Getting New Tank Ready For Cory Catfish Betta And Shrimp!

[scrat333]

Hi everyone, I am hoping you can help me out.

I have a 10 gallon tank with a heater that keeps the water at 78 degrees, an LED light, low flow filter, plastic plants (had real ones in there before but worried about lighting not suitable and it decomposing or something), and hidey hole ornaments. The bottom is big smooth pebbles on one side, and smaller smooth gravel on the other, though I am going to get some sand to put in an area too for the catfish hopefully.

I have tried to keep bettas in there before, but they got sick within a week and died, despite following all the instructions I was given at the pet store, so have decided not to trust them and try again and take more care...as feel terrible.

So I am planning on rinsing out the tank and everything in it with boiling water, and cleaning it with vinegar as I have been told this will disinfect incase the bettas had any illness, but not harm the fish as long as rinse it out properly. Then I am going to fill the tank up with tap water, let it heat up to the suitable temperature. However I would like advice on how to treat the water. Previously I have added stuff to make tank water safe for bettas. However since they died I am not sure whether that is good enough. I was told to add the stuff and leave it overnight before putting the fish in and it would be fine. But on the internet advice ranges from 24hrs to around a week. This time I am going to buy a water testing kit (though can't afford an expensive one...any advice?) to make sure things are alright, but I do not know whether it is better to add the water conditioner for bettas, or just leave the water for a week, or add something else instead? Like, will water conditioner for bettas be safe for albino cory catfish and ghost shrimp? which are the other fish I wish to add in there...I have tried searching the internet, and found lots of people keep them together happily but no-one mentions how they set the tank up in the first place.

Once the tank is set up and the water is sorted, can I add the fish at the same time, or should I put the betta in first, or the catfish, or the ghost shrimp...?I have read that it is better to put the shrimp and catfish in first as then the betta will be less territorial, but I have also read that you cannot put the catfish into a new tank, that it has to have had fish in it for quite a long time already before you put them in...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...I really do want to do the best by my fish, and do not want any more to die on me, but trying to find out the information is very hard and I cannot trust the people in the pet store!!

 

[Binge]

Do a search on the forum about cycleing your tank they have lots of guides that will help you out. I have learned loads since I found the forum.

 

[Randi]

There is no way to make your tank instantly suitable for fish, you must cycle it and the only chemical you should ever need is a dechlorinator. Letting a tank sit is not the same as cycling it. Here is some info on cycling a tank: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/
While there is no harm in cleaning out your tank, you bettas most likely died from poor water quality (ammonia poisoning). There are not many fish diseases that don't show outward signs of infection. The most important thing for you to do is to get a good water test kit. I know you say you can't afford an expensive one but consider this: You can spend about $10 for a pack of 20 strips or less than $30 for an API master kit that does 130 of each test. The liquid kit is the better value (especially since you will be doing a lot of testing during cycling), and FAR more reliable.
Good Luck!

 

[fluttermoth]

+1 for Randi's advice.

It's almost 100% certain that it will have been ammonia poisoning that killed your fish. You could do either a fish-in cycle or a fishless cycle to grow the good bacteria you need to digest the ammonia for you.

There are some really good articles on both methods in the beginner's resource centre (link is in my sig).

Try not to feel too bad; loads of people here have been given bad advice from their fish shops.

A good liquid reagent test kit (one with bottles or tablets and test tubes) is really well worth the money; I have 4 or 5 tanks running at any one time and my API master kit has lasted me well over 18 months. Or you could buy one for ammonia this week, one for nitrite next week and one for nitrate the week after.

 

[Humanist]

I am planning on rinsing out the tank and everything in it with boiling water

I wouldn't pour boiling water into an empty tank if I were you! CRACK!

 

[scrat333]

Thanks for your help everyone. Wow it is a lot more complicated that most people realise, I feel stupid...I had lots of tropical fish when I was younger, but my parents set up the tank so I had no idea it was that complicated.....how do all these Bettas that just get bought and put into bowls survive so long?! I guess I will try doing a fishless cycle and get a test kit then. Still a bit overwhelmed by all the different things to measure but hopefully will figure it out.

Does anyone have some advice once the tank is cycled and ready? As to who I should add first? And how long inbetween? Can corys even go into a new tank?

Thanks!!

 

[fluttermoth]

It probably wasn't as complicated years ago; there's a combination of two things going on, IMHO.

One is that we keep many more varieties of fish now; some of which are more delicate than the ones we had years ago; and of those fish, many are commercially bred without much care being given to choosing good, healthy stock. This means that fish, in gerneral, are not as hardy as they were.

The second factor is our water; it's far more highly treated, chlorinated and generally disinfected now, so it's more difficult and takes longer to grow those all important nitrifying bacteria now than it used to be.

Bettas are quite tough fish; but I'd bet you anything that most of them die within the first few days...

Once your tank is cycled it won't really matter which fish go in first. Corys are fine in new tanks, as long as the filter and water are alright

 

[scrat333]

Thats great, thankyou so much for your help! I will start the cycling this weekend, and probably be back with more questions haha.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Scrat.
It really is not all that complicated. Once you have a mature filter, it can be readily cloned to set up the next tank. Only the first filter becoming mature enough to support the biological load of fish can be a bit complicated. Even that is simple if you realize that you will keep an empty tank for about 6 weeks to go through the process using some pure ammonia and do your testing along the way and that after that first pass each new tank will be a breeze.