Thank you thank you thank you!!!

[Unswydd]

Hey all! Supa newbie here, Marsha is the name.
I bought a 10 gal. tank and 3 neons, 2 platys, and one bottom feeder. All died within 9 days. Yikes!!!!!
Neons got caught in the filter, fixed. Bottom feeder just died??? One platy got ICH died, the other platy died last night sometime.
The "pet store" kept testing my water and said it was fine. Ugh!
Soooo, today I went to a different "pet store" purchased some testing strips, 3 more neons and 4 beautiful guppies, baby was free, so 5.
I did a complete change out of my water because of the ICH and proceeded to refill my tank. I could not get the nitrite right but after reading and studying this site for a couple hours I finally happened on a great thread and wow!!! After 4 75% change outs I finally got everything right! HALLELUJAH !!!!!!!
So, thank you everyone for your awesome help and knowledge! Looking forward to learning more.

[Delapool]

Grand news your tank is settling down. Is the ich gone?

[flchamp89]

Remember test strips are not as accurate as liquid kits and have and expiration date. Neons need larger groups and are better suited for a 20 and up. Five guppies in a 10g is fine and a good bioload imo.

Glad your on the right track. As Delapool stated hows the ich?

[Unswydd]

Well, ICH is gone. I lost the platy tho. Bummed about that.
I took a sample of my water to the store where I got the new fish and he said my readings were off....ugh, after all that work I was discouraged. I asked him why he would sell me strips if they weren't accurate. He had no answer. He was not helpful at all. They used a liquid test kit. He suggested I put in some Bio Spira after some pressing from me. So I used that. He said to wait 2 weeks then bring in another sample. I think I will buy a liquid test kit myself and do my own testing since he was so snobbish.
The tanks they had in the back of their store looked pretty filthy actually and I don't think I want to go back there for anything.

[Delapool]

Good news ich is gone. I'd give it a week or two to make sure completely out of tank just in case. Totally agree on having your own test kit (I'm bit of a test kit collector but much easier to get your own readings then). Also you could test your tap water so you know what the starting point is then.

[Unswydd]

Thanks Delapool, I will check my water. I found a fish community nearby that meets once a month so I may check them out too.
Looking forward to getting this tank under control.
I'd like to get some cool fish.

[GuppyGuy333]

Tetra lifeguard tablets are a good basic med for many different things
Stability is a good bacteria starter product that can help you cycle.
don't forget water conditioner and a heater.

Also its best to only add one or two fish at a time to a tank. especially a smaller tank like yours. even a cycled tank would have a problem with such a change in bioload. Bacteria slowly adapt to the bioload in a tank....that's why you need to cycle in the first place.

having a sponge over the filter intake will give another place for bacteria to grow and to keep fish from getting stuck to the intake.

Good luck!

[Barliman]

Good luck with this! We were all beginners once and made mistakes (and still do... ), so don't get discouraged!

Tetra test strips are good and fast to use. I use both that and the liquid API master kit and find them equally accurate.

You might want to give this article a read, too, It's very helpful:

Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

Keep us posted!

[Unswydd]

Thanks for the comments and encouragement. I'm settling in with just 2 neons and one guppy now. All appear to be thriving.