Hello, New Tff Member..

[BedoyaD94]

I was researching about the "Bacteria Bloom" since I'm a newbie to tropical fish aquariums and i found a few topics with a lot of useful information in these forums. The community seemed pretty helpful and friendly so I decided to sign up an account.
 
So saying hello from sunny South Florida
 
My name is Diego and I have a 10 gal tropical fish aquarium with quite some interesting fish! 
 
This is my FISH TANK.
 
http/instagram.com/p/XDHI8zvDN7/

 

[techen]

Welcome to TFF, May I stay by saying what you have in the tank?

 

[BedoyaD94]

A few betta fish (female), comet gold fish, goupys, GloFish, swordtail fish

 

[This Old Spouse]

 
It's a nice clean tank, with healthy looking fish. Not to be negative, but I do want to say that goldfish are cold water fish, and the temp you need in your tank to maintain your other fish is too warm for them. They also can grow to be 14 inches long, so won't do in your small tank. Best to rehome him, and in Florida, the good news is that surely there is someone with a pond who'd probably love to have him.
 
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?

 

[BedoyaD94]

 
It's a nice clean tank, with healthy looking fish. Not to be negative, but I do want to say that goldfish are cold water fish, and the temp you need in your tank to maintain your other fish is too warm for them. They also can grow to be 14 inches long, so won't do in your small tank. Best to rehome him, and in Florida, the good news is that surely there is someone with a pond who'd probably love to have him.
 
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?

Well my brother has a 55 gal tank with a lot of gold fish and what not.. that's where I originally got that fish from. I guess he just wanted to help me fill up my tank, but yeah eventually it will be re-homed.
 
And I am in the process of cycling the tank, I'm actually doing the "Fish-In" method for the cycle and I understand the risks of this. I'm just having very heavy bacteria bloom right now and it hasn't gone away for the past week but from what I read it is normal on beginner tanks especially when they're going through the cycle for the first time.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Are you doing large water changes every day?

 

[Arcticfox1977]

Welcome to the forums. I have a fish-in cycle going for 1 week now. Large water changes every day so far.

 

[BedoyaD94]

No I did not know I had to change the water. I haven't changed it once since I put the decloryhnizer the day I set it up. (It's been probably 1.5 weeks since I got it).

 

[Arcticfox1977]

Have you got a water test kit? If not get one, very helpful.

 

[This Old Spouse]

While your tank is cycling, you need to do water changes every day. Until it cycles, the fish are just swimming around in their own pee and poo, and the levels of ammonia are creeping up and will eventually harm or kill your fish.
 
And yes, you should get a test kit, but not the strips, a liquid test kit with vials from API, Salifert or Nutrafin. Any levels of ammonia or nitrite above 0 are harmful.

 

[BedoyaD94]

While your tank is cycling, you need to do water changes every day. Until it cycles, the fish are just swimming around in their own pee and poo, and the levels of ammonia are creeping up and will eventually harm or kill your fish.
 
And yes, you should get a test kit, but not the strips, a liquid test kit with vials from API, Salifert or Nutrafin. Any levels of ammonia or nitrite above 0 are harmful.

 
I hate to be a newbie asking this but how exactly do I go as far as changing the water? Is there a proper guide to do it correctly?

 

[This Old Spouse]

You should probably get a siphoning tube with a gravel vac like this one. It's very basic ... just put the large end in the tank and the small end in a bucket and get the siphon going. Push the large end into the gravel so it will suck up the gunk in there and leave the gravel alone. I'd be doing 50% each day since you have such a small tank. 
 
Then replace what you took out with temperature-matched, dechlorinated water. The best dechlorinator is Seachem Prime (you can get it on Amazon if your LFS doesn't carry it) because it also neutralizes a lot of things in your tap water.
 
Can you take a photo of your tank so I can see the filter in it? Don't worry about the bloom ... we've all had them.
 
And please don't ever be afraid to ask questions! We all started at the beginning and had lots of questions. It's the only way to learn! I'm glad you're asking. 

 

[BedoyaD94]

The bacteria bloom has actually diminished a lot over the last couple of days... anyhow here's a photo of my tank.
 
Marineland Bio-Wheel LED 10 Gallon Aquarium
http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11164161
 

 

[Mamashack]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/
This is the link to the TFF Beginners Resource centre. Strongly advise you read and follow the fish-in cycle article as soon as possible