New 10G tank - advice needed

[freshyfish]

Hi all,
I've a 10 gallon tank setup a month back with 2 sunset fire play and 2 cory cat fish. I had one molly and guppy, both died. I dont know if my tank is cycled yet.

My tank is crazily acidic...always less than 6 and ammonia is close to 0.5ppm. I dont know what is going on in my tank. Tap water is not acidic, it was close to 6.8 Fishes are always calm and either sitting in one corner or at the top of the tank. If i do 30-40% water change they will become active and start moving around. After 3-4 hours, they are calm again.

I had ich outbreak once and treated with jungle ick. I moved corys to small tank and treated with ick2. Then fishes showed signs of fin rot. Thats when molly and guppy died. I added jungle fungus eliminator. Conditions were not improving, so i started daily water change and fishes are kind of ok now. I've 2 fake plants, 1 fake coral and 1 driftwood from walmart. It looks painted and did not release anything after putting. I had a live plant which i removed as i was adding chemicals. I really dont know why fishes are stressed if i dont do water change. Cat fish will not move at all, till i change water. Please help. I want to add couple of fishes once the tank is set up fully.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rosenweiss]

Well, I can tell you that your tank is NOT cycled. .5 ammonia is ridiculously high (trust me, I had fish in high ammonia too and almost killed them with it before learning about cycling). You need to do DAILY water changes, 50% probably. If you don't want to take your fish out, continue to do this.

Also, in order to figure out if your tank is cycled you'll need to purchase a testing kit (API liquid freshwater is a good one). There are a lot of articles on cycling on this website too. Best of luck!

Remember, partial water changes!

 

[freshyfish]

Thanks for the reply.

I currently use API Stress coat+ when i change water to remove chloramine. Should i change to some other product?

 

[GoldfishNewbie]

I agree with Rosenweiss, your tank isn't cycled, it takes around 1-2 months before it finishes, and yes, 50% water changes daily until it's finished... it kind of gets annoying lol but just think, at least yours is only a 10 gallon, I have to do 50% water changes on my 50 gal lol.
I hear API is a good brand, so I'm sure it will be fine as long as it says it removes chloramine, good luck

 

[daileene]

Seachem Prime is good water conditioner. Eliminates chlorine, chloramine and ammonia and detoxify nitrites and nitrates.

API Freshwater Master Kit is good to check your levels everyday since you have some residents already.

Once your ammonia and nitrite is over 0.25ppm, do a 50-75% water change. It is VITAL to PWC for them to survive the cycle.

And welcome to AA!

 

[freshyfish]

Thanks a lot guys. I'll stick on to 50% water change.

 

[siva]

You've got good advise here but what I would like to add is that I would suggest you decide what fish you want to put in there when the time comes and then run your stock list by folks here. You have added some fish to a 10 gal that aren't really appropriate. I would suggest the 2 cories and maybe 4 male guppies. Platties and mollies have a bigger bio-load and aren't the best picks for 10 gals.

 

[straick]

Have you had your water tested at the LFS(the tap water) for alkalinity. If the alkalinity is low, the PH can change a lot faster as well. Fish like a stable PH, not having it swing all over to keep it where it's recommended.
Also, what filter are you running?
The corys will outgrow your tank easily. I was going to get some orange laser cories, until I found out that they grow to 3 inches, so instead I'll be some pygmy cories.
Once your tank is cycled, you should see 0 ammonia, o nitrites, and keep you nitrates below 40 ppm.
If you are using test strips, you'd be better off to invest in the API Master Freshwater kit. It test ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and PH between 6.0 and 8.8.

 

[freshyfish]

Thanks Siva. I'm just starting for now. I'll get a bigger tank once i get to know the basics.

@Straick, I've API PH test kit and tap water is alkaline, but my tank is acidic well below 6. Even if i do 40% water change daily, i'm not able to bring it up.

I'm using aqueon power filter that came with aquarium kit. I have albino cories. Later i'll move them to bigger tank. Cories seems to be super sensitive to ammonia, is it so?

I just went to Petco and got ammonia test kit and ph test kit seperately. I should have master test kit online. Its way too costly in Petco. Its been a month, and i dont why my tank is not cycled yet.

 

[siva]

Thanks Siva. I'm just starting for now. I'll get a bigger tank once i get to know the basics.

@Straick, I've API PH test kit and tap water is alkaline, but my tank is acidic well below 6. Even if i do 40% water change daily, i'm not able to bring it up.

I'm using aqueon power filter that came with aquarium kit. I have albino cories. Later i'll move them to bigger tank. Cories seems to be super sensitive to ammonia, is it so?

I just went to Petco and got ammonia test kit and ph test kit seperately. I should have master test kit online. Its way too costly in Petco. Its been a month, and i dont why my tank is not cycled yet.

I think a 10 gal is a fine size tank to have One thing you will commonly see this forum utilized for is discussing your stocking plans with other hobbyists and I would highly recommend you do the same once your tank is cycled. There are some fish that are fine choices for a 10 gal community but of the ones you chose, only the guppy is one of those. We all have to learn these things when we are just starting out, I am not trying to scold you..only help out if I can.

The cories are sensitive to ammonia. They are scaleless and burn easily.

The best deal I've found so far on the master kits are from allpet.com. I always need enough stuff from their to get free shipping. Otherwise you can usually pick one up for $25 or less from amazon.com or walmart.com with free ship.

 

[freshyfish]

ok..its been 4-5 days now and i'm doing 50% water almost twice a day. Else fishes seems to be very stressed. I see that ammonia is spiking now which is above 0.5 and i could not bring it down.

I've a rubber maid 5 gallon tank from walmart. Can i move the fishes to this tank with heater till my tank is set up? Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

 

[siva]

Is there nitrite present yet? Do you have Seachum Prime (dechlorniator)?

 

[freshyfish]

good question ...on my way to get a nitrite test kit. i did not order master test kit...now buying one by one..

 

[siva]

you know what I would say get the master anyway because..most likely you go through the ammo and nitrate test first anyway (less tests per bottle on those because the take more drops than the others) so you will need that leftover ammo from the first set you bought anyway

 

[siva]

I wouldn't put them in the rubbermaid..just more stress and the ammo will build up in there as well. I would give a double dose of prime which should make ammo/nitrite harmless to them for a while.

 

[freshyfish]

Thanks Siva. I was thinking leaving the tank with higher ammonia without changing water would complete cycle quicker. Wont it work?

 

[siva]

Actually it won't. Once the bacteria has eaten the ammonia, if there isn't anymore to eat, it will die. So an ammo source must stay in there. Or you could start dosing the tank with pure ammo (how you do a fishless cycle) but still at this point in your process I'm not sure if your fish would really benefit from the transfer and everthing. I think dosing with prime may be the better option. OK I read back and see you have stress coat..read the bottle does it say it will make ammonia harmless to fish? I can't remember if it does? If you can only get one test anytime soon get the nitrite

 

[freshyfish]

I'm back again with problems. Tank is running for about 5 weeks now. Here are my readings.

Ammonia - less than 0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate -0

Why hasn't my tank started cycling. Where am i doing wrong? please help.

 

[siva]

Ah I never saw your reply, I'm sorry! What happened..did it ever cycle??

 

[freshyfish]

Thanks for asking Siva. I started fresh by 8th april. Whole of march i was struggling with ick and fin rots. I added lots of medicine to save them. I saved but cycling did not start. So i cleaned everything, somehow got a filter media from LFS and started again. 2-3 days, mini cycling happened...and after that back to square 1. Still fighting with 0.25 ammonia. Strange thing is i'm seeing 3-4 ppm nitrate(not 5 yet). Don't know whats going on in my tank.