10 gallon, fishless cycling newbie

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yodasfish

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Apr 27, 2014
Messages
3
Hello everyone!

Earlier this month on my girlfriend's birthday we considered getting a goldfish + small setup for us and our cats to enjoy and we soon learned that we would be best off with a small freshwater tank. We were recommended a 10 gallon kit on sale and went home to complete the setup.

After setting everything up we found out there was no dechlorinator included with the kit so I decided to read online about the process for adding fish/maintaining the tank. A few hours later I determined, much against my girlfriend's desire, that we needed to properly perform the fishless cycle (with which I was completely unfamiliar is a thing) and delay adding fish as initially advised.

Almost a month later and I am finally starting to see some Nitrites just as I was giving in to the pressure of introducing a lone hardy fish to initiate the process. Included in my profile somewhere is the link to my database (will include after post) for water testing and I hope to soon be adding some fish!

We really like the neon Tetras and plan on getting a handful of those as our primary fish. Our 3 cats should be able to see them pretty well and thoroughly enjoy them as originally intended! We have already setup an ottoman for them to perch for hours. So far I have found answers to most of my questions through reading but as I get closer to introducing fish to my tank I felt compelled to join the AA community as a go-to for fish advice. I have learned much from the guides on his site and appreciate everyone's contributions, I hope to give back in the years to come :fish1: :fish1: (y)

I am considering a new filter, possibly hang on back or external -- any recommendations for a 10 gallon tank? I have seen good things about the Fluval C3, Fluval U2, and the QuietFlow series from Aqueon.

Also I have read about filter media/bio material for beneficial bacterias to persist as I maintain filter cartridges, any suggestions with the mentioned filters?

Water test database:http://goo.gl/eUjYoL
 
Welcome to AA! It looks like your cycle is almost done! I would recommend a HOB filter, but I couldn't tell you which HOB. I use a cheap Penn-Plax Cascade on my 10 gallon, and I've never had any problems and it does pretty well, I think. Mine's pretty quiet as well. Hopefully someone else will be able to give some input on the topic. :)
 
Make sure you do your water changes with a gravel vac regularly. We have an Emperor 280 on our 10 gal. It used to be on a bigger aquarium so it is bigger than necessary but we can adjust the water flow to accommodate more fish if needed. I would NOT go with a Walmart cheapie because they're cheap and Walmart has a habit of discontinuing things. My dad got an aquarium from there and soon after they quit carrying them along with the filters. It ended up becoming a mouse aquarium. Whatever you decide, make sure there are several places to get parts and filters for it because it's a well known brand. Emperor, ehiem, whisper... So...welcome and good luck. I'm a beginner salty myself. Been around fresh water tanks my whole life and love it. Hope you do as well!
 
Thanks for the info! At this point I've only performed one significant water change during my fishless cycle and I'm not entirely familiar with how my water change schedule should be after I introduce fish. I think I read something last night around 10% weekly or 25% monthly for 10gallon however I feel that may be a bit modest.

Last night after testing and noticing all the ammonia in the tank had disappeared, I added about 4ppm worth and tested again today to find some if it already consumed. The nitrates have not drastically increased however the nitrite test seemed to yield slightly higher than yesterday.

My kit filter seems to be functioning satisfactory for the time being so I will do some more research into suitable filters and bio material. I appreciate the feedback!
 
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in my opinion if this is your first tank you might want to get something other than neons. this is cause they are hard to care for and really are finicky creatures. if you want some color you could always go with fancy guppies. and they are really hardy. you would have to have 2 females to 1 male. the males are very colorful and have a more triangular top fin while the females are rounder and have only color on the tail fin and they have a black spot on the sides. also I cant remember the brand but I myself have used biomed for 8 months now. its a 3 part system where you have a sponge to capture the big stuff, carbon in a bag for chemicals, and then basically clay bits in a bag. I absolutlly love this better than the normal inserts you get because even though you have to clean them at the same time frame they last longer and I have saved a lot of money. it also for me it gives a better quality in water condictions
 
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