleco is not a bristlenose, but rather a common. So I guess I really better not get too attached to him, since they can apparently grow to 24". Will fish stores generally take a fish off your hands to give it another home? Would a couple oto cats be a good substitute for him as small tank algae eaters?
I also fell in love with neon and/or cardinal tetras today. I'm hoping I can add a school of them to my tank once it's in good shape.
Consider removing the carbon, adding a second bag of biomedia and/or purigen. That will help your tank out in the long run much more than the carbon insert.
You may also consider dwarf corydoras as a bottom dweller for your tank. They can fit in a 10 gallon and are super fun to watch. There are 3 species that are the right size: corydoras pygmaeus, corydoras habrosus, and corydoras hastatus. C. habrosus is my favorite, c. pygmaeus is more of a mid level dweller than a bottom dweller.
Something to consider about the tetras; you said your pH is high, do you know what your hardness is like? Neon tetras will usually adapt to harder water/higher pH but cardinals may be more sensitive. If you do have harder water a smaller danio species might do better for your tank. Luckily there are a lot of great nano fish available for a tank your size! Look into Endlers livebearers if you like mollies and platies. I've seen them at Petsmart by me.
Good luck with your tank!
Funny, I was considering taking out the carbon and adding more biomax in a media bag after the carbon is shot. Doesn't it only do good for about a week anyway?
Thanks for the corydora reco. They look like they would be fun. I do have hard water, so I'll research some danios too. Are there any particular species that are more colorful than the zebras? I'd like to have some brightly colored fish in the mix. I don't necessarily like the molly. She was chosen by my daughter. She's kind of a bully and gorges herself picking at anything I try to feed to the pleco like wafers and zucchini. Danios also like a current in the tank too, correct?
Hmm... That will be tough to take the Molly back. But I'm all for making the tank easier to care for.
The cycling is going ok. No dangerous spikes or anything. I'm still definitely in the high ammonia phase. I think I more or less started over when I got the new filter. But as others have said, I'm way overloaded with the fish I have. I'll try to take them back this weekend.
It's weird though. On aqadvisor.com they don't have any warnings when I add a Molly to a 10 gallon. It's even in the list of appropriate fish. It just says that one Molly is 47% of my stocking level. Obviously I'm no expert, but is it unreasonable to keep her and then add a few guppies and some shrimp once I'm cycled?
It's weird though. On aqadvisor.com they don't have any warnings when I add a Molly to a 10 gallon. It's even in the list of appropriate fish. It just says that one Molly is 47% of my stocking level. Obviously I'm no expert, but is it unreasonable to keep her and then add a few guppies and some shrimp once I'm cycled?
I thought that was weird too. I put a 10 gallon tank in and got the same thing, no warnings or anything. But everywhere else I've read or anyone I've talked to doesn't recommend any larger livebearer than a platy in a 10 gallon. And even then you could keep one or two. It's also way off on the cherry shrimp bioload, it seems to count them the same way it does nano fish which is gotta be way off. But it's a decent estimator if you've got a resource for advice and have a general idea what is a good fit for your tank going in. Also, stocking is one of the topics on the forums that seems to have quite a range of opinions.