New Tank.. Success Or Soon To Be Doom.

[keri578]

So, I got a new aquarium set up. 10 Gal tank with filter, rocks, fake plants, a light and soon I will have a heater. The idiot at petsmart steered me completely in the wrong direction (I didnt do much research and now I'm kicking myself) and I bought the fish and put them in before it cycled. Anyways, I used filtered tap water (reverse osmosis) to fill the tank and some regular unfiltered tap water which I treated with chlorine killer. I put the fish in (1 dalmatian Molly, 1 Platy, 1 Hatchetfish and 1 baby pleco) So I did all this before doing any research (once again, kicking myself) and so far the Hatchetfish has died. The water in my tank got pretty cloudy for a few days. The molly and platy seemed to be doing okay and pleco looks good. I bought test kits which show good levels for nitrate, nitrite and total hardness, but my alkalinity and pH are very high, at the "dangerous" level according to the mardel strips I bought. I added a tablespoon of aquarium salt to the filter and the water has cleared up. I have been feeding them quite a bit since the person at petsmart said to feed extra since my tank is new and has no algae for the pleco to eat. (that probably caused my ammonia to spike and thus killing my hatchet)

CURRENTLY, the test strips say everything is normal except Alkalinity and pH. The water is clear, Molly and Platy are swimming a lot everywhere and they look vibrant. Pleco just chills on the glass. It's been about 4 days since the tank has been up and running.

Here are my questions,

When should I do my first water change and how much water and how often after that?
When should I do my first gravel cleaning (siphon)?
When I do my water change, can I safely add de-chlorinated tap water into the tank without raising ammonia or anything toxic?
What temp is good to set the heater at?
Can I put a vacation block in my tank for the pleco to eat while the tank builds up algae so he 1. doesn't starve and 2. ammonia doesn't soar from overfeeding
When is it safe to add other fish and what types of fish like higher pH levels that are going to work with my current fish?

I have heard that its more damaging trying to lower pH levels than it is to just leave it alone and that there isn't an easy fix to lower pH. Is this true? Can fish adapt to higher pH with time? I'd like to add an angel fish but have read they enjoy softer waters.

ANY tips or advice welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (as long as its constructive)

 

[botia]

hatchets need to be in a school of 6 minimum

 

[Miles_hot]

When should I do my first water change and how much water and how often after that?
When should I do my first gravel cleaning (siphon)?
When I do my water change, can I safely add de-chlorinated tap water into the tank without raising ammonia or anything toxic?
What temp is good to set the heater at?
Can I put a vacation block in my tank for the pleco to eat while the tank builds up algae so he 1. doesn't starve and 2. ammonia doesn't soar from overfeeding
When is it safe to add other fish and what types of fish like higher pH levels that are going to work with my current fish?

I have heard that its more damaging trying to lower pH levels than it is to just leave it alone and that there isn't an easy fix to lower pH. Is this true? Can fish adapt to higher pH with time? I'd like to add an angel fish but have read they enjoy softer waters.

I will leave others to talk about stocking etc as I don't think that is your prime issue. In answer to your questions:

As you are in a "fish in" cycle you should be expecting to do water changes every day (and continue for some months). How much of a water change is driven by the results of your water test - you need to get the ammonia and Nitrite down to 0. The test strips that you have don't have a great reputation around here - there is a marked preference for liquid tests (API Master Fresh water is the most common). If your test shows ammonia at 1ppm a 50% change will only lower it to 0.5 so you can see that you'd need to do more than that!. You might want to have a look at the Fish In cycle stuff in the beginner's resource link at the top of this forum. Until your filter contains sufficient bacteria to process all the ammonia which the fish produce you are the only thing which can remove it using water changes.

You need to cut right back on the feeding side of things - the chap in the fish shop sold you a dummy there - fish don't need to be fed every day (I think the advice is to not feed at least one day a week) and their stomach is only the size of their eye! Coupled with this they don't know when they're full so it is easy to hurt them by over feeding + any food they miss sinks to the bottom and rots releasing even more ammonia into the water to poison the fish! As a result I would suggest that you need to be doing quite a lot of gravel cleaning for a while to get rid of the decomposing fish food which is probably there from the over feeding. After you have got the water chemistry under control I think that the recommendation is to vac once a week other more experienced people confirm or correct please . We have got sand so the detritus will not sink in so vacuuming will be done more often for visual reasons (I don't like looking at fish poo!).

The de-chlorinator will have no detrimental impact on your water - it is all good A good one will lock away heavy metals and deal with other stuff not just chlorine. The amount you need to add depends on how you're replenishing the water from the water change. If you're using a bucket then add enough for the volume of the bucket to the bucket, swish it around and then add to the tank. If you're putting the water in using a hose etc then add the amount of de-chlorinator for the whole tank before adding the water using the hose.

Have a look around on the net for stats on your fish - just type the name into google and look at the top 10 sites and you will have the temperature ranges for your fish. Select a temp within sits within the range for all your fish and away you go. Remember that you need to switch the heater off when doing water changes as none of them do well out of water - you can do without a broken heater!

I don't know what a vacation block is however if you get on top of the feeding frequency and amount I doubt there will be a problem. Note that you need to provide a varied diet which also provides what each fish needs - thus you might end up putting 2 or maybe even more types of food in at once to feed different fish with what they need. Again others with more experience can help more here!

I would hold off adding any more fish until you have got the filter up to speed (read up on the cycling stuff in the beginner's section!).

In terms of pH you need to find out what the actual values are - High and Dangerous are no use. The liquid regent test kit will help here. When you have those values come back with the question however it isn't something that you need to worry about yet as you have a fair amount of work ahead of you in terms of water changes etc to get the tank ready for anything else.

Hope that helps

Miles

 

[keri578]

Hey thanks for the insight Miles! I'm definitely regretting not doing my research before buying. I just did a 25% water change and did a vacuuming.

Can anyone recommend a good Siphon vacuum? The one I have definitely siphons the water but does a terrible job at actually sucking up old food and poop and what not. I bought a middle of the road one, Top Fin brand from Petsmart.

Also I have NutraFin Cycle Biological Aquarium Supplement and Tetra Aquasafe. I'm assuming the Aquasafe is legit but what about the Nutrafin? Is this a good product to use? I added both to the new water that I put into the tank and just a little more salt into the filter. I'm going today to get the liquid tests as like you said Miles, the strips are not commonly used and are misreading.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[laura120381]

you need a heater m8! your tank should have been at the correct temperature before any fish were added (24-26 degrees for the platy etc.) your pleco still needs fed even when the algae has built up in the tank!! you can get algae wafers and food specific to bottom feeders at you lfs. there is every chance the pleco will outgrow your tank. platys prefer to be kept in groups as do the hatchet fish. you will be able to pick up a decent gravel siphon quite cheaply at most pet stores. keep an eye on your water conditions at the moment but you really MUST get a heater in there soon!!

don't worry...the mistakes are not your fault! your lfs should have given you the correct advice.

L

 

[fluttermoth]

Ok...

First of all, don't add any more salt; plecs don't tolerate it at all well, and none of your other fish need it. Also forget about the Nutrafin Cycle; it deosn't contain any good bacteria (as they can't live in a bottle)

We need to indentify yout plec as it's almost certainly not suitable for your tank. If you could post a pic, that would be great.

In the meantime, get a heater and a proper liquid test kit for ammonia (and nitrIte if you can afford it). Test every day and do a 50% water change any time you get a reading that's anything above zero; if th ammnonia is very high, enough water to get the levels as near zero as possible.

 

[keri578]

He is just a common pleco... dark grayish brown with tan leopard markings. He's about 2 inches right now, just a little guy. I have seen these fish grow quite large (ex had one that was about 7 or 8 inches) so I do intend on getting a bigger tank eventually. I am moving in about 8 months and will probably purchase a 55 or 75 gallon tank when I have the space for it, and I figured in that amount of time he can't grow THAT much bigger.

Thanks for your input about the salt though, I have read that Mollies and Platies like saltier waters with higher pH. I will stop with the salt! I just got a heater and put it in the tank for about an hour and then turned it on to 78 degrees.

How often should I change the filter? I know I am never supposed to rinse it with regular tap water, so I kind of shook it in a bowl of used tank water. It was bright white when brand new, and now is a grayish color. Is that normal? I purchased a couple replacements but am unsure when or how often would be a good time to replace it.

I'll get the API Master Kit later today. It's a little on the spendy side but compared to what I've paid for this entire set up already, it's worth it. I will update you all with the results later on!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Miles_hot]

Don't worry about the colour - as long as it isn't physically disintegrating it is fine

 

[Aqua Tom]

He is just a common pleco... dark grayish brown with tan leopard markings. He's about 2 inches right now, just a little guy. I have seen these fish grow quite large (ex had one that was about 7 or 8 inches) so I do intend on getting a bigger tank eventually. I am moving in about 8 months and will probably purchase a 55 or 75 gallon tank when I have the space for it, and I figured in that amount of time he can't grow THAT much bigger.

Thanks for your input about the salt though, I have read that Mollies and Platies like saltier waters with higher pH. I will stop with the salt! I just got a heater and put it in the tank for about an hour and then turned it on to 78 degrees.

How often should I change the filter? I know I am never supposed to rinse it with regular tap water, so I kind of shook it in a bowl of used tank water. It was bright white when brand new, and now is a grayish color. Is that normal? I purchased a couple replacements but am unsure when or how often would be a good time to replace it.

I'll get the API Master Kit later today. It's a little on the spendy side but compared to what I've paid for this entire set up already, it's worth it. I will update you all with the results later on!

Thanks everyone!

Common pleco's grow much bigger than that. You sure your ex didnt have a BN Pleco?


.

 

[lil_phelpsy]

just glanced through this thread i cant advice on the cycling ov the tank as ive never done a fish in cycle.
but i would suggest taking back your plec to the shop if its a common pleco as they should never have sold it you for a 10gal tank they should no better, gary my common pleco is currently around 15 inchs top to toe and makes a mess lol
good luck with your fish hope everything is sorted soon

 

[fluttermoth]

He is just a common pleco... dark grayish brown with tan leopard markings. He's about 2 inches right now, just a little guy. I have seen these fish grow quite large (ex had one that was about 7 or 8 inches) so I do intend on getting a bigger tank eventually. I am moving in about 8 months and will probably purchase a 55 or 75 gallon tank when I have the space for it, and I figured in that amount of time he can't grow THAT much bigger.

Unfortunately, like all animals, big fish do most of their growing when young; he could grow inch a month easily.

Please don't take this personally, but fish should be kept in tanks appropiate for their adult size from the start (or very nearly); the risk of them becoming stunted or suffering other health problems is just too great. Even a 75 g wouldn't be big enough; if you want big fish, then get the big tank first.

Common plecs grow a lot bigger than 7 or 8 inches; I've seen them get to nearly 2 feet.