Oh man, what'd i get myself into? (10g tank)

[Mrs.h2012]

lol, the type of fish i'm planning on getting are tropical. I have a heater in there that keeps it around 78f (25c).

And like i said before, i haven't a clue on what type of fish would be great for a beginner...

Did you get a chance to read the links I posted about fishless and fish in cycles? If not I'll post them again here since they probably got lost in everything!

 

[Lt.]

Doing a fish in cycle in a 10 gallon should be no sweat, literally. You get yourself a 3 gallon bucket, dunk it in the tank once and then dump the water in said bucket in the sink and then fill it with fresh tap, and dump that in the tank. 5 minute once or even twice a day should be easy.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Doing a fish in cycle in a 10 gallon should be no sweat, literally. You get yourself a 3 gallon bucket, dunk it in the tank once and then dump the water in said bucket in the sink and then fill it with fresh tap, and dump that in the tank. 5 minute once or even twice a day should be easy.

Doing a fish in in my 45 will be a pain though, endless heavy buckets. But atleast I won't have to stare at an empty tank for a month.

When I first started the hobby I started with a 10g and cycled it with 2 platys. Then I got a 30g and transfered some media from my 10g to my 30g (was running to cartridges in my 10 filter) and never went through a mini cycle. Everytime I added fish I got some filter media from LFS and i haven't had anything but cycled readings on both tanks since my 10 cycled nearly 3 months ago.

 

[Rlavassor86]

When I first started the hobby I started with a 10g and cycled it with 2 platys. Then I got a 30g and transfered some media from my 10g to my 30g (was running to cartridges in my 10 filter) and never went through a mini cycle. Everytime I added fish I got some filter media from LFS and i haven't had anything but cycled readings on both tanks since my 10 cycled nearly 3 months ago.

Yes very good point I forgot to mention.

@ OP ask your LFS if they have any filter media they can spare. It will help cycle your tank a lot faster.

 

[Knave]

I posted some options a while back you could do a male betta tank with snails and shrimp, some people keep a group for female bettas together, there are awesome looking guppies also. Most people would say avoid tetras since they like more space to swim. Gauramis can look cool but tend to be a bit aggressive and territorial so pic other fish carefully.

For the female bettas, how many would you recomend I have (10g tank)? And can I mix one female and one male or would that be a bad idea?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

For the female bettas, how many would you recomend I have (10g tank)? And can I mix one female and one male or would that be a bad idea?

Males are very aggressive. I haven't had bettas but I'm pretty sure its recommended to not mix them, only put females together. I do know if you put two males together they will fight until one dies. So if you get a male, stick with one and only one.

 

[Teakwood]

For the female bettas, how many would you recomend I have (10g tank)? And can I mix one female and one male or would that be a bad idea?

Definitely do not mix sexes. Not sure what a good number of just females is. Personally if I was going to do it I would research a bit more and do 5 females.

 

[Teakwood]

Definitely research it more to make sure it's a good fit for you though.

 

[Autumnsky]

Betas have personalities, and sometimes females can be very mean, so just because they are female, doesn't mean they will all get along. Having lots of resting areas and lots of plants are really recommended, with soft leaves if plastic plants, nothing sharp or pointy as their fins can get torn up from them.

Banana plants are great since they have leaves which are perfect for the fish to lay on. also you can put some stems of Anacharis/Elodea in the top and just let it float and the fish will rest in the bends of them as well.

I like Hikari Betta Bio-Gold for Bettas, they like blood worms too also available from Hikari (freeze dried or frozen).

You can rinse filter media in treated/conditioned water as well in a bucket.

Snails, rams horn or mystery snails are fun to watch too. Later as your tank matures you could get some Amano/Japanese Algae eating shrimp, really fun to watch in the tank. For the shrimp, you would want to find ones which were a good size (1"+)

This is a place for learning and asking questions! Glad you came! Welcome!

 

[CoryFan]

I remember owning a 20g fish tank when i was younger, but my brother mostly took care of it and i probably only cleaned it once... Anyway recently i've been feeling a bit down/nervous and i've read in a couple of places that watching fish swim around can have a calming effect, so I decided, hey, i'm gonna get me some fish (sides, i already own a few mammals, i want me some aquatic friends!)

Unfortunately i don't have a single clue how to care for one. I bought a starter kit (10g) to begin with.

I have it all set up now, running and filtering it. I don't want any 'fancy fish' just yet lol, so i'm wondering what type of 'starter' fish i should get. Also, how long should i wait before adding fish into the tank?

any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi Knave!

I recommend researching ember tetra, threadfin rainbowfish, and corydoras habrosus.

Also, do you like sand? I prefer pool filter sand for cost and easy maintenance.

As far as how long you should wait, it depends on if you want to do a fishless cycle or fish-in.

Please check out those articles and let us know!

 

[librarygirl]

HI and welcome! This guide should explain general aquarium care as well as cycling: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

Read the fish-in and fishless cycle guides and decide which you'd rather do.

You have some options for a 10 gal although it is a bit limited due to its size. Some of these were mentioned but I'll mention them again anyway:

--A single betta (with maybe snails and/or shrimp if the betta allows it); bettas can be very easy to care for given the right conditions and have great personalities. OR
--3 african dwarf frogs OR
--a shoal of 6-8 nano fish like ember tetra, chili rasbora or celestial pearl danio (some of these can be difficult to find though) with a sparkling gourami (avoid the larger types) as a centerpiece and maybe 4 small corys (pygmy, hastus or hasbrosu; avoid the larger types) for the bottom if substrate allows (they prefer sand or rounded gravel) OR
--3-4 guppies or endler's livebearers OR
--2-3 platy

What you could do is visit some fish stores near you and write down fish you like, research them and ask here; we can be of more help when we know what fish are available to you.

Good luck

 

[Knave]

whew!

gettin' a bit overwhelmed here lol

but for sure i'm gonna go with the fishless cycle, seems more humane to me.

i went to my lfs a while ago to grab a few things, and saw a couple of schooling fish. i didn't have pen and paper on me to write down the names, i'll have time next week to check 'em out, but i think i'm gonna go for a male beta with snails and shrimp seems the easier route for now.

I was reading the The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice and i wasn't able to get some seeding material, it's optional, right?

Am I supposed to add 100% ammonia during set up? Do i leave it for a while then test it? and how do i know how much is 4ppm???

i'm a bit slow, so i apologize if i don't understand right off the bat @_@; lol

 

[Knave]

ugh, i don't think my last reply posted...

this is getting overwhelming

but i think for now i will stick with the fishless cycling, i don't want to end up hurting fish, my better half would kill me lol

So i was reading the The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice and i have a couple of questions:

Do i add the ammonia right away, and how much is 4ppm, exactly?

When should i start testing?

and i saw some awesome schooling fish that i really liked at my lfs a while ago, unfortunately i didn't have pen and paper on me so i didn't get the names. But i think for know i'm gonna stick with the female betas or the male beta/shrimp/snail combos...

 

[Mrs.h2012]

this is getting overwhelming

but i think for now i will stick with the fishless cycling, i don't want to end up hurting fish, my better half would kill me lol

So i was reading the The (almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling - Aquarium Advice and i have a couple of questions:

Do i add the ammonia right away, and how much is 4ppm, exactly?

When should i start testing?

and i saw some awesome schooling fish that i really liked at my lfs a while ago, unfortunately i didn't have pen and paper on me so i didn't get the names. But i think for know i'm gonna stick with the female betas or the male beta/shrimp/snail combos...

Hopefully someone else can chime in, but I've heard members here say that it you have kids then you should have medicine droppers around (I know I have a ton!) you can use those to dose ammonia to 4ppm. You can do it by trial and error as well, just add some wait about an hour, test and see what level ammonia is at. If you do it by trial and error you dont want to dose to high over 4ppm, if you do do a water change to bring the levels down to around 4ppm.

 

[Knave]

Hopefully someone else can chime in, but I've heard members here say that it you have kids then you should have medicine droppers around (I know I have a ton!) you can use those to dose ammonia to 4ppm. You can do it by trial and error as well, just add some wait about an hour, test and see what level ammonia is at. If you do it by trial and error you dont want to dose to high over 4ppm, if you do do a water change to bring the levels down to around 4ppm.

ah, okay, thank you one more thing, when i was out a while ago, i completely forgot to get the ammonia, i added the dechlorinator/conditioner and bacteria(is that good? ugh!) is it fine as is for now? I won't have anytime to go buy the ammonia until sometime between saturday-tuesday... I read that the bacteria need the ammonium, so yeah...

 

[Mrs.h2012]

ah, okay, thank you one more thing, when i was out a while ago, i completely forgot to get the ammonia, i added the dechlorinator/conditioner and bacteria(is that good? ugh!) is it fine as is for now? I won't have anytime to go buy the ammonia until sometime between saturday-tuesday... I read that the bacteria need the ammonium, so yeah...

And be absolutely sure you get PURE ammonia. A lot have had success with the ace brand janitorial strength ammonia. For now you can add small pinches of fish food as food for the BB until you get ammonia.

 

[Teakwood]

Yep adding some food works as an ammonia source, there is controversy about what bacteria in a bottle work and don't. Either way by fishless cycling you will grow the bacteria you need without adding any, adding bacteria in a bottle can help but just keep a good eye on your parameters with testing for a bit after it seems cycled so you know it's stable. I would just start with a couple drops of the pure ammonia then test to see how many ppm there are. Also you can test your tap for ammonia because my tap comes out of the Faust with .25ppm

 

[Knave]

And be absolutely sure you get PURE ammonia. A lot have had success with the ace brand janitorial strength ammonia. For now you can add small pinches of fish food as food for the BB until you get ammonia.

will do! and last question for real this time, I just found a dropper lying around, how many ml of ammonia would i have to put in to equal 4ppm???

 

[Teakwood]

will do! and last question for real this time, I just found a dropper lying around, how many ml of ammonia would i have to put in to equal 4ppm???

It depends, some people have it down to a science on exactly how much to add to there tank for it to reach 4ppm, but really doing the test is what tell you how many part per million (ppm) of ammonia there is that's why I said just use a few drops, maybe start will 5 drops wait and hour, test and see where it is, if its at 2ppm then add 5 more drops and re test. If you go way over 4ppms you can do a partial water change to bring it down to 4ppm

 

[Mrs.h2012]

will do! and last question for real this time, I just found a dropper lying around, how many ml of ammonia would i have to put in to equal 4ppm???

Just found out how much by doing a search for it, it 6mL to get 4ppm