New to this please help!

[georginaisle]

I am a total newb to this lifestyle and would appreciate some help to get me started fight.
I bought a marina 5 gallon starter kit,waste control bio cleaner and some aquarium test strips.i bought some geavel and some fake plants as well as a few hiding decorations.
I have an air pump and stone as well as an aquarium heater....im wondering if this is enough???
Also what types of freshwater marine life can i add that is are fairly easy to raise.i like color and would like more than one species of multiple fish...snails?tank cleaning critters?
Any info would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Aiken Drum]

This really depends on how much you want to sink into the hobby.

As a minimum you need an aquarium and filter. If you want to keep tropical fish, you will also need a heater. If you want to keep live plants you will also need an aquarium light. This may or may not be included in your starter kit.

A list of other things you should get, off the top of my head in no particular order. Aquascape materials like substrate (gravel or sand), aquarium decorations, a good test kit that tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, and syphon to help you do your water changes, dedicated buckets so you don't get them mixed up with buckets that may get contaminated with things you don't want to risk getting into your aquarium, water conditioner, an aquarium thermometer, fish food, a fish net. There are other things that would prove beneficial, like the airstone, but these are the minimum requirements.

As for your test strips, personally put them in a drawer and get a proper test kit. Strips are notoriously unreliable, you have to buy a separate strip for ammonia (which is the most important test in a new aquarium), and you get a limited number of tests in a packet. A good liquid test kit like API Freshwater Master Test Kit covers all the tests you need, is more reliable than strips, and you get 100s of tests from it, so its better value for money.

I presume the waste control bio cleaner is the Fluval product? That's something else that can be put in the drawer. It isn't going to do anything useful.

A 5g aquarium is on the small size, and isn't suitable for keeping multiple fish. At a push 3 guppies, but its really best suited for a single betta. For what you are describing as wanting to keep i would look at 10g aquarium minimum, at least 20" long. A 20g would be better. Contrary to what you might think, bigger is easier. Especially for inexperienced hobbyists. Small water volumes are more difficult to manage than larger volumes.

The number one thing to research is the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle an aquarium. The nitrogen cycle are the natural processes that happen in aquariums that turn toxic fish waste (ammonia) into less harmful waste (nitrate). Cycling the tank is the process you go through to establish the nitrogen cycle and make your aquarium safe for fish. It's more than just setting everything up, getting a fish and letting things run. Cycling an aquarium properly takes weeks/ months.

Here is a link to some useful articles for new hobbyists.

Articles to Help you Get Started with your Aquarium

Here are a few good resources to help you get started. Tips and Tricks For Your Fastest Fishless Cycle! – Aquarium Advice https://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/the-almost-complete-guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling/...

www.aquariumadvice.com

 

[Andy Sager]

Well for starters, 5 gallons is not a lot of water to have a lot of fish in so you need to start with that understanding. Also, a 5 gallon tank does not really hold 5 gallons of water. Tank manufacturers usually measure the tanks from the outside to get the gallonage while it's the inside dimensions that determine how much water the tank actually holds. Then you have to take away the displacement from the gravel and decorations which will also reduce how much water is actually in the tank. In the end, taking all of these into consideration, you may only have 3 gallons of actual water +/- in the tank which is not a lot. So a 5 gallon tank is really only good for a single Betta or 2 or 3 Guppies or some of the very small ( micro) fish species.
Freshwater fish will be easier to learn with than marine/ saltwater fish so I would definitely start with them.
As for testing materials, test strips can be fickle if not stored properly so liquid tests are usually better so for the first few times during the cycling period, I would suggest taking a sample of water to your local fish shop and have them test the water as well to confirm your test results.
Next comes the actual setting up of the tank. Depending on what fish you are interested in, that will determine if you need the heater as some fish are tropical and need warmer water while others are temperate and need cooler water. You'll want to rinse off the gravel before placing it in the tank as well as the decorations. You'll want to place the tank away from windows or bright lights as these can help encourage algae to grow. If your set up came with a light, you'll want to set the light up on a timer so that it's only one for no more than 6-8 hours per day since you do not have live plants. Most people will set the timer for the period of time they will be viewing the tank ( usually late afternoon-nighttime) but that will also depend on the ambient light in the room.
I didn't see you mention a filter. Did the setup come with an actual mechanical filter? You will need one besides the air pump and air stone.
Next comes adding the water. Did you get a water conditioner? Most municipalities today use chloramines ( chlorine & ammonia combo) to sterilize the water we get from the tap but this is not safe for fish. You need a product like Seachem PRIME which breaks the chlorine -ammonia bond so that the ammonia is detoxified and the chlorine dissipates.
At this point I'll add that as overwhelming as some believe it is at this point, the same will apply to any sized tank. There are a lot of peripheries that need to be addressed no matter the tank size.

Did the shop tell you about the nitrifying cycle? That is a necessity in all aquariums however, your water's parameters will determine whether it will be an easy go or a more complicated one. You'll need to take a reading of your tap water so we know what you are dealing with. As for the " waste control bio filter", that's a new product to me so I did a little checking and to be honest, I'm skeptical of it's effectiveness because the Fluval brand says it works on both fresh and salt water but I know the microbes that break down ammonia and fish waste are different from each other so if it works for freshwater, it shouldn't work for saltwater and vice versa. That means I would not depend on it for cycling the tank.

So let's start there and we'll wait for your answers.

 

[georginaisle]

Wow!thank you for the detailed answers!im really appreciative.ill do some reading and Ill wait till my tank arrives and we will go from there...

 

[georginaisle]

So i read i have to cycle the aquarium for 2-4 weeks to get the nitrates at zero and the ammonia 4 pbb?
Is that correct?
I Do this by adding food so it can break down?

Also,will this be enough to oxygenate the tank?

Amazon.ca

 

[Aiken Drum]

Cycling an aquarium takes as long as it takes. Typically it takes a couple of months, it can take longer, it can be quicker. It's not just a case of setting up an aquarium, letting it run for a set amount of time, and then everything becomes safe for fish. You need to have some input into the process.

The nitrogen cycle are the processes that turn fish waste (ammonia) into nitrite, and then nitrite into nitrate. Nitrate is then removed through your regular water changes.

Microbes living in your aquarium first consume ammonia and turn this into nitrite, then different microbes consume the nitrite and turn it into nitrate. These microbes mostly live in your filtration and you start off with very low numbers of these organisms. Cycling your aquarium is the process you go through to grow enough of these microbes to consume all the waste your fish produces. You need a source of ammonia in the water to feed these microbes so the microbial colony grows in numbers. Most people's water supply doesn't have any ammonia in it, so you take a hand in supplying ammonia into the aquarium so your cycle can establish. Either through adding fish or dosing ammonia artificially.

There are basically 2 methods of cycling an aquarium.

A fish in cycle uses fish as your ammonia source through their waste. You start with a small number of fish, test the water every day and change water before ammonia and nitrite reach toxic levels. Eventually as your cycle establishes ammonia and nitrite will stop showing up in your tests and nitrate will steadily rise. Over time, if your aquarium has capacity you slowly increase the number of fish. The big disadvantage to this is your fish are exposed to harmful ammonia and nitrite throughout the cycling process, but you get fish pretty much on day 1.

A fishless cycle, you artificially dose ammonia into the water. You add ammonia through either pure ammonia (bleach) or an aquarium specific ammonium chloride and raise it to a prescribed level. Test the water every day and when the dosed ammonia has cycled out to nitrate, you add that prescribed dosage of ammonia again and repeat the process. Keep repeating this until you can dose that prescribed dosage of ammonia and see it cycle out to nitrate in 24 hours, then you are cycled and can then add fish. The disadvantage to this method is that you are staring at an empty aquarium for however long this takes, but as you cycle before adding fish, they are never exposed to harmful ammonia or nitrite.

There is a different process to each method, which we can advise on, but they both take about the same time. 6 to 8 weeks is normal, you may see it complete in a couple of week, it may take longer.

Have a think about which is your preferred method. Fish in cycle is easier and if you don't have the patience to look at an empty tank for weeks on end is the route to go. Fishless cycle is safer for the fish, but more complex and can be frustrating because people have unrealistic expectations on how long it should take.

 

[Andy Sager]

I'll add to Aiken's response that using fish food to cycle a tank is 1) Messy 2) inconsistent and 3) can make the tank smell. While people do do it that way, you need to know it's complexities so not everyone will get the same results in the same amount of time.
The speed of "cycling" a tank will be most dependent on your water's pH, temperature and alkalinity. The ideal ranges for cycling are:
Temperature: 77-86 F (25-30 C)
pH: 7.3-8.0; nitrification is completely inhibited below pH 5.0
Alkalinity (KH): minimum 4.5 dKH or 80.5 ppm KH
Phosphate: above 0 ppm

If your water is outside of these parameters, the cycling process will be slower ( or in a case of pH under 5.0 non existent. )

And just to give you a visual of what the cycling process looks like in graph form: You see how everything does not happen at one time. You need A to get B and you need B to get C. You can't get C just from A, you NEED B.
So while you are deciding which method of cycling you prefer, keep in mind that both ways have their benefits and their deficits. Back when I first started keeping fish, we only did fish-in cycling. You had to choose hardy fish for this or you would lose them but at least you were looking at fish during the process. With the fishless cycling, you are adding enough ammonia that will create a microbe bed ( a.k.a. Biological filter bed) that can handle an ammonia level most likely larger than what you will have in the tank. With decaying food, you don't know how much of a filter bed you are creating.

As for the ornament you linked, it will probably be too large for a tank that small so I would choose something smaller. As for the oxygenation, it will depend on the amount of bubbles your air pump is producing and how many fish you have in the tank.

 

[georginaisle]

Im not going to lie,so much more to know than i initially realized.

 

[georginaisle]

Im starting to understand a bit though...
Im a grower so i know all about ph!can i used the same ph down or up that i use for growing?its called rootfarm.
Also,i think im going go add live plants to help cycling,do i need soil underneath the pebbles?

 

[georginaisle]

Is there an alkilinity tester?

 

[Andy Sager]

Im not going to lie,so much more to know than i initially realized.

I'm sure it is. There is a lot to know if you want to keep any animal alive. Fish can be tough because they can't tell you when something is wrong like a cat or dog can. It's about testing and noticing things like abnormal behaviors and incompatibilities. Over the years I collected piles of books about fish keeping because there was always something new being discovered.

Im starting to understand a bit though...
Im a grower so i know all about ph!can i used the same ph down or up that i use for growing?its called rootfarm.
Also,i think im going go add live plants to help cycling,do i need soil underneath the pebbles?

The common pH reagents are either Bromothymol Blue or Phenal red. If your test kit does not use these reagents, I wouldn't use it for the fish water as it may not be as specific. As for adjusting pH, it's a lot easier on you and the fish if you get fish that like your water's parameters vs trying to change the pH to meet a fish's needs so no need for pH up or down.
Live plants do not really help with cycling. In fact, you are technically polluting the water than letting it clean itself making it safer for the fish so not all plants will handle this cycling period.

Is there an alkilinity tester?

Yes there is. Fritz Aquatics and API make a General Hardness (GH) and Carbonate hardness ( KH ) kit. The KH test tests alkalinity.

 

[georginaisle]

I would really like to thank you all for posting such detailed answers.i super appreciate it!!

 

[georginaisle]

Im not going anywhere,this is a challenge now and i never shy away from a challenge.....im all in here

 

[georginaisle]

My biggest mistake was not coming here first brfore i bought everything.im going to see if i can ship the 5 gallon tank kit back and get a 10 gallon tank

 

[georginaisle]

---

---

One last thing tonight,i have bought these items,the kit comes with a conditioner,what else do i need?i wont go with live plants,i have a box of fake plants.i guess i need a thermometer too

 

[georginaisle]

I know to rinse everything thoroughly before putting in the tank

 

[Aiken Drum]

Is there an alkilinity tester?

Your test strips have an alkalinity test on there. But they dont have an ammonia test, which is the most important test to have when cycling an aquarium. So I would get a decent liquid test kit that measures for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as a minimum.

I think we have covered what you need as a minimum.

I would have a think about what you are planning to keep. As said your aquarium size is ideal for a single male betta. Bettas have really long flowing fins that tend to catch and tear, so you need to aquascape with that in mind if you are keeping bettas to avoid anything with sharp edges etc. I don't think those artificial plants would suit a betta.

You also should think about how you plan on cycling the aquarium. If you are going down the fishless route you will need an ammonia source like Dr Tims Ammonium Chloride. If you are going down the fish in route, you will need a net and fish food.

 

[georginaisle]

I was planning to have 5 chili raspores, or 5-7 Celestial Pearl Danios a cherry shrimp and a couple snails

 

[Aiken Drum]

I wouldn't put those fish in less than 10g. 5g doesn't give enough space for those fish to swim about, and the water volume is too low to support a sufficient sized group of schooling fish.

The shrimp would be OK in a shrimp only aquarium once it's properly established.

 

[georginaisle]

I read many times that those fish do well in a 5 gallon tank.i want them because i read they thrive in smaller tanks says the articles.
Well then what do you suggest?