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New member & first timer

3K views 26 replies 9 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Hello all!

I am a 20 year old college student.
This is my first time being here on this forum, and my first time owning a freshwater tank. I've been reading all these forums and I wanted to try it out as a hobby. Interested in doing this and I'm excited to get started.
This being my first time, I am starting out with a 10 gallon tank (freshwater).
The tank is being set up currently. Gravel, filter, heater, conditioning the water.
No real plants (wanted to get it, but this is going to be my 'test run' before buying real ones w/ substrate)
I also have not purchased fish yet, but i will in a couple of days after the set up is complete.
I was thinking of starting out with platy and pleco, and MAYBE neon tetras.

Any suggestions on what else to do...and for the fish? Would be GREATLY appreciated... I'm just ready to get this going lol so I can be more comfortable handling it.
Going to get a pH test kit tomorrow.

I will post pictures of the progress of my tank setup, etc when I can.

THANKS! :)
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Hello,

I am quite new to tropical fish keeping too. There is so much to learn. Pleco would be one of the last to put in in a more mature tanks as they are quite sensitive to water parameters and they need a good supply of algea to eat they tend not to eat the wafers till they settle in so you will pro
bably be looking at at least a 6 month min set up first. The neons are not very hardy as first fist ether. Platy would be a good choice in my opinion though. The plants would be a good idea to start with so you can get the tank right before you get the fish. With live plants I would suggest a substrate suitable as a medium to grow in under the gravel too. Once the water has
cycled ( fishless) the most info i can find suggests food or ammonia them the fish. If you decide to do it with fish def get a the hardiest ones you can find not neons or pleco they def won't be happy.
Hope this helps. Nice to meet you.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#4 ·
Welcome! Glad you found this forum. I would actually get live plants, as you can actually stock fish right away if you have enough plants. The true question though is how many live plants you need....but once you start, you can't get enough. A couple of good intro plants: Anacharis are extremely efficient ammonia eaters, and plus they grow really fast. Anubis plants look very nice, and don't require that much maintenance as well. Finally, java ferns are nice as they don't need to be buried in substrate. Actually, all 3 plant species I mentioned prefer not to be buried, so you can actually have them floating around, or anchor them/tie them down to driftwood or rocks. The anacharis CAN be buried so its a bit more neat and organized, but its not needed.

I would get the API liquid master test kit, as this will be one of your most important tools in keeping your aquarium and fish healthy. Testing ammonia and nitrite levels are super important, as both are toxic to your fish if present in any way. Nitrates aren't as bad, but you don't want them to go overboard in your tank. pH levels are also important, as certain fish have certain tolerances from acidic to basic levels.

If you don't want to add fish right away, and want to establish your tank's bacterial colonies first, I would use the fish-less cycle. This cycle is basically growing bacteria that'll eat the ammonia and nitrite, which is really important as this gets rid of those toxins. How it goes is ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate. It takes a while, 4-6 weeks, but there are ways. To help speed up the process, I would get some pure ammonia *can be bought at ace hardware, the janitorial strength* some tetra safestart *petsmarts SHOULD start to carry this in stock now* or sea chem stability. Some people have their opinions on those 2 products, some saying it works wonders, other saying its a waste of money. However, general consensus is if you have it on hand, it won't hurt to use. You would dose your tank with pure ammonia, around 1-1.5 mL *I'm currently cycling my 12 gallon, so if you want to see pictures and my log, you can check out those threads* However, this is where the API liquid test kit comes into play. When dosing, you want to make sure you dose between 3-5 ppm worth of ammonia, so depending on your tank, even 1 mL can be too much. 3-4 ppm is actually the magic number.

I think this covers the basics, and if you have anymore questions, just let us know! Here are the links to the threads

[http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/12-gallon-cycle-time-line-69144/

and here's my setup.

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/finally-set-up-my-12-gallon-68677/
 
#5 ·
Welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum. Glad you found us and joined.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, I would ask about your water parameters (tap water). Hardness and pH are important [you can find this out from the water supply folks]. This may determine fish that will be best, as some have preferences for health.

Also, some tap water contains ammonia, nitrite and/or nitrate, so it is good to know this beforehand in order to deal with it.

I certainly agree on having live plants from day one. We can go more into that later.

Byron.
 
#6 ·
Thanks everyone and nice to meet you all!

I bought the API master test kit, which test for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

I did the first test of the water today (after water was conditioned last night). I have not adjusted anything.

Temp is 78 degrees
pH comes out to 7.6+ (which is a bit high I assume)
Ammonia .25 ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm

Is there a way i could lower the pH level? Would this affect the fish/plant.

Tomorrow I will be purchasing substrate and Anacharis plant. driftwood also. so, once I get them I will do the tank set up again and do the test kit again with the substrate, plants, and wood in?

Once everything is stable I will get platy and danios as my first fish! :-D
 
#8 ·
I bought the API master test kit, which test for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

I did the first test of the water today (after water was conditioned last night). I have not adjusted anything.

Temp is 78 degrees
pH comes out to 7.6+ (which is a bit high I assume)
Ammonia .25 ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm
Good test kit, very reliable. This is the tank water readings, and as i see ammonia, presumably it is in the tap water. You should test just the tap water on its own for ammonia to confirm. Not really an issue, there are ways to handle this that i can explain if it is in the tap water.

Is there a way i could lower the pH level? Would this affect the fish/plant.
Adjusting pH is not that easy, nor is it usually necessary. While some fish do need certain water parameters, others are adaptable within a general range. Livebearers (like the platy mentioned) require hard basic water, which you seem to have. Danio would be fine in this too, except for other reasons i'll come to. So adjustment is not recommended. I won't bog this down with science behind hardness/pH since I think you're fine as is.

Tomorrow I will be purchasing substrate and Anacharis plant. driftwood also. so, once I get them I will do the tank set up again and do the test kit again with the substrate, plants, and wood in?
You won't need retesting until you have a fish. Once there is a fish in the tank, you will want to monitor ammonia daily, then nitrite. This is the cycling phase, and you can find more info here in this "sticky":
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...inners-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle-38617/

Once everything is stable I will get Platy and danios as my first fish!
Danio are active swimming fish, and must be kept in groups. A 10g is going to limit this, and I would not recommend danio. You can read more about this in our profiles, of for example the Zebra Danio, one of the most common danio available. Click on the shaded name to see the fish's profile; all the profiles are under the second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top of the page. We have many fish included, and info on tank size, numbers, water requirements, compatibility are included for each.

Libebearers will work, esp in your basic water. Platy, molly, guppy, swordtail. Though the space limits too many. And remember, if you have male and female you will very quickly have fry, hundreds, and many will easily survive.

Byron.
 
#9 ·
Come on I thought someone would say something! A pelaco in a 10 gal. tank dosn't scream NO to you they get big and even a small one would be uncomfurtable and they have HUGE bio loads so they would need a HUGE filter. And welcome to TFK.
 
#10 ·
Come on I thought someone would say something! A pelaco in a 10 gal. tank dosn't scream NO to you they get big and even a small one would be uncomfurtable and they have HUGE bio loads so they would need a HUGE filter. And welcome to TFK.
Quite right. I'm afraid I made an assumption--always risky--that we were down to platy and danio now.:roll:

Byron.
 
#13 ·
Okay so I bought the substrate, driftwood and Anacharis plants. did another set up then conditioned the water. Everything is back on.

I did an ammonia test for the tap water only without conditioner, ammonia level came out to .5ppm. I aslo tested the hardiness of it, and it's pretty hard. Between 150 to 300ppm. This is WITHOUT the tap-water conditioner.

I have a question though, should i get a small tank (5 gal?) as a quarantine tank before I put the fish in the original tank. Or could I do it with the fish inside the bag, and have it float in the tank for a while before setting the fish free?

this is a picture of the set up so far, i'd probably get a few more plants soon. The store didn't have much of "good" Anacharis left.
And then I'll be able to know what kind of setup I want lol

Temp is currently at 78 degrees.

How's everything looking so far?

 
#16 · (Edited)
On the ammonia: this must be in your tap water. Have you tested just the tap water on its own? If ammonia is present, I would recommend a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia as well as chlorine and chloramine. Not all do, check the label.

On the quarantine: once you have an established aquarium, quarantining new fish is wise. But in the initial setup with the first fish, I myself wouldn't bother, since this is a smallish tank and there is nothing in it yet fish-wise.

As mentioned by others, float the bag for several minutes (15-30) to even the temperature; sudden temp changes can severely shock and stress fish, so this slowly gets the bag water to the temp of the tank. Then open the bag, being careful not to let water out into the tank; if the bag is quite full, I remove some of the water and discard it. Then use a small cup or something similar to add some water from the aquarium into the bag, maybe a cupful. Wait 10-15 minutes. With hardy fish this is usually sufficient, but with sensitive species I repeat this step, sometimes twice more. When ready, use a small fishnet to transfer the fish.

You will need more plants first, to handle the initial ammonia from the fish. If not, another way to "seed" bacteria is with a good bacterial supplement. There are two I know of that work. Seachem's Stability and Tetra's SafeStart. A small bottle of either will be sufficient. These products contain live bacteria to jumpstart the colony.
 
#18 ·
On the ammonia: this must be in your tap water. Have you tested just the tap water on its own? If ammonia is present, I would recommend a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia as well as chlorine and chloramine. Not all do, check the label.
I tested just the tap water on its own yesterday. Ammonia level came out to .5 ppm

I just bought a new water conditioner which is API tap water conditioner (removes chlorine and detoxify chloramines and heavy metals) which i added to the water last night for the 2nd set up. Ammonia level is at .25 ppm just like it was with the first set up.

I'm guessing I would need another water conditioner or is this fine and the plants will take care of this?

What kind of light is in that hood? It looks extremely blue to me.
This is a white florescent bulb. 8,000k full spectrum daylight 15w
 
#17 · (Edited)
What kind of light is in that hood? It looks extremely blue to me.

One of the most fool-proof methods of cycling is the shrimp method... Basically, you get a small shrimp (from the seafood department of a grocery store), place it in a piece of pantyhose or mesh, and hang it beside your filter. IT will decompose, creating ammonia. Seems a lot better than buying a huge bottle of ammonia and dosing daily... If you have a shrimp in the tank you can pretty much ignore it, and just test the water every week or so.

In my opinion, a Bristlenose pleco is do-able in a 10 gallon since they stay small. If you just want something active on the bottom though, cories or shrimp would be better.

Since you have basic water, rather than neons, I would try to find celestial pearl danio.
It may be listed as Celestichthys margaritatus or Danio margaritatus. They are very beautiful fish, and fairly hardy. (compared to neons.)
 
#21 ·
In my opinion, a Bristlenose pleco is do-able in a 10 gallon since they stay small. If you just want something active on the bottom though, cories or shrimp would be better.
Wouldnt cories take up a lot of the availability since you need a group of them? unless you can find one of the dwarf kinds, which are so awesome. and can keep the water in great condition

Id recommend ghost shrimp, they are cool to watch eat cause you can see the food go in them and their stomachs moving and they are only like 30 cents.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Added a few Anubias and anacharis to the tank today.

Temp is at 82 degrees

I'm going to go ahead with the fishless cycle using shrimp. Which I will begin tomorrow.
From what I read, this will help provide a steady flow of ammonia.
Would i be able to "seed" bacteria with bacteria supplement bottle with this cycling method to help kick start the bacteria colony?

How long does the cycling usually take? And what about the pwc i'd have to do after it is completed.

Tank so far, still trying to figure out what kind of set up I want lol

 
#23 ·
Hey all who have been posting on my thread... I haven't been on here for a few days. I've been really busy with work and school. I still have not cycled my tank.
I looked at my tank the other day and discovered baby snails!
I'm not too sure on what to do with them... I heard they aren't good.
How can I get rid of them?
 
#25 · (Edited)
Small snails (pond, bladder or esp Malaysian Livebearing) are one of your best friends in any aquarium. They perform cleaning work you can't even begin to match, getting into places you can't; and with the Malaysian, burrowing through the substrate keeping it loose and a good site for bacteria.

Organic matter occurs as particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Heterotrophic bacteria feed on this, but find DOC more easily digested. Snails work to break up the POC into smaller bits, thus assisting in and speeding up the decomposition process.
 
#27 ·
They're either pond or bladder, can't tell from the photo. Doesn't matter anyway, I can't tell them apart in my tanks:roll:. They're good though, whichever.
 
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