New to fishkeeping - current stocking of 10 gallon tank!

[Essjay]

Tetra Safe Start is one of the two products known to contain the correct species of nitrite eating bacteria (the other is Dr Tim's One and Only).

 

[elvenharps]

Okay, so good news all around then!

They agreed to take back the two guppies I purchased yesterday, which I can do today or tomorrow. That would leave the tank with 4 glowlight tetras and 2 peppered cory catfish. Not ideal, but what would you do with it at this point? I can try to convince them to take back the cory catfish also and perhaps replace with 3-4 Pygmy corys rather than the Peppered corys that I have at the moment. This would allow me to keep my 10g, I think?

 

[Essjay]

Unfortunately the three species of dwarf cory (pygmies are one of the three) need even more than 6 to do well. You'd need at least 10 of them.....

 

[elvenharps]

Well, bugger. But, okay, at least I'm learning. So -- let's assume that I convince the charming pet store to take back the guppies and the corys. What would be your recommended next steps -- I assume getting the count of glowlight tetras up to 6 to begin with?

 

[Essjay]

Yes, increase the tetras. But ideally they do need a bigger tank.

Hemigrammus erythrozonus (Glowlight Tetra) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[PastyPlayz]

Welcome to the forum, I would have at least 4 Cory’s. And everything else looks good. Keep up the good work

 

[Essjay]

To be honest, a 10 gallon tank is really too small for any fish but the so-called nano species. If you could manage a larger tank it would give you much more choice.

 

[elvenharps]

I have been politely instructed by my other half that she will be very angry with me should I opt for a larger tank.. which leaves me somewhat stuck with the 10G. I refuse to be an irresponsible pet owner however, so I'm basically now after what can _safely_ and, most importantly, _happily_ be added into a tank of this size. It's amazing how just 24 hours can change your views so drastically, but I trust the kind folks here considerably more than the "I just want your money" folks at the pet store(s).

 

[Byron]

So this Tetra SafeStart plus works! My bother-in-law wants to start a 20 gallon tank. If @Byron and @essjay think it is good stuff then I guess I will pick up some for my bother-in-law to use.

Just to add to what essjay posted on this (post #16)...Dr. Tim Hovanec some years ago led a team of scientists that looked into freshwater nitrifying bacteria species. They determined that the ammonia oxidizing bacteria are a species of Nitrosomonas. The nitrite oxidizing bacteria they could not specifically determine, but they did find that it was not Nitrobacter as everyone previously said, but assume it was a species of Nitrospira the same as in sea water. Dr. Tim, as he is commonly referred to, went further and formulated a bacterial supplement that rapidly establishes these bacteria. The formula was later sold to Tetra and is now marketed as their SafeStart. Dr. Tim went on to further develop Dr. Tim's One and Only formula.

SafeStart is not an "instant cycle" formula, but it does rapidly establish the bacteria when fish are present sufficient to avoid problems for the fish, provided numbers are few and water volume adequate. The second product does instantly cycle if directions are followed (you add ammonia with this one).

Of course, live plants especially fast growers such as floating plants will bypass all this completely, though the cycle still establishes.

If interested, the papers are online (free), here are the names and authors so you should be able to track them down easily via Google Scholar:

Nitrospira-Like Bacteria Associated with Nitrite Oxidation in Freshwater Aquaria, TIMOTHY A. HOVANEC, LANCE T. TAYLOR, ANDREW BLAKIS, AND EDWARD F. DELONG (1997)

Identification of Bacteria Responsible for Ammonia Oxidation in Freshwater Aquaria, PAUL C. BURRELL, CAROL M. PHALEN, AND TIMOTHY A. HOVANEC (2001)

 

[elvenharps]

Of course, live plants especially fast growers such as floating plants will bypass all this completely, though the cycle still establishes.

That's super interesting as I am dosing my tank with Tetra SafeStart Plus while also having 5-6 live plants in the aquarium. Does this mean that I somehow screwed up along the way?

 

[Byron]

I have been politely instructed by my other half that she will be very angry with me should I opt for a larger tank.. which leaves me somewhat stuck with the 10G. I refuse to be an irresponsible pet owner however, so I'm basically now after what can _safely_ and, most importantly, _happily_ be added into a tank of this size. It's amazing how just 24 hours can change your views so drastically, but I trust the kind folks here considerably more than the "I just want your money" folks at the pet store(s).

OK, if this is the end state of affairs...the best option woould be to see if you can return all of the fish. Then start with a clean slate. It is soft water, so you have some nice options.

One of the "dwarf" cory species in a group of 9-10 (my group was in my 10 gallon for over three years and spawned so regularly I ended up with 30 of them before I moved them into the 29g) is an option. You must have soft sand, play sand is ideal; anything rough, or gravel, will harm these species.

A group (9-12) of one of the dwarf Rasbora species in the genus Boraras. These are all red hue (quite lovely red too). The Ember Tetra is orangish-red and would also work in a group of 9-10. There are some other cyprinids (the family including the rasboras, danios, barbs, loaches) that are similarly small; other members have more direct experience with some of these than I have had, but we can easily find a tank full of fish.

Live plants, definitely floating plants with or without lower plants (though moss does nice on chunks of wood) are a must.

I know the glowlights seem small (most fish available in stores are fry because it is less expense for the store than raising them before selling) but they should have more space; same for the cories, which need at least five and I think given the water the other nano species would be better in the long haul.

 

[Byron]

That's super interesting as I am dosing my tank with Tetra SafeStart Plus while also having 5-6 live plants in the aquarium. Does this mean that I somehow screwed up along the way?

No. There is no need to be using SafeStart if the plants are growing and the fish are few and slowly added, but it is sort of like an added caution and can do no harm.

 

[elvenharps]

OK! I truly appreciate your guidance here, being so new to the hobby is entirely overwhelming. It is a gravel based tank at the moment, so from what it sounds like I have two sufficient options here:

1) Restock with a group of 9-10 dwarf cories after replacing the gravel with a sand substrate
2) Leave the gravel and instead restock with a group of 9-12 ember tetras

Through all of this, leaving the snail alone and happy?

Thank you so much.

 

[Byron]

OK! I truly appreciate your guidance here, being so new to the hobby is entirely overwhelming. It is a gravel based tank at the moment, so from what it sounds like I have two sufficient options here:

1) Restock with a group of 9-10 dwarf cories after replacing the gravel with a sand substrate
2) Leave the gravel and instead restock with a group of 9-12 ember tetras

Through all of this, leaving the snail alone and happy?

Thank you so much.

Yes, those are two options, but previously I may not have been clear...you could have the pygmy cories and the dwarf rasboras or Ember Tetras, and maybe annother nano species. In other words, a group each of dwarf rasbora, pygmy cories, and maybe another upper fish. Or the pygmy cories and the Ember Tetras, and maybee another but I would have to think more of this when the "other" was specified. Obviously the sand would be needed if the cories are included. Play Sand is very inexpensive, I use it in all my tanks. If you clear the tank of fish, now would be the time to change the substrate.

I'll attach some photos of my tanks to illustrate what I'm referring to, but these are larger but still the aquascape and nano fish are relevant. The third tank is the 10g when it was set up with the pygmy cories and dwarf rasbora, and the last photo shows three different ages of cory on a leaf just for fun. Grandma, mom and daughter, for all I know!

 

[Naughts]

Amazing tanks and photos @Byron!