Need Help Starting 10g

[Lohman446]

I did read most the stickies

I'm new to the hobby and had some space constraints that limited me to a 10 gallon tank with an in-tank whisper 10I filter.

I have set up the tank with about an inch of gravel bottom, a couple small pieces of decoration, and distilled water (it only held about 9 gallons of water by the time I had everything else in).

I have let the tank cylce about a week at temp (74 degrees) - will start measuring PH tomorrow.

Last night on a whim I added a small (4" tall) Amazon sword plant - was told by LFS that that would be the hardest plant for me to kill.

I have resigned myself that this is going to cost money so I don't want to be penny shy in doing this

A) I need to know if I should make a different choice on filters - understand I only have about a half inch of space behind the tank so to me it looks like my option for different filtering would be to run an Eclipse hood. I understand with the Whisper I will need to keep maintenance closer and am planning on doing 10% water changes on a weekly basis using distilled water (my tap water is very poor)

B) I need to know how to stock this tank. Everyone tells me to stock slowly but not to keep schooling fish in too small of groups.

I want glo-fish - my goal is to have glo-fish in this tank. Of the multiple LFS I have gone into I have gotten as many stories as stores. One says to just dump 6 into the tank as my first stock. Another says not to put any in the tank until I have cycled it with some other fish and then to add 6. One tells me to add 2 as my starter fish. Another tells me to cycle the tank with another fish and then add 2 at a time. I know these are a schooling fish and in the end I need 5-6 of them. I have already accepted the controversial issues around glo-fish

I don't know what else to put in, and when. I am told I want an algae eater of some type but to plan on not wanting / needing it for 4-5 weeks after fish. I don't know what a good starter fish / frog would be for this tank. What about shrimp?

What have I done wrong so far that I need to correct before moving forward?

 

[bordercollie05]

You'll want to do a fishless cycle before adding fish. This can take 4-6 weeks, so that will give you lots of time to research your fish. Here's the pinned article about [topic="0"]fishless cycling[/topic]

Glo-fish are usually dyed zebra danios and many people don't like the idea of dyed fish. I have read that some of them are genetically engineered, which is a bit more humane in my opinion.

As far as stocking goes, many will tell you that a ten gallon isn't big enough for zebra danios, and many have also kept them in a ten gallon successfully. The reason for it being to small is that they are rather active fish and lost of people like to give them more length to dart around in.

If you want algea eaters, you could do 2-3 otos in a ten gallon. I really like these little fish! However, they are a bit sensative so adding them after establishing the danios for awhile is your best bet. Also, they don't eat ALL types of algea, so its a good idea to give them an algea pellet once in awhile to be sure they have enough food and a well-balanced diet.

Good Luck,
Laura

That link doesn't seem to be working, but its in the pinned newbie section.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, bordercollie has given you excellent advice. If I remember correctly, she is familiar with limited space from college studies, perhaps even vet studies!?

Distilled water may be even worse then your tap water! Its not the thing for fish tanks, contains no minerals and minerals are very much needed for various reasons. You are at such an early stage that you will need to relax and do some serious reading and interacting here to help you get going in the right direction. You have already taken the best step, to not let yourself confused by the LFS info and to start learning at this wonderful forum.

Since you are ready to invest, I suggest going out and getting just about the most important item you'll need, a good water test kit. Many of us here, me included, like the API Freshwater Master Test Kit or there are other ones but its important for it to be liquid-based and have tests for ammonia, nitrite, pH and nitrate. After you read through the extensive instructions, you should perform the tests a couple of times on your tap water and post that info here so the members can have a look.

Another important thing is to start a notebook to keep your test logs and other notes. After a while this will become invaluable to look back at. When you make test entries, you'll want the date, time of day, tank temperature and results from each test you do and then very specific entries of each substance you put in the tank or action you take, perhaps with extra checkmarks to reassure yourself later that, yes, you did it!

You'll need to begin the search for a bottle of household clear ammonia. If you are UK, the folks over there can help for where to look. It needs to be clear and not foam when shaken and not have any dyes or fragrences. This will be the main thing, along with perhaps some syringes or glass droppers, you will need besides your test kit and the work you do reading articles and reading other help threads here. By the way, the Beginners Resource Center, Cycling Resource Center has articles by Miss Wiggle and AlienAnna that are great intro articles to get you oriented to what we're going on about.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Lohman446]

Would I be better off doing a 90% water change to bottled spring water or some such rather than continuing forward with whats in it?

This is teaching me patience, I'm not always good with sitting and waiting, which I know I have to.

 

[rabbut]

You need minerals in your water to stabilise pH. Without minerals your pH in fishkeeping speak "crashes" This is where the pH falls so low that the tank becomes hostile to fish. When mineral content is too high, you have the opposit issue, where the pH goes too high for the fishes liking.
Distilled water does not have any minerals. Bottle water has too many. This is where you have issues, as the properties of both make them unsuited to fishkeeping. Tap water is almost always better than these for keeping fish. What makes you think that there is an issue with your tap water?
There are work-arrounds if there is an issue with tap water, but usualy these work-arrounds require a lot of fussing, and you need a very good understanding of water chemistory before you can even think about attempting them.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[Lohman446]

My tap water has an extreme iron content as its well water. I simply made the assumption that the content was far too high to be good to swim in.

 

[rabbut]

I'd think about possibly going 50-50 with the distilled and mineral waters then... Can you test pH, GH and KH in both for me, and list the fish you have your eye on. From this, I can give you your ideal ratio.
You need to use liquid drop testes for this, as the dip strips are inaccurate. Once you have the water sorted, you can start adding your ammonia to get the cycle underway. Since you are mixing water, you will need test kits that many only buy as curiosity tests. You need liquid-regent based testes for; ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, GH and KH. The LFS probibly advised you to add fish after a short wait. Don't do this as it will harm the fish Fishless cycling is more humane, even if it takes longer

HTH
Rabbut

 

[sic0198]

What if you took distilled water and mixed it with bottled eater?

 

[tenohfive]

Surely it would be cheaper to drive into town and fill up with tap water, than using distilled or mineral water?

 

[iankent]

Another important thing is to start a notebook to keep your test logs and other notes. After a while this will become invaluable to look back at. When you make test entries, you'll want the date, time of day, tank temperature and results from each test you do and then very specific entries of each substance you put in the tank or action you take, perhaps with extra checkmarks to reassure yourself later that, yes, you did it!
~~waterdrop~~

as an alternate to a notebook, i've been working on a website for exactly that purpose (with the added extra of being able to add photos etc), but it all started from me wanting to record water results

anyway, if you want to take a look its here: http/www.my-aqua.net/
and if you want to see example test results from my cycle, they're here: http/www.my-aqua.net/aquariums/7/ (click the Water tab at the top!)

 

[Lohman446]

Surely it would be cheaper to drive into town and fill up with tap water, than using distilled or mineral water?

Sure, but we're talking a total cost of distilled or bottled water of less than $1 a gallon (not including testing supplies). Since its a small tank and I was trying to avoid the step of dechlorinating I thought I was doing myself a favor using distilled - if its the worst mistake I make its not the end of the world

 

[TheConstantGrower]

Ian ive been looking at your "my aquarium" site, and seeing it gain a little popularity, i like it, unfortunately i don't have all the data to fill it out like you have there, but its pretty amazing. ive used your sheet as reference a few times actually

 

[iankent]

Ian ive been looking at your "my aquarium" site, and seeing it gain a little popularity, i like it, unfortunately i don't have all the data to fill it out like you have there, but its pretty amazing. ive used your sheet as reference a few times actually

to be honest, you dont particularly need any of the data to start off - you can setup your aquarium with as little as its name, and the rest can be filled in as and when you have the info! similarly, with the water test results, the only required fields are date, time and temperature - the rest you can leave blank depending on what your testing

it certainly needs more work though, and I'll happily consider any suggestions etc. anyone has

Lohman446 - apologies for hijacking your thread!

 

[rabbut]

I'd probibly just use the well water, after a bit of consideration. Get a good quality dechlorinator such as Tetra Aquasafe or Seachem Prime, and it will detoxify heavy metals. Thes two mentioned hear also detoxify ammonia, converting it to ammonium, which can be useful if you have any in the well water This solves the issue of high copper content

You still need to fishless cycle before fish though

HTH
Rabbut