[kensrt]

Hey guys I'm not new to fish it's just been a while since I had some. I used to have a saltwater tank a few years back. My girlfriends family moved and she gave me a couple of their freshwater fish.
I have them sitting in a bucket right now and I want to put them into a 10g tank I have here. I bought some rocks yesterday and I just need to know what to fill the tank with. Someone told me distilled water, is that ok? Sorry for the long post, I appreciate your help. Thanks.
-Ken

 

[Lupin]

Hi and welcome,

Distilled water is ok but it has low GH(General Hardness). Only fish thriving in soft water can live to that. With 10 gallons tank, you will have to stick with a pair of apistogrammas or a small shoal of tetras and pygmy cories. Distilled water is also very expensive as you'll be doing water changes frequently depending on the stocking level of your tank.

 

[jsm11482]

I think if you post what kind of fish they are, someone (not me) will give you the details you need!

 

[kensrt]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I already have the fish here. There are eight of them and very small. The biggest one is 2" max, and the rest are tiny. I don't really know what species they are except one, and I believe it's called a neon. What happened is I took the fish from her tank and drove them to my house in a bucket with water from there. She also gave me an air pump. At my house I have an empy 10g tank. So what should I do?

 

[Lupin]

Now you'll be experiencing New Tank Syndrome. Pls try to buy a test kit and pure ammonia. There's a sticky on fishless cycling.
The point there is producing stable conditions and bacteria.
Tetras won't last long when introduced in the early stages of a newly setup tank.

 

[kensrt]

Now you'll be experiencing New Tank Syndrome. Pls try to buy a test kit and pure ammonia. There's a sticky on fishless cycling.
The point there is producing stable conditions and bacteria.
Tetras won't last long when introduced in the early stages of a newly setup tank.

Ok I'll check that out tmrw. I'll stop by Pet Supermarket or something and get the supplies. Will they be ok in the bucket until the tank is ready though?

 

[Lupin]

They will. Just try to aerate the bucket with an airpump but not too vigorous. And try limiting the food supply for awhile otherwise the ammonia will easily increased thus killing your fish. Better yet, don't feed them until you set up the tank.

 

[kensrt]

They will. Just try to aerate the bucket with an airpump but not too vigorous. And try limiting the food supply for awhile otherwise the ammonia will easily increased thus killing your fish. Better yet, don't feed them until you set up the tank.

I just finished reading the fishless cycling sticky and I'm going tonight to get a test kit. After I set up my tank what kind of water should I fill it with?

 

[Lupin]

Tap water is ok but you need to dechlorinate it in case it has chlorine and other heavy metals.