My New 10 Gallon And Glowlight Tetras.

[Skydive]

Hello all!

I am a new tank owner and member of this forum. I recently purchased a 10 gallon starter kit with a Penguin 100 filter, net, hood with LED lights and water heater. I also bought red and white gravel from Walmart, as well as an air pump, tubing, 2 bubble aerators, and plastic plants. I set up the tank and got the filter running as well as the aerators, then added a water conditioner to dechlorinate. As per the aquarium store employees' recommendation, I let the water heater sit in the tank for a while before plugging it in.

After it had been running for a couple of days, I noticed the water looked cloudy. Concerned, I perused the topic on the internet, which led me to this very forum. After doing some reading, I concluded that a bacterial bloom must have occurred, and that this was fairly common in new tanks. Most people seemed to think that it wasn't too much of a concern, but I didn't find a lot of information regarding how long I should expect it to hang around. So I am wondering how long I should expect it to take to go away?

So, I went ahead and returned to the aquarium store about four days after getting the tank set up to get a few hardy fish who could help me get my nitrogen cycle going (again, as advised by the store during my previous visit). The guy there recommended zebra/leopard danios, tiger barbs, guppies, or glowlight tetras for this purpose. I chose to go with the glowlight tetras (3 of them since they are schooling fish), because I remember my dad used to have some of those when I was a child, and I remember really loving them more than the other fish in that tank.

Anyway, I took them home and as per the employee's recommendations, I poured the fish with the water from the bag into a tub then added some of the water from my tank. He recommended letting that sit for half an hour, but I left it for about an hour before putting them into the tank. While the fish were acclimating, I performed an ammonia test a couple of times using an API kit I purchased at the same time as the fish. The concentration turned out to be pretty low both times (0-0.25 mg/L).

Finally, I put the fish into the tank. They stuck together in a tight group, and retreated to the bottom left corner of the aquarium, behind a couple of the decorations, where they remained for the most part. They did come out to eat when I fed them Betta flakes, however I am wondering if this is typical behavior for the glow tetras? I'm a little worried that maybe they're unhappy or something. They are the only ones in the tank so they don't have anyone to hide from. The water is still cloudy-looking, though even perhaps a bit worse than before. Is the bloom bothering them? Or maybe is it because there are only 3 of them are they tend to be more active when there are more of them? I noticed that they were quite active at the aquarium store, and that they had quite the large school of them in the tank there.

My other question is ideal tank mates for them, since I plan to keep them but add a few more fish once my tank has been cycled. I am really liking the looks of the gouramis and mollies at the store, and as far as I've read they appear to be fairly peaceful species as the tetras are. The only thing that someone said was that some mollies will sometimes nip at other fish that have long or large fins which I don't think should be a problem with the tetras. So I am hoping those species will be good tank mates, and if so I plan to get maybe a couple of each if that won't be too many for a 10 gal tank.

The last thing I was wondering is how long the cycling will take, and how I can tell if the water conditions are ideal for more fish yet. Or if I should just wait a couple of weeks? I thought about asking the people at the aquarium store more questions but I don't think they will always tell me what is best since they do have a business to run and keeping custormers' interest as well as making more money sooner rather than later is probably more important to them than people's pet fish being happy all the time. Plus, they said to rarely change the water during cycling, which seemed counterintuitive, but what do I know?

Answers to these questions, as well as additional tips/advice would be much appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[the_lock_man]

Mornin'

If you have a read of the clickable link in my signature area, it will tell you all you need to know about how to do a fish-in cycle. It will take weeks of hard work. I strongly recommend you don't get any other fish until the cycle is complete. What they said that seemed counterintuitive - you were bloomin right, you need to be doing water changes (and big ones at that) at least daily and possibly twice daily, for the first few weeks. Your tank is relatively small, and the ammonia & nitrite concentrations will rise very quickly.

As you already know, the tetras you have a shoaling species. The accepted wisdom on this is that they really need to be in a group of at least 6 to really feel comfortable. This is partly the reason why they've hidden, another being the stress of the move, and the last (and least) being that they are probably just starting to feel the effects of the ammonia in their water.

Once the cycle is complete, I would recommend getting another 3 glowlights. The bad news is that this will just about fill up your tank, fishwise, but you can add some invertebrates as these don't add significantly to the bioload - my particular favourites are shrimp, and there are a number of very nice-looking shrimp species available, but you could also go for some snails. Don't however, go for anything with a claw (crabs, lobsters, macrobrachium shrimps) - claws and fins don't mix well at all.

If (or should that be when) you have any more questions - feel free to ask - the only stupid question is the one that remains unasked. We've all been novices, so we all know what it's like.

And welcome to the forum!

 

[techen]

Mornin'

If you have a read of the clickable link in my signature area, it will tell you all you need to know about how to do a fish-in cycle. It will take weeks of hard work. I strongly recommend you don't get any other fish until the cycle is complete. What they said that seemed counterintuitive - you were bloomin right, you need to be doing water changes (and big ones at that) at least daily and possibly twice daily, for the first few weeks. Your tank is relatively small, and the ammonia & nitrite concentrations will rise very quickly.

As you already know, the tetras you have a shoaling species. The accepted wisdom on this is that they really need to be in a group of at least 6 to really feel comfortable. This is partly the reason why they've hidden, another being the stress of the move, and the last (and least) being that they are probably just starting to feel the effects of the ammonia in their water.

Once the cycle is complete, I would recommend getting another 3 glowlights. The bad news is that this will just about fill up your tank, fishwise, but you can add some invertebrates as these don't add significantly to the bioload - my particular favourites are shrimp, and there are a number of very nice-looking shrimp species available, but you could also go for some snails. Don't however, go for anything with a claw (crabs, lobsters, macrobrachium shrimps) - claws and fins don't mix well at all.

If (or should that be when) you have any more questions - feel free to ask - the only stupid question is the one that remains unasked. We've all been novices, so we all know what it's like.

And welcome to the forum!

This guy needs a medal for information

 

[Skydive]

Mornin'

If you have a read of the clickable link in my signature area, it will tell you all you need to know about how to do a fish-in cycle. It will take weeks of hard work. I strongly recommend you don't get any other fish until the cycle is complete. What they said that seemed counterintuitive - you were bloomin right, you need to be doing water changes (and big ones at that) at least daily and possibly twice daily, for the first few weeks. Your tank is relatively small, and the ammonia & nitrite concentrations will rise very quickly.

As you already know, the tetras you have a shoaling species. The accepted wisdom on this is that they really need to be in a group of at least 6 to really feel comfortable. This is partly the reason why they've hidden, another being the stress of the move, and the last (and least) being that they are probably just starting to feel the effects of the ammonia in their water.

Once the cycle is complete, I would recommend getting another 3 glowlights. The bad news is that this will just about fill up your tank, fishwise, but you can add some invertebrates as these don't add significantly to the bioload - my particular favourites are shrimp, and there are a number of very nice-looking shrimp species available, but you could also go for some snails. Don't however, go for anything with a claw (crabs, lobsters, macrobrachium shrimps) - claws and fins don't mix well at all.

If (or should that be when) you have any more questions - feel free to ask - the only stupid question is the one that remains unasked. We've all been novices, so we all know what it's like.

And welcome to the forum!

Thank you sir! You have been very helpful. However, unfortunately since I work 12 hour shifts 3-4 times a week, I will not be able to change the water every day as recommended in the post linked in your signature

Am I in trouble?

Though I noticed when I looked at them today, they seemed to be a lot happier, as in they are coming out of their hiding place more and swimming around in the open water (especially one of them seems to like coming out a lot more than the others). And of course they always come out to eat when I feed them. I'm guessing this is because they've begun to forget about the moving process.

Also, the aquarium store guy said not to change more than 25% of the water during cycling because this removes too much of the bacteria you are trying to cultivate. Is this not true, then?

 

[Skydive]

Update: I tested the ammonia again today, and it's pretty much what it was before (0-0.25 mg/L). Should I still do the 50% water change?

 

[Tuxyu3]

Yes, preferably a larger one IMO, especially if you can't do them as often as recommended.

 

[Skydive]

Do I put the dechlorinator in the new water before or after I add it? Before, probably? Or does it matter?

 

[Skydive]

whoops, thought my post disappeared...how do I delete my own posts?

 

[the_lock_man]

Mornin'

If you have a read of the clickable link in my signature area, it will tell you all you need to know about how to do a fish-in cycle. It will take weeks of hard work. I strongly recommend you don't get any other fish until the cycle is complete. What they said that seemed counterintuitive - you were bloomin right, you need to be doing water changes (and big ones at that) at least daily and possibly twice daily, for the first few weeks. Your tank is relatively small, and the ammonia & nitrite concentrations will rise very quickly.

As you already know, the tetras you have a shoaling species. The accepted wisdom on this is that they really need to be in a group of at least 6 to really feel comfortable. This is partly the reason why they've hidden, another being the stress of the move, and the last (and least) being that they are probably just starting to feel the effects of the ammonia in their water.

Once the cycle is complete, I would recommend getting another 3 glowlights. The bad news is that this will just about fill up your tank, fishwise, but you can add some invertebrates as these don't add significantly to the bioload - my particular favourites are shrimp, and there are a number of very nice-looking shrimp species available, but you could also go for some snails. Don't however, go for anything with a claw (crabs, lobsters, macrobrachium shrimps) - claws and fins don't mix well at all.

If (or should that be when) you have any more questions - feel free to ask - the only stupid question is the one that remains unasked. We've all been novices, so we all know what it's like.

And welcome to the forum!

Thank you sir! You have been very helpful. However, unfortunately since I work 12 hour shifts 3-4 times a week, I will not be able to change the water every day as recommended in the post linked in your signature

Am I in trouble?

Though I noticed when I looked at them today, they seemed to be a lot happier, as in they are coming out of their hiding place more and swimming around in the open water (especially one of them seems to like coming out a lot more than the others). And of course they always come out to eat when I feed them. I'm guessing this is because they've begun to forget about the moving process.

Also, the aquarium store guy said not to change more than 25% of the water during cycling because this removes too much of the bacteria you are trying to cultivate. Is this not true, then?

In a 10gallon tank, changing water isn't a huge undertaking - I use a syphon system which makes it easier, and my weekly 30% change takes about 10 minutes on my 34l (roughly 8-9 gallon). Although the ammonia stats you're posting don't sound too bad, I'd like you to start testing & posting nitrite results as well.

You are right that the fish are looking a bit happier because they are a bit more settled in their new home.

Unfortunately, the aquarium store guy is a, er, well, um, you can insert your own expletive here. Changing water does NOT remove bacteria. The bacteria live on the sponges and ceramics in your filter, and in all honesty they love living there, and so cling on to the sponges/ceramics very tightly. If you were to take the sponges out of your filter, give them a good squeeze to remove the gunk, and put them back in the filter, virtually all of the bacteria would still be there.

What he probably meant was that you would be removing a lot of the ammonia which feed the bacteria. In simple terms, yeah, he's right, but it's not as simple as that.

(1) The filter bacteria colonies will grow even at concentrations too small for our test kits to measure.

(2) Leaving the ammonia (and nitrite) in the water poisons the fish. No two ways about it. Ammonia burns them, particularly around their gills. Nitrite suffocates them - it binds to the oxygen in the water, and stops it from entering the fish's blood stream, therefore starving them of oxygen. No-one would ask you to take a bath in which you had urinated. I strongly suggest you don't ask your fish to do so either.

And that's why you need to keep on top of the water changes. If you don't have time to do the water changes that are necessary, then you need to find a solution that works for you - maybe 3 x 30% changes per day, where we would recommend a single 75% change. Alternatively, you may need to do a 95% change bi-daily. Really, only you can tell what is going to be necessary, based upon your ammonia and nitrite readings. (BTW, are you using a liquid drop test kit, or the paper strips?)

Regarding the dechlorinator, you can do either add it to the bucket, or to the refilled tank - I personally add it to the bucket, and then fill the bucket, because this ensures that the dechlor mixes round fully. Also, you only have to add enough dechlor appropriate for the volume of the bucket. If you dose directly to the tank, you have to add enough appropriate for the volume of the tank - which is therefore less economical.

 

[Skydive]

Mornin'

If you have a read of the clickable link in my signature area, it will tell you all you need to know about how to do a fish-in cycle. It will take weeks of hard work. I strongly recommend you don't get any other fish until the cycle is complete. What they said that seemed counterintuitive - you were bloomin right, you need to be doing water changes (and big ones at that) at least daily and possibly twice daily, for the first few weeks. Your tank is relatively small, and the ammonia & nitrite concentrations will rise very quickly.

As you already know, the tetras you have a shoaling species. The accepted wisdom on this is that they really need to be in a group of at least 6 to really feel comfortable. This is partly the reason why they've hidden, another being the stress of the move, and the last (and least) being that they are probably just starting to feel the effects of the ammonia in their water.

Once the cycle is complete, I would recommend getting another 3 glowlights. The bad news is that this will just about fill up your tank, fishwise, but you can add some invertebrates as these don't add significantly to the bioload - my particular favourites are shrimp, and there are a number of very nice-looking shrimp species available, but you could also go for some snails. Don't however, go for anything with a claw (crabs, lobsters, macrobrachium shrimps) - claws and fins don't mix well at all.

If (or should that be when) you have any more questions - feel free to ask - the only stupid question is the one that remains unasked. We've all been novices, so we all know what it's like.

And welcome to the forum!

Thank you sir! You have been very helpful. However, unfortunately since I work 12 hour shifts 3-4 times a week, I will not be able to change the water every day as recommended in the post linked in your signature

Am I in trouble?

Though I noticed when I looked at them today, they seemed to be a lot happier, as in they are coming out of their hiding place more and swimming around in the open water (especially one of them seems to like coming out a lot more than the others). And of course they always come out to eat when I feed them. I'm guessing this is because they've begun to forget about the moving process.

Also, the aquarium store guy said not to change more than 25% of the water during cycling because this removes too much of the bacteria you are trying to cultivate. Is this not true, then?

In a 10gallon tank, changing water isn't a huge undertaking - I use a syphon system which makes it easier, and my weekly 30% change takes about 10 minutes on my 34l (roughly 8-9 gallon). Although the ammonia stats you're posting don't sound too bad, I'd like you to start testing & posting nitrite results as well.

You are right that the fish are looking a bit happier because they are a bit more settled in their new home.

Unfortunately, the aquarium store guy is a, er, well, um, you can insert your own expletive here. Changing water does NOT remove bacteria. The bacteria live on the sponges and ceramics in your filter, and in all honesty they love living there, and so cling on to the sponges/ceramics very tightly. If you were to take the sponges out of your filter, give them a good squeeze to remove the gunk, and put them back in the filter, virtually all of the bacteria would still be there.

What he probably meant was that you would be removing a lot of the ammonia which feed the bacteria. In simple terms, yeah, he's right, but it's not as simple as that.

(1) The filter bacteria colonies will grow even at concentrations too small for our test kits to measure.

(2) Leaving the ammonia (and nitrite) in the water poisons the fish. No two ways about it. Ammonia burns them, particularly around their gills. Nitrite suffocates them - it binds to the oxygen in the water, and stops it from entering the fish's blood stream, therefore starving them of oxygen. No-one would ask you to take a bath in which you had urinated. I strongly suggest you don't ask your fish to do so either.

And that's why you need to keep on top of the water changes. If you don't have time to do the water changes that are necessary, then you need to find a solution that works for you - maybe 3 x 30% changes per day, where we would recommend a single 75% change. Alternatively, you may need to do a 95% change bi-daily. Really, only you can tell what is going to be necessary, based upon your ammonia and nitrite readings. (BTW, are you using a liquid drop test kit, or the paper strips?)

Regarding the dechlorinator, you can do either add it to the bucket, or to the refilled tank - I personally add it to the bucket, and then fill the bucket, because this ensures that the dechlor mixes round fully. Also, you only have to add enough dechlor appropriate for the volume of the bucket. If you dose directly to the tank, you have to add enough appropriate for the volume of the tank - which is therefore less economical.

I need to invest in a nitrite test kit then, because I only bought an ammonia one. But yes, it is a dropper bottle test kit not a strip test kit. The thing is, I usually work 2-3 12-hour shifts in a row, sometimes 4. Then I have 3-4 days off. Depending on the schedule. Some days I find myself with plenty of energy and time after work, though sometimes I am just so utterly exhausted that I pretty much just crash or have other engagements that eat up all my time. So, maybe when I am off, should I do 95% water changes? Or even more, since you recommended that bi-daily and I will likely need to go more than 2 days without changing.

By the way, the bacterial bloom appears to have gone away. The water is once again clear. The fish still mostly hang out in their little corner, but they do come out occasionally.

 

[the_lock_man]

Because it's a small tank, the ammonia and nitrite concentrations build up quickly. I appreciate what you say about being exhausted when you get home, but keeping the ammonia and nitrite levels down is the key to having healthy fish at the end of the cycle.

Ultimately, you need to do the best you can for the fish - if that means forcing yourself to do a big change, because you have an ammonia level of 3ppm (not an unreasonable example), then that's what is best for the fish, but if you can't then you have to find the best practical solution.

I don't want to sound like I'm sneering at you because you can't do water changes every day, and I hope you aren't taking it that way.

 

[Skydive]

Because it's a small tank, the ammonia and nitrite concentrations build up quickly. I appreciate what you say about being exhausted when you get home, but keeping the ammonia and nitrite levels down is the key to having healthy fish at the end of the cycle.

Ultimately, you need to do the best you can for the fish - if that means forcing yourself to do a big change, because you have an ammonia level of 3ppm (not an unreasonable example), then that's what is best for the fish, but if you can't then you have to find the best practical solution.

I don't want to sound like I'm sneering at you because you can't do water changes every day, and I hope you aren't taking it that way.

Nah, don't worry about it. You've been very helpful.

I've been testing the water and the ammonia levels appear to go up to about 0.5-1.0ppm over a period of 3 days. So, would this be indicative that it'd be OK to just do a large water change (as large as I can without dumping out all of the water) every 3 days? I could manage that. I've also noticed that my water conditioner says it detoxifies ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. Is this maybe why it's not building up as quickly as expected? I certainly have not seen anything as high as 3ppm.

 

[plectastic]

What dechlorifier/tapsafe are you using?

From I understand, you have to change at least 50% every day, sometimes twice daily, if you see Ammonia or Nitrite at all, let alone 0.5 - 1.0! If you leave it for a few days between the water changes the Nitrite and Ammonia could well kill your fish.

 

[Skydive]

What dechlorifier/tapsafe are you using?

From I understand, you have to change at least 50% every day, sometimes twice daily, if you see Ammonia or Nitrite at all, let alone 0.5 - 1.0! If you leave it for a few days between the water changes the Nitrite and Ammonia could well kill your fish.

kordon AmQuel Plus. I didn't actually see any ammonia until about 3 days after I'd filled up the tank. So then I changed almost all of the water. Unfortunately as I said before there will be many occasions upon which I simply will not have the time or energy to change the water that often. Hence I am hoping and praying that since ammonia appears to take 2-3 days to build up that high, I will be fine just changing 90-95% of the water every 2-3 days instead of every day.

 

[Skydive]

Update: Okay something weird happened with the filter. I unplugged it to change the water, and when I plugged it back in, it wasn't working. I could hear the motor running but there was no suction. I emptied it and refilled it up with water again, and it worked though not right away. Did I do something wrong? How can I keep this from happening again?