Just a few questions!

[Viccy]

Cycling is east the old school method I have used since 1985 . Buy your tank wash your substrate and add it , fill the tank and start your filter and leave it alone in three weeks add your heater and set it at 50 leave it alone for 3 more weeks then go but the cheapest fish zoo can , minnows are about5 0.14 cents and when one dies wait one more week and you are fish ready , if the minnows survive you have an extra fish or two , I use rosy minnows because they look. Nice I have a dozen in My last tank I set up . Its cheap and I have never had a problem this way. IT does help out if you plant some live plants along the way .

 

[claudiiia]

It's really up to your preference. Low light plants tend to be less expensive than silk fake plants, and create a more natural environment for your fish. Many do fine with minimal lighting, which leads to my next question...did you order one of the 10 gallon kits with LED light fixture?

This makes me want live plants sooner!

I want to create a natural looking environment, and I know how much better they usually look. I don't have lighting figured out yet, but of course, if I do choose to get live plants I'll figure something out sooner.

I may just do both fake and live plants, starting out with few live plants and getting more as I go, to replace fake plants.

What plants are recommended for a small tank such as a 10 gallon? And what are all the supplies I need? I've done very little research on planted tanks, I just know that they need certain nutrients, and I'm not sure which products are best for them.

I'm also wondering if there are certain plants that need certain temperatures? With the fish I plan to keep, around 25°C seems to be perfect.

 

[claudiiia]

Cycling is east the old school method I have used since 1985 . Buy your tank wash your substrate and add it , fill the tank and start your filter and leave it alone in three weeks add your heater and set it at 50 leave it alone for 3 more weeks then go but the cheapest fish zoo can , minnows are about5 0.14 cents and when one dies wait one more week and you are fish ready , if the minnows survive you have an extra fish or two , I use rosy minnows because they look. Nice I have a dozen in My last tank I set up . Its cheap and I have never had a problem this way.

Alright, I'll keep this method in mind.

Thanks!

 

[dalto]

Cycling is east the old school method I have used since 1985 . Buy your tank wash your substrate and add it , fill the tank and start your filter and leave it alone in three weeks add your heater and set it at 50 leave it alone for 3 more weeks.

What is the purpose of those first 6 weeks? Why wait that extra time before starting the cycle?

 

[Viccy]

Live plants are easy , I use Flourish for my plant food , starting out I would recommend plant you can find at Petsmart and then carry flourish as well when you gain experience then you can go to more exotic plants remember the old axiom KISS keep it simple silly , you are learning do your research and you will have a lot of fun as you build your new tank .

As for the Tank , I bought my last new tank somewhere back in the 80s , new tanks are expensive , save your Monet look around and buy a used tank to get started, your money will go much farther . I recently bought a 90g tank set up for $85 , you may have to do a little work on it or buy a light but you can go father that way , if you use social media you can find a used set up easily

 

[claudiiia]

Live plants are easy , I use Flourish for my plant food , starting out I would recommend plant you can find at Petsmart and then carry flourish as well when you gain experience then you can go to more exotic plants remember the old axiom KISS keep it simple silly , you are learning do your research and you will have a lot of fun as you build your new tank .

As for the Tank , I bought my last new tank somewhere back in the 80s , new tanks are expensive , save your Monet look around and buy a used tank to get started, your money will go much farther . I recently bought a 90g tank set up for $85 , you may have to do a little work on it or buy a light but you can go father that way , if you use social media you can find a used set up easily

Okay, thank you. And I will definitely look into buying used tanks. Since I'm just starting out, the smaller tanks aren't as expensive. Of course in the future when I want a bigger tank, I'll find deals.

 

[Jobin13]

I cycled a tank buy stealing a frozen shrimp from the refrigerator and hiding it under the gravel. It decomposed and started off the cycle. You said that you have a 6 gal? if that tank is already established the easiest thing you can do is put your new 10 gal filter on it and then bump up your ammonia in the 6 gal. you'll further establish two filters at the same time and the 6 gal will "seed" your 10 gal filter.! Just a thought.. ACE hardware sells a gallon jug of ammonia for about $3 which makes it far less expensive than dosing with fish food especially overtime. and if you have excess you can use it as a cleaning product.. so its multipurpose product.. You can also continue to add it to the tank to maintain the BB while you get money to buy fish. I'm doing that now. Just my 2 cents!

 

[claudiiia]

I cycled a tank buy stealing a frozen shrimp from the refrigerator and hiding it under the gravel. It decomposed and started off the cycle. You said that you have a 6 gal? if that tank is already established the easiest thing you can do is put your new 10 gal filter on it and then bump up your ammonia in the 6 gal. you'll further establish two filters at the same time and the 6 gal will "seed" your 10 gal filter.! Just a thought.. ACE hardware sells a gallon jug of ammonia for about $3 which makes it far less expensive than dosing with fish food especially overtime. and if you have excess you can use it as a cleaning product.. so its multipurpose product.. You can also continue to add it to the tank to maintain the BB while you get money to buy fish. I'm doing that now. Just my 2 cents!

I've never heard of someone using shrimp to start the cycle! I'll keep that in mind. Have you had any problems with it?

I've thought of using that filter but the tank is really old, and it wasn't cycled. I'm afraid it might do more bad than good. Do you think there would be much risk doing it?

I need to buy some ammonia as well. Have you had any issues using it to clean?

Thank you!

 

[TMaier]

I have read about the shrimp trick. A constant source of ammonia as it decays. Just not too much shrimp.

 

[dalto]

I've never heard of someone using shrimp to start the cycle! I'll keep that in mind. Have you had any problems with it?

Almost any kind of decaying food matter will work to provide an ammonia source. The problem is determining the right amount. Ammonia is both easier to measure and clean-up afterwards.

I've thought of using that filter but the tank is really old, and it wasn't cycled. I'm afraid it might do more bad than good. Do you think there would be much risk doing it?

Is the tank still up and running actively with fish in it? If not, it won't really do you much good as the bacteria in the media would have died off.

I need to buy some ammonia as well. Have you had any issues using it to clean?

The most important thing is to find ammonia without surfactants or other cleaning additives. I am not sure what you mean by using it to clean.

I usually just add 2-3ppm of ammonia and then wait. A lot of people use more ammonia like 5ppm which works fine. If you add too much ammonia it will inhibit the cycle and I just found it easier to read the test kit I was using at 3ppm.

 

[Jobin13]

I've never heard of someone using shrimp to start the cycle! I'll keep that in mind. Have you had any problems with it?

I've thought of using that filter but the tank is really old, and it wasn't cycled. I'm afraid it might do more bad than good. Do you think there would be much risk doing it?

I need to buy some ammonia as well. Have you had any issues using it to clean?

Thank you!

I didn't have a problem. I put it deep in my substrate so I never saw it again. No issues there! If the filter is clean (not full of old dry caked on algae) it should do just fine.

As I stated earlier DO NOT use ammonia with additives. ACE Hardwares version works great. I'm not sure what you mean by use it to clean but if you mean my home, no. Just don't use it on wood surfaces it will stain them. but it works fine on bathtubs and sinks. if you use it to clean your tank make sure you rinse it out after. anything higher than 5ppm will likely inhibit your cycle. I tried it initially at 8 ppm and the cycle never started. when I did a big water change I had no issues.

 

[claudiiia]

I didn't have a problem. I put it deep in my substrate so I never saw it again. No issues there! If the filter is clean (not full of old dry caked on algae) it should do just fine.



As I stated earlier DO NOT use ammonia with additives. ACE Hardwares version works great. I'm not sure what you mean by use it to clean but if you mean my home, no. Just don't use it on wood surfaces it will stain them. but it works fine on bathtubs and sinks. if you use it to clean your tank make sure you rinse it out after. anything higher than 5ppm will likely inhibit your cycle. I tried it initially at 8 ppm and the cycle never started. when I did a big water change I had no issues.

I'll try this out! The filter is very clean and in good shape, I just need to buy new filter cartridges. Thank you

 

[toolman]

Do not replace the filter cartridges!

When you do your water change just swish the cartridge in the water you remove, to remove any debris, then place the cartridge back in the filter. Then get rid of the dirty water.

The filter is where your beneficial bacteria is, if you change the pads you throw out your bacteria, starting your cycle over. Reuse them untill they literally are falling apart, then place a new one in and place the old one behind it for a month or so before throwing it away.

 

[claudiiia]

Do not replace the filter cartridges!

When you do your water change just swish the cartridge in the water you remove, to remove any debris, then place the cartridge back in the filter. Then get rid of the dirty water.

The filter is where your beneficial bacteria is, if you change the pads you throw out your bacteria, starting your cycle over. Reuse them untill they literally are falling apart, then place a new one in and place the old one behind it for a month or so before throwing it away.

Glad you replied, I didn't know I should do this. Thank you so much!