Buying A 10 Gallon Tank Help! (Top Fin 10 Gallon)

[thezodiac]

hey guys i previously had 2 3 gallon tanks and ive decided that id rather have a 10 gallon tank. (cant go large due to weight restriction)

im a student on a budget so im thinking ill buy this one: http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3804453&lmdn=Fish+Aquariums+%26amp%3B+Bowls

i already have a heater, thermometer, and nutrafin cycle (so i can try a fishless cycle), gravel, and an air pump/stone (as well as decorations and grave)


now, what should i replace/buy for this tank (i can buy from either petco or petsmart)

which filter should i buy for this tank?

should i replace the light bulb it comes with ?
also does gravel color matter?

i tend to use black but i think ive heard certain colors make the fish look better/worse?

is there anything else i need ?


also have no idea what kind of fish i want to stock other then tropical, considering a betta and guppies possibly? and recommendations?

thanks in advance!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

hey guys i previously had 2 3 gallon tanks and ive decided that id rather have a 10 gallon tank. (cant go large due to weight restriction)

im a student on a budget so im thinking ill buy this one: http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3804453&lmdn=Fish+Aquariums+%26amp%3B+Bowls

i already have a heater, thermometer, and nutrafin cycle (so i can try a fishless cycle), gravel, and an air pump/stone (as well as decorations and grave)


now, what should i replace/buy for this tank (i can buy from either petco or petsmart)

which filter should i buy for this tank?

should i replace the light bulb it comes with ?
also does gravel color matter?

i tend to use black but i think ive heard certain colors make the fish look better/worse?

is there anything else i need ?


also have no idea what kind of fish i want to stock other then tropical, considering a betta and guppies possibly? and recommendations?

thanks in advance!

Don't do a betta with guppies! Bettas don't like other tank mates that look anything like them. The large colorful tails of the guppies can cause a lot of aggression, especially in a small tank.

 

[Randi]

I have black gravel in a 20 gal because I liked the look of it. Unfortunately, it always looks filthy. Tiny bit of fish flakes, poo, it shows everything! I have to vacuum twice a week to keep it looking passable. Other than that, the light it comes with is fine unless you are going to have plants with special requirements. Ditch the Nutrafin Cycle, it doesn't work. Instead cycle with pure ammonia. Bettas and guppies are both lovely fish, but you can't keep them together so you'll have to decide which you like better. Either can be kept with a few small tetras. Also, before you buy the tank go to PetCo and ask when they are having their '$1 per gallon' tank sale. It should be coming up soon.

 

[Jenste]

sorry but tetras are a very nippy species and should not be kept with long finned fish like bettas or guppies due to the fact that they tear the fins which can lead to infections

 

[Randi]

guess it depends, my betta lives with neon tetras just fine and I have kept guppies with both serpae and glolight tetras
A betta with serpaes however (something I tried when I thought Burt would like to live in the 20 gal) did not work out at all.

 

[algir]

I have an AquaClear 20 in my 10 gallon and I love it. It's a great, yet affordable filter!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

guess it depends, my betta lives with neon tetras just fine and I have kept guppies with both serpae and glolight tetras
A betta with serpaes however (something I tried when I thought Burt would like to live in the 20 gal) did not work out at all.

Not all fish are the same, even in the same group. Some tetras are very peaceful: neons, cardinals, etc. While others are not: serpaes, for example. The same goes for barbs... cherry barbs are peaceful, tiger barbs are not, etc.


The recommendation for zodiac is to do as much research as possible about all fish combinations before putting them together... Next, you add the most peaceful first, and let them get a little bigger than the purchase, and acclimate to the tank (find the necessary hiding spots, etc), and add the most aggressive last, when they are smaller or about the same size as the most peaceful.

 

[thezodiac]

hey guys ill likely be giving my old acquariums to a friend, meaning this one i can pick any variation of fish i want. (the only reason i mentioned a betta is because i really dig how the red and white ones look)

http/ebetta.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/betta_filter_tank_red_butterfly2.jpg

like this one specifically.

anyways as of right now i really need recommendations for which filter to buy, if i should replace the bulb, and if gravel color matter?

(going to buy these things today)

also thinking ill pick up some pure ammonia for my fishless cycle

once the tanks cycled i can worry about which fish i want exactly =)

 

[thezodiac]

I have black gravel in a 20 gal because I liked the look of it. Unfortunately, it always looks filthy. Tiny bit of fish flakes, poo, it shows everything! I have to vacuum twice a week to keep it looking passable. Other than that, the light it comes with is fine unless you are going to have plants with special requirements. Ditch the Nutrafin Cycle, it doesn't work. Instead cycle with pure ammonia. Bettas and guppies are both lovely fish, but you can't keep them together so you'll have to decide which you like better. Either can be kept with a few small tetras. Also, before you buy the tank go to PetCo and ask when they are having their '$1 per gallon' tank sale. It should be coming up soon.

in regards to pure ammonia cycling what is the fastest way to do this ? also i could use specifics such as how much should i add to my 10 gallon tank? as well as how frequently

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I have black gravel in a 20 gal because I liked the look of it. Unfortunately, it always looks filthy. Tiny bit of fish flakes, poo, it shows everything! I have to vacuum twice a week to keep it looking passable. Other than that, the light it comes with is fine unless you are going to have plants with special requirements. Ditch the Nutrafin Cycle, it doesn't work. Instead cycle with pure ammonia. Bettas and guppies are both lovely fish, but you can't keep them together so you'll have to decide which you like better. Either can be kept with a few small tetras. Also, before you buy the tank go to PetCo and ask when they are having their '$1 per gallon' tank sale. It should be coming up soon.

in regards to pure ammonia cycling what is the fastest way to do this ? also i could use specifics such as how much should i add to my 10 gallon tank? as well as how frequently

The only proven way to speed the process up is by using mature filter media. You could rinse out an established filter in your tank with your new filter running, or you could add some filter media from an established filter to your new filter.

Other options with much less reliability is adding old water from a tank (there isn't much, if any of the required bacteria in that), old substrate from an established tank (again, less bacteria, unless it is an undergravel filter, in which case it is really a sample of the filter media, as described above), or finally you could try using a bacteria in a bottle option, but there is a lot of negativity about that actually working. I am on Day 4 of a cycle that way, and my tank is no where near cycled yet...

Specifics for the amount of ammonia to add. I used 1.5 mL for my 10 gallon tank. I used 10% ammonium hydroxide (janitorial strength ammonia, with no surfactants from Ace Hardware). There is also a calculator here.

 

[thezodiac]

I have black gravel in a 20 gal because I liked the look of it. Unfortunately, it always looks filthy. Tiny bit of fish flakes, poo, it shows everything! I have to vacuum twice a week to keep it looking passable. Other than that, the light it comes with is fine unless you are going to have plants with special requirements. Ditch the Nutrafin Cycle, it doesn't work. Instead cycle with pure ammonia. Bettas and guppies are both lovely fish, but you can't keep them together so you'll have to decide which you like better. Either can be kept with a few small tetras. Also, before you buy the tank go to PetCo and ask when they are having their '$1 per gallon' tank sale. It should be coming up soon.

in regards to pure ammonia cycling what is the fastest way to do this ? also i could use specifics such as how much should i add to my 10 gallon tank? as well as how frequently

The only proven way to speed the process up is by using mature filter media. You could rinse out an established filter in your tank with your new filter running, or you could add some filter media from an established filter to your new filter.

Other options with much less reliability is adding old water from a tank (there isn't much, if any of the required bacteria in that), old substrate from an established tank (again, less bacteria, unless it is an undergravel filter, in which case it is really a sample of the filter media, as described above), or finally you could try using a bacteria in a bottle option, but there is a lot of negativity about that actually working. I am on Day 4 of a cycle that way, and my tank is no where near cycled yet...

Specifics for the amount of ammonia to add. I used 1.5 mL for my 10 gallon tank. I used 10% ammonium hydroxide (janitorial strength ammonia, with no surfactants from Ace Hardware). There is also a calculator here.

thanks that link is very helpful. btw what did you use to measure out your ammonia? & what kind of store can you buy one at

 

[StandbySetting]

You can use pipettes or small syringes, you can get them from pharmacies.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

thanks that link is very helpful. btw what did you use to measure out your ammonia? & what kind of store can you buy one at

You can use pipettes or small syringes, you can get them from pharmacies.

+1
I got a small medicine syringe, at a local pharmacy - less than a dollar. It also comes in handy for measuring out the water for all the tests. Trying to fill the tube by dunking it into the water and pouring out excess is a real pain. But, (after rinsing well of course) - using the syringe to pull water out of the tank and then added to the test tube allows for drip by drip control to ensure that the level is correct with a lot less hassle. A quality investment for only a dollar.

(one other tip I've seen is that you can add only 2.5mL to a test tube - and use half the number of drops and the reagent in the test kits will last about twice as long. The same can work with other tests where you use 5 drops. You can measure out 3 mL, instead of 5 mL, and use 3 drops of reagent instead of 5 (like the pH test) and get identical results. I would suggest you verify this by doing the test both ways a few times to make sure you are doing it correctly to get accurate results.)

 

[thezodiac]

okay guys new acquarium is setup and running. air stones currently off because it was creating wayy too much current for my guppies.

moved my 3 guppies and apple snail over. betta is still in his 3 gallon. im considering putting him in too but im worried about fighting between them ?

good idea/ bad idea?

going to try using cycle and hope for the best

 

[thezodiac]

hey guys i just had what i think is a mini mystery snail appear in my new tank. im now thinking that my mystery snail was female (and got pregnant at petco before i bought it).

however ive heard of some kinda mini snails appear in tanks that are a plague, how do i know if its that or an apple snail baby?