Getting my ten gallon up and running

[RachelG]

Now begins my first post on this website!

I bought this ten gallon tank on August 3rd, filled it for a day to check for cracks, set up the Aquaclear 20 filter the next day, then added gravel and a piece of shrimp for a few days, and added some of the covering of a carbon cartridge from my month-old cycled five gallon tank. Took the shrimp out, added fish food in a mesh bag, added driftwood with some java ferns, then yesterday more driftwood with anubias, and today added hornwort and anacharis. I have an aqueon t8 full spectrum fluorescent bulb for the plants. I'm thinking of ditching the carbon in the filter to use ferts, and replacing it with another sponge or floss or something.

So I have been testing with the API master test kit, and ammonia never quite got higher than .50 ppm. (At least, if it did, it was a very quick rise and fall between tests...can that happen?) I had small traces of nitrite and nitrate yesterday, almost zero but between zero's color and the next color. Today's reading was:
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 1 ppm, or could be higher...I'm doubting my ability to read the color...
Nitrate 5 ppm
And this tank has been cycling since...Monday?

I cycled my five gallon without knowing much about cycling, and this is my first time paying attention to test a cycle daily, so I'm not sure about this. Does this look normal? It seems like the nitrite and nitrate are appearing kinda quickly. What should I do from here? Do I continue adding a pinch of fish food? Water change?

My plan for this tank is four sparkling gouramis. Suggestions for one or two more peaceful fish would be appreciated. I will probably add a zebra snail. Don't think i'll add shrimp, since I hear the gouramis may eat them.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[RachelG]

Forgot to say, this is a fishless cycle, if it isn't clear. I don't want to kill any more guppies.

 

[paytertot]

I highly recommend using janitorial ammonia instead of fish food if that's available to you. There's a few things you can do to help along a fish less cycle.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/tips-...ks-for-your-fastest-fishless-cycle/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/the-a...-Guide-and-FAQ-to-Fishless-Cycling/Page1.html

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/guide...-to-Starting-a-Freshwater-Aquarium/Page1.html

Read those articles, they aren't too terribly long and contain tons of great info.

 

[RachelG]

I've actually read all three of those, but I still feel like my cycle isn't going right according to those. And I can't find any pure ammonia around town. Isn't it too late for that, since my nitrates and nitrite are starting to spike?

 

[Fishperson]

If you said you added carbon from a cycled tank, then your tank is already almost cycled. Just keep adding shrimp or fish food (a source of ammonia) and you will be done soon. you want to constantly get readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and x nitrate, 24 hours after adding ammonia. Then, add fish slowly, 1 at a time if you are going with 4 sparkling gouramis. I don't know much about those fish, but good luck!

Welcome to AA!

 

[RachelG]

I'm going to put the gouramis in my five gallon first, since I may get them as early as next week. They will be young fish no bigger that 3/4 of an inch, according to the store owner, so since they are so small, would it be bad to put all four in the five gallon? It is pretty well cycled. They will go into the ten as soon as I am sure it is cycled well. The store owner is special ordering them for me, since they are so rare in these parts, so I think I kinda have to buy them at once or they might be sold before I can get them...
I didn't put any carbon from the five gallon in the ten, just some of the fabric covering from an old carbon cartridge. It has the same effect?

 

[RachelG]

And by slowly do you mean one fish each week?

 

[Rivercats]

You put seeded media in the 10g and that is why your well on the way to a cycled tank.

Sparkling gourami will be fine in the 5g for now but be sure to have properly sized food for them if you've never kept them before. I have a 55g planted Nano fish tank with some fish being about 3/8 of an inch. Others have exceeding tiny mouths like the Sparkling G's have. I use New Life Spectrum Small Fish Pellets and then I crush them into an almost powder. I also use Rhapsody Superfood that you make into a gelatin food. There are different ones and I often combine 2 or 3 different ones depending on the fish I'm feeding. You also don't use very much at all. I tiny bit makes enough for days unless your feeding awefully big fish! See if you can find frozen baby brine shrimp as that goes over well. They also do better in planted tanks and can be especially shy when first introduced. They like floating plant cover which also helps to dim the tank lighting down. Really neat little fish!

 

[Aquamandan]

Welcome to AA, Rachel.

 

[RachelG]

You put seeded media in the 10g and that is why your well on the way to a cycled tank.

Sparkling gourami will be fine in the 5g for now but be sure to have properly sized food for them if you've never kept them before. I have a 55g planted Nano fish tank with some fish being about 3/8 of an inch. Others have exceeding tiny mouths like the Sparkling G's have. I use New Life Spectrum Small Fish Pellets and then I crush them into an almost powder. I also use Rhapsody Superfood that you make into a gelatin food. There are different ones and I often combine 2 or 3 different ones depending on the fish I'm feeding. You also don't use very much at all. I tiny bit makes enough for days unless your feeding awefully big fish! See if you can find frozen baby brine shrimp as that goes over well. They also do better in planted tanks and can be especially shy when first introduced. They like floating plant cover which also helps to dim the tank lighting down. Really neat little fish!

I have my ten gallon set up with lots of hardy low light plants like java fern and anacharis for them. Got some hornwort to float over the top, too. I want to get some java moss too, but it seems impossible to find around here...So I might just buy more of what I have if I can't find that. I'll look into fish food in the next few days, but I have some freeze dried blood worms for my bettas that could go for the gouramis as well. I'll look for some kind of algea flakes and good pellet food, and maybe frozen bloodworms. SG's are omnivores, from what I've been reading.

I'm still surprised that I have nitrite and nitrate this soon!

 

[Rivercats]

Believe it or not most of those frozen foods are too large for their tiny mouths so you will have to thaw them and then take a razor blade and chop them up into very small pieces. This is the only drawback to having nano fish with uber small mouths!

 

[RachelG]

Believe it or not most of those frozen foods are too large for their tiny mouths so you will have to thaw them and then take a razor blade and chop them up into very small pieces. This is the only drawback to having nano fish with uber small mouths!

I thought I might have to do that...But no prob. It's not a lot of work. My bettas should like bits of frozen bloodworms, too.

Do frozen bloodworms sink right down or float for a bit?

 

[Rivercats]

The things we do for our fish... lol!

 

[RachelG]

Welcome to AA, Rachel.

Thanks!