Bought A 10g Tank And Have Questions

[discodave]

Howdy folks! Im rather new to this fishy business as i used to have a fish tank when i was younger but my dad did most of the dealings with maintaining the tank! Anyway i have a few questions and would love if you could help me answer them

First of all here is my 10g tank



I bought the tank last week (Tuesday) and have bought several products:

Ph Master Test kit
Water Conditioner
Stress zyme biological filtration booster < i read somewhere this stuff is useless?
water (just kidding)

On the tuesday i added the gravel, water etc generally setting up the tank and on tuesday i added the water conditioner and on saturday i added the biological filtration booster stuff. The Tank has constantly been on too (if that helps)

Ookay now i've read quite a bit of stuff on the forums about cycling tanks n stuff. In order to cycle a tank before i put fish in it i need to put pura ammonia into the tank? i'm just wondering how that will work with the tank being on for almost a week and having used those products.

I've researched all the fish i want in my tank( plenty useful info on the forum!) :

German Blue Ram
Gourami
Endlers live bearers
Delta Guppy
Mickey mouse Platy
Tiger Sword Tail
Dwarf puffer(v cute )
albino plec
Betta(don't think it's gonna be compatible with these fish )

Lol at the pet shop they said just introduce neon tetra after the first week, i hope they don't mean just put neons in cos they are disposable

The fish i have in this list i know i'm not gonna be able to fit them all in lol, however when would i be able to introduce them to the tank? LFS gave some confusing advice and i don't know who to trust now!

Please help this wittle n00b *kisses*

 

[Maxta]

Please do a fishless cycle, itl benefit you and your tank/fish alot.

Heres the ins and outs of fishless cycling: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355

And heres a step by step guide: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861


The major benefits of doing this are that instead of gradually building up your fish, like a few each week, you can add them mostly all at once when youve done a fishless cycle. Plus you wont be wasting money on fish, because if you use your fish to cycle your tank youre probably guaranteed to have some casualties.

Im not an expert here, rather the opposite, but iv just started cycling right now.

 

[cardinal sinner]

Remember the rule is usually 1 inch fish per gal. The dwarf puffer would not do well with the other fish you have put down The betta certainly wouldn't I have a 10 gal tank in there i have 5 male guppies n 4 aquatic frogs I do a 50% water change every week

 

[Zeoth]

try Honey Gouramis

 

[discodave]

Maxta: I think i'll try this cycling out then. Pain in the arse i didn't do this earlier >_< Isn't this ammonia quite hard to find though? It needs to be unscented and comes around at 9.5% or something?

cardinal sinner: Aww i wanted a wee puffer Doesn't bother me too much, didn't like the prospect of having to feed it a snail all the tiem cos of it's teeth

Zeoth: honey gouramis are a great idea i checked out the variety of gouramis and i'm surprised lol

 

[Maxta]

Well someone told me Boots, so i went there today and found some., only £1.75 a bottle.

The process is pretty mindbending at first when youre a beginner like me, but im coming to terms with it. Im busy adding my first dose of ammonia as we speak, the stuff stinks, im still trying to get my levels upto 5/6 lol, im getting there gradually, 0.25 to 1.0 so far, added another 4 drops so im hoping that lifts the levels up higher, then im done for the day.

The API Freshwater Master Kit is the more expensive item however at £17.99, i didnt really want to pay that price as im tight on money, but i thought i ought to as its fair on my fish - and the fact that if i didnt cycle, il probably waste as much money on buying fish which will die because i havent cycled, then replacing them.

 

[discodave]

Cool, i'll check out Boots in Glasgow tomorrow I heard B&Q/homebase also do it.Seemingly ammonia is harmful to the skin and stuff, be careful

Lol starting up my tank kit has been expensive! One store was charging 23quid for the api master kit! I got mine for 17.99 too. Never cycled before and that would expain why plenty of my fish at the start died when i was younger!

cardinal sinner: damn you i'm looking up african dwarf frogs now I wonder how compatible they would be with the fish i want?

 

[Zeoth]

theres a post in this forum that has recommended fish for ten gallon tanks. You should try it out!

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=116208