I'm starting a 10 gallon tank

[James10797]

I am starting a 10 gal tank and I am just asking for a little advice on setting up and information on cycling. Any instructions for setting up will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Marconis]

*Edit* It seems you already have the tank and everything. So, I deleted my huge equipment post.*


Welcome to the hobby!

Ok, so, advice...

1) Fishless Cycle. Sift through the articles on the site and you'll find it. Not only is fishless cycling the moral thing to do, it will also save you a lot of headaches down the road. Trust me!

2) Research. Research everything, such as fish compatibility, proper equipment for whatever you're keeping, etc.

 

[swankyspoon]

1) Here is a good article on fishless cycle:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html

2) Once your tank is cycled, here are some options for a ten gallon tank:

Print Page - Ten Gallon Stocking Suggestions

As previous poster noted, research helps. A lot. I wish I had done much more research before I started my 10 g.

Welcome to AA!

 

[swankyspoon]

You also might want to give more details, to help members give more detailed advice. For instance:

1) Are you doing a planted tank, or artificial?

2) What kind of fish interest you? With a 10g, there are limitations, but still a number of options.

The answers to these questions will affect your set up.

 

[BigJim]

Welcome to AA!

+1 for the fishless cycle. It's less work and less stress.

Overfilter your tank. Manufacturers overrate their filters, so get a filter that's rated for a 20-30g tank.

Don't get goldfish, any type of shark, kissing gourami, silver dollar, oscar, pirahna, or pacu. They get much too large for a 10g. I'm not sure I can take another thread that starts with something like "I have 7 bala sharks, 3 oscars, and a pacu in my 20g. What else can I add?"

Tell us more about your plans for the tank. We can help you pick fish that are suited for your tank and for one another.

 

[Fastfossil]

BAD NEWS sorry bud the Chinese algae eater is a pest I just got rid of three they nice small and turn your gravel but they become territorial and a pest in general in the tank they suck on the sides of broad sided fish and can grow up to 12 inches to big for your tank. I had one in each of my tanks and they all had the same temperament.
If you want a fish that gives your other fish hickies on their first date, then you want a (so-called) Chinese (so-called) algae eater. Little guys suck hickies. The big guys suck holes.
Before buying ask in the forum once you have picked the fish you want and before you buy I learned the hard way as well .

 

[swankyspoon]

BAD NEWS sorry bud the Chinese algae eater is a pest I just got rid of three they nice small and turn your gravel but they become territorial and a pest in general in the tank they suck on the sides of broad sided fish and can grow up to 12 inches to big for your tank. I had one in each of my tanks and they all had the same temperament.
If you want a fish that gives your other fish hickies on their first date, then you want a (so-called) Chinese (so-called) algae eater. Little guys suck hickies. The big guys suck holes.
Before buying ask in the forum once you have picked the fish you want and before you buy I learned the hard way as well .

Righto. Didn't look at what he has listed in his tanks. The guppies on the other hand would do fine in a 10g. Same with the Betta. But Bettas and Guppies would not interact well together.

 

[The_Desacrator]

Unless you want to see make a fish action flick.

 

[BigJim]

I also missed the "My Tanks" link. I have to agree that the Chinese algae eater isn't a good idea. It's one of those fish that Petsmart and Petco sell to unsuspecting people. It gets big and aggressive and it really doesn't eat much algae. As stated previously, it prefers to suck the slime coat off big flat-sided fish. Get rid of it while you still can.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with swankyspoon. You could remove the divider in your tank and let the betta and guppies interact if you've got decent cover. Female guppies aren't brightly colored, so the betta is even less likely to attack that if they were males. Add a few more plants and you should be fine unless you have a super aggressive betta.

 

[swankyspoon]

I also missed the "My Tanks" link. I have to agree that the Chinese algae eater isn't a good idea. It's one of those fish that Petsmart and Petco sell to unsuspecting people. It gets big and aggressive and it really doesn't eat much algae. As stated previously, it prefers to suck the slime coat off big flat-sided fish. Get rid of it while you still can.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with swankyspoon. You could remove the divider in your tank and let the betta and guppies interact if you've got decent cover. Female guppies aren't brightly colored, so the betta is even less likely to attack that if they were males. Add a few more plants and you should be fine unless you have a super aggressive betta.

Listen to Bigjim he is much more experienced than I!

 

[mattrox]

Otos are great lil algae eater.....

 

[BigJim]

Listen to Bigjim he is much more experienced than I!

I can still most definitely be wrong.

 

[swankyspoon]

Wait... aren't you putting together a White Cloud Minnow tank?

 

[James10797]

My beta is a male. He is agressive. My guppies like to pick at any thing different( like my finger). They nip him= no more guppies! And i dont think i have the heart to kill my gold chinese algea

 

[James10797]

Wait... aren't you putting together a White Cloud Minnow tank?

No i was thinking about it but no. I will probly do tetras

 

[bluerose]

Nobody said kill the algae eater... but you could probably return him to the LFS.

 

[BigJim]

Don't kill the fish. Return him or give him to someone who can house him better.

 

[Fastfossil]

I took my three back to the LFS with my lap top and showed them what they had sold me from the downloaded web pages and they replaced them with 3 kuhli loaches and 2 apple snails and one cat fish 15 pounds stuff and the three I returned was 7 pounds and he would not let me pay the difference. Nice hey its worth shopping at a store a lot.

 

[Marconis]

Lol you don't have to kill a fish to get rid of it. Like others have stated, bring it back to the LFS or put it on CL for someone to come grab.

 

[James10797]

I have finished my tank! I put 4 cardinal tetras, 4 white cloud mountain minnows, a pleco, and a cory catfish.and im keeping the algea eater because they go good with small quick fish like guppies.