New Member - Did My Research After Buying A Tank = /

[rcampbel04]

Hello everyone. As you can tell from my title, i am new AND made the mistake of not doing my research before buying an aquarium setup. That being said, i have a fresh new 10 gallon tank with two fish in it (angelfish and a blood parrot) and i am caught between returning the fish to do a fishless cycle, or attempt to monitor ammonia, nitrite and finally nitrate levels to keep the fish alive. my local store was NO HELP at ALL and sold me two fish with a new aquarium and had no mention of how to cycle let alone put the fish in properly.Didnt even mention any testing supplies i would need. I simply filled the tank, made sure that i put some aquasafe plus in (which came with the kit i bought), made sure the water was roughly the correct tempurature, and plopped in my fish) I bought a tetra starter kit (i believe it was the tetra 10? came with a 10gal tank, filter and heater) I also realized that the fish i bought are not at all appropriate for the small 10 gallon tank i have. Any suggestions would be awesome! i really wanna try and keep these guys! Ill list everything i have so far. I am willing to buy a larger tank soon and upgrade.
 - 10 gallon rectangular tank.
 - LED hood.
 - Small suction heater
 - Small air stone in tank with Whisper 10 air pump and one way check valve
 - Small tetra "10 gallon" filter which hangs on side of tank
 - one large artificial plant
 - one small rock structure for hiding
 - 10 lbs of gravel for base
 - pH,  nitrite and nitrate test strips ( i realise im going to need an ammonia test kit, i will be purchasing that within a day or two)
 - Tetra tropical fish crisps
 - TopFin medium (10-20gal) gravel vacuum
 - Tetra AquaSafe +
 - Tetra EasyBalance +
 - Chichlid Gold mini pellets
Lastly, i DID test the water. Although i realize now i cant test for ammonia with my current equipment. The pH level was 7.5 and nitrite and nitrate were 0.general hardness was about 30 ppm so i added a little bit more aquasafe plus which is SUPPOSED to get rid of hardness. Once again im new and just going on what i think is correct. Thank you!!!!

 - Ryan

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

Hello! I would take your fish back, as both need bigger tanks.
 
As well as you need pellets for tropical fish,
 
Test strips arent very accurate so I recommend you get the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.
 
Welcome aboard!

 

[Ninjouzata]

Sorry they've misinformed you! It happens to most of us though unfortunately.
 
As you know, those fish are too big for your tank. I would definitely return them and then do a fishless cycle. It will be so much less stress on you and the fish.
If you do that, please follow THIS, you can find where to get ammonia HERE. I got mine at Ace Hardware.
 
No need for that easybalance stuff. You don't want to be messing with the pH.
I think you've got everything you need except an appropriate test kit. You'll want a liquid one, the strips are rather inaccurate. API is popular.

 
Oh and 

to TFF! Hope you enjoy it here.

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

Oops! I see you know about your fish! Sorry

 

[rcampbel04]

Thanks for the responses. I'll be returning my fish within the next day or so. Don't want to kill them! I'll be fishless cycling the tank after that, and buying a master test kit. Hope everything works out

 

[ReMz]

Welcome. I'm really sorry to hear that you were mislead (or not informed) at all by your LFS. That definitely is not how they should be doing business. Good thing you did some research.
 
Unfortunately, I'm going to stress that you take the fish back as well. you need a substantially larger tank to get them set up into. Both of those cichlids will grow fast (talking 55g). Plus you would just need to do a fish-in cycle in that tank too. No need for it. Take em back and get some proper fish after the tank is setup. I know that answer sucks, and you are probably pumped about the fish.... but it's going to be even worse when they get sick and potentially die. No need for it, so avoid the problem altogether.
 
I can concur that an API liquid test kit is a must. They are a little pricy, but last forever and are essential to accuracy. The test strips (especially ammonia ones) are pretty inaccurate. Not bad to have around, but nothing to rely on.
 
Let us know if you have some ideas on other fish stocking and we can walk you through it.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Glad to hear you're going to take them back and do a fish-less cycle! You'll have some time to think about what you want to stock the tank with.
If you want help I'd make another thread for it asking for ideas We're all happy to help and like filling other people's tanks!

 

[rcampbel04]

Thanks for responding everyone! So yes, i did return my fish... AND tank. I upgraded to a 40 gallon because there was a really good sale and i had the opportunity to get a dollar per gallon on the tank. I upgraded all of my equipment as well. As of today, after much research, money and time, i am starting my nitrogen cycle. Thanks to this site and all of the information from everyone, im going to do it right! I started a thread under fish journal and am going to keep updates. thanks!

 

[Ninjouzata]

Woohoo! Will be following your journal

 

[rcampbel04]

Great to have some people showing interest! So glad i found this site

 

[ReMz]

That is awesome Ryan! I'll be checking out your journal as well
 
More than happy to have members like you here.

 

[ag-au]

Welcome! Take most fish stores recco's with a grain of salt. They usually mean well but ultimately they want to make you happy. In doing so it often results in sadness when the inevitable happens. Stay strong & carry on. Learn from mistakes, and you'll be where you want to be in no time!

 

[Blobfish]

Welcome to the forum.  I think you have done the right thing, you will get so much more out of the hobby by doing it the right way.  You will have plenty of time to research while your tank is cycling

 

[l_l_l]

Good advise from everybody.
I hope you have a different fish shop to buy from, last one that did that to me never seen a penny again from my pocket.

 

[majerah1]

Welcome, Ryan! 
 
Sad the pet store was no help. So very glad you joined and plan to do hings right. Will be watching your thread for updates.
 
I love a 40 gallon!