New To The Hobby; Critique My Aquarium?

[NinjaCarnage]

So I had a single betta fish in a small tank for a year. I realized that what I was doing was wrong and found a 10 gal tank in my shed. I set it up, and my betta settled right in. Fast forward a few months. I got a few more plastic plants, some more gravel and a little rock formation with holes that my fish go through. I added 5 neon tetras (school) and later 2 otocinclus catfish. One of my otocinclus unfortunately passed, and the other isn't in too well of a shape. I now figure that they should live in a planted aquarium enviornment, and they weren't eating the algae flakes I bought for em. Thinking of returning him and getting a few ghost shrimp.
 
My problem arises here. Should I stick with my plastic plants, or go all out with a full planted aquarium? How often should I clean my tank? I've also heard of a pH kit. Is this necessary? What more should I add to the tank to help the fish?
 
I feed my betta 3 betta pellets in the afternoon and at night. I feed the neon tetras a small pinch of tropical flakes. 
 
Just need some starting out advice

 

[Vethian]

Hello!  I am also new to this.  I have been looking at the oto myself.  I hope someone will confirm this, but I am reading that feeding them zucchini slices is good every few days.  I've seen videos of doing this for plecos as well.  

 

[LyraGuppi]

So I had a single betta fish in a small tank for a year. I realized that what I was doing was wrong and found a 10 gal tank in my shed. I set it up, and my betta settled right in.
 
I'm assuming here that the tank isn't cycled, or cycling?
 
Fast forward a few months. I got a few more plastic plants, some more gravel and a little rock formation with holes that my fish go through. I added 5 neon tetras (school) and later 2 otocinclus catfish. One of my otocinclus unfortunately passed, and the other isn't in too well of a shape.

I'm thinking water quality is hurting the otos. These guys should never be put into a young, uncycled aquarium
 
I now figure that they should live in a planted aquarium enviornment, and they weren't eating the algae flakes I bought for em. Thinking of returning him and getting a few ghost shrimp.
 
My problem arises here. Should I stick with my plastic plants, or go all out with a full planted aquarium? How often should I clean my tank? I've also heard of a pH kit. Is this necessary? What more should I add to the tank to help the fish?
 
The question is, do you want to cycle your tank? This will benefit you greatly, and will make maintenance ALOT easier. (ie, less water changes a week, less stress on fish, less sickness, less less less

)
If you don't want to, then you may have to carry out around...maybe 75%-100% WCs every 2-3 days? Basically you'll have to manually remove any ammonia yourself, but in a cycled tank the good bacteria will partially process it for you. (ie: one 25% WC a week)
So, if you have no place to foster your fish and want to cycle your tank, you've either need to do a fish-in cycle, (risky on the fish, may kill them D or use Dr. Tim's One and Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria, and follow the instructions on the bottle. You may want to buy a Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate API test too, these are musts for aquariums. PH testing, I'd say only if you'd like. Here are some Fish in cycling links if you wish to try that route.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433769-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i/
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433778-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il/

 

[Akasha72]

hi guys 
 
Agreeing with Lyra here. All newly set up tanks need to be cycled - head to the cycling your tank section for the great advice on doing this.
 
Regarding Otocinclus - Oto's feed on the microscopic slime coat in our tanks. This slime coat takes a while to start to develop meaning that oto's are not suitable for new aquariums. They will die from hunger - it's as simple as that really. Oto's feed constantly and so just adding cucumber or courgette (zuccini for those outside the U.K) isn't enough to sustain them. If you like the idea of oto's - great! they are a great little cleaning fish and they are full of character but wait a while so you are sure they have what they need to survive. Live plants are better (in my opinion) as the slime coat and algae the oto's feed on covers the plants.
Another thing about oto's. In the wild they live in massive groups and so keeping just one or two isn't good for them. They fair better in large numbers ... 6 being the minimum really. Another piece of advice would be that oto's are small fish with barbed fins. They arn't really suitable to be kept with large fish. There has been stories of angelfish trying to eat oto's. In the process the oto extends it's barbed fins and lodges in the fishes gullet - the result is usually the death of both fish. This is the reason I'm now reducing my oto numbers as I now have angelfish. I shall miss them but I can't risk their little lives with growing angels
 
Okay, test kits. Test kits are essential in this hobby. Normally, if we see an issue occurring in the tank the first thing to do is grab your test kit to see if the problem is caused by the water the fish are swimming in. Fish get ill the same as us but most fish deaths are down to a water quality issues rather than ill health. If you don't have a test kit, you can't check your water.
The best kits are the liquid drop kits - please leave the test strips in the store, they are really inaccurate. The one used most is the API Masterkit. There are others on the market and all are just as good but the API one's seems to be readily available everywhere. It's usually cheaper online than in store.
 
The main tests are pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. These four are included in the API kit along with test tubes and reading charts. You can also get kits for KH and GH but these are available seperately and are often not needed
 
I hope that's all useful info and has answered the questions you both had

 

[NinjaCarnage]

hi guys 
 
Agreeing with Lyra here. All newly set up tanks need to be cycled - head to the cycling your tank section for the great advice on doing this.
 
Regarding Otocinclus - Oto's feed on the microscopic slime coat in our tanks. This slime coat takes a while to start to develop meaning that oto's are not suitable for new aquariums. They will die from hunger - it's as simple as that really. Oto's feed constantly and so just adding cucumber or courgette (zuccini for those outside the U.K) isn't enough to sustain them. If you like the idea of oto's - great! they are a great little cleaning fish and they are full of character but wait a while so you are sure they have what they need to survive. Live plants are better (in my opinion) as the slime coat and algae the oto's feed on covers the plants.
Another thing about oto's. In the wild they live in massive groups and so keeping just one or two isn't good for them. They fair better in large numbers ... 6 being the minimum really. Another piece of advice would be that oto's are small fish with barbed fins. They arn't really suitable to be kept with large fish. There has been stories of angelfish trying to eat oto's. In the process the oto extends it's barbed fins and lodges in the fishes gullet - the result is usually the death of both fish. This is the reason I'm now reducing my oto numbers as I now have angelfish. I shall miss them but I can't risk their little lives with growing angels
 
Okay, test kits. Test kits are essential in this hobby. Normally, if we see an issue occurring in the tank the first thing to do is grab your test kit to see if the problem is caused by the water the fish are swimming in. Fish get ill the same as us but most fish deaths are down to a water quality issues rather than ill health. If you don't have a test kit, you can't check your water.
The best kits are the liquid drop kits - please leave the test strips in the store, they are really inaccurate. The one used most is the API Masterkit. There are others on the market and all are just as good but the API one's seems to be readily available everywhere. It's usually cheaper online than in store.
 
The main tests are pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. These four are included in the API kit along with test tubes and reading charts. You can also get kits for KH and GH but these are available seperately and are often not needed
 
I hope that's all useful info and has answered the questions you both had

 
Thanks so much! I'm hopefully going to look for a liquid drop kit at petsmart soon. My tetra also died unfortunately. 

 

[NinjaCarnage]

 

So I had a single betta fish in a small tank for a year. I realized that what I was doing was wrong and found a 10 gal tank in my shed. I set it up, and my betta settled right in.
 
I'm assuming here that the tank isn't cycled, or cycling?
 
Fast forward a few months. I got a few more plastic plants, some more gravel and a little rock formation with holes that my fish go through. I added 5 neon tetras (school) and later 2 otocinclus catfish. One of my otocinclus unfortunately passed, and the other isn't in too well of a shape.

I'm thinking water quality is hurting the otos. These guys should never be put into a young, uncycled aquarium
 
I now figure that they should live in a planted aquarium enviornment, and they weren't eating the algae flakes I bought for em. Thinking of returning him and getting a few ghost shrimp.
 
My problem arises here. Should I stick with my plastic plants, or go all out with a full planted aquarium? How often should I clean my tank? I've also heard of a pH kit. Is this necessary? What more should I add to the tank to help the fish?
 
The question is, do you want to cycle your tank? This will benefit you greatly, and will make maintenance ALOT easier. (ie, less water changes a week, less stress on fish, less sickness, less less less

)
If you don't want to, then you may have to carry out around...maybe 75%-100% WCs every 2-3 days? Basically you'll have to manually remove any ammonia yourself, but in a cycled tank the good bacteria will partially process it for you. (ie: one 25% WC a week)
So, if you have no place to foster your fish and want to cycle your tank, you've either need to do a fish-in cycle, (risky on the fish, may kill them D or use Dr. Tim's One and Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria, and follow the instructions on the bottle. You may want to buy a Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate API test too, these are musts for aquariums. PH testing, I'd say only if you'd like. Here are some Fish in cycling links if you wish to try that route.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433769-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i/
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/433778-rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il/

 

Thank you so much. I am new to this, and this cycling a tank never occrued to me. Most of my fish are newly bought, so I should be able to return them all except my betta without a problem. I can keep my betta in the older tank for a little while, and empty and start my new 10 gallon tank again. I'm tempted to buy a 20gal - long as well.

hi guys 
 
Agreeing with Lyra here. All newly set up tanks need to be cycled - head to the cycling your tank section for the great advice on doing this.
 
Regarding Otocinclus - Oto's feed on the microscopic slime coat in our tanks. This slime coat takes a while to start to develop meaning that oto's are not suitable for new aquariums. They will die from hunger - it's as simple as that really. Oto's feed constantly and so just adding cucumber or courgette (zuccini for those outside the U.K) isn't enough to sustain them. If you like the idea of oto's - great! they are a great little cleaning fish and they are full of character but wait a while so you are sure they have what they need to survive. Live plants are better (in my opinion) as the slime coat and algae the oto's feed on covers the plants.
Another thing about oto's. In the wild they live in massive groups and so keeping just one or two isn't good for them. They fair better in large numbers ... 6 being the minimum really. Another piece of advice would be that oto's are small fish with barbed fins. They arn't really suitable to be kept with large fish. There has been stories of angelfish trying to eat oto's. In the process the oto extends it's barbed fins and lodges in the fishes gullet - the result is usually the death of both fish. This is the reason I'm now reducing my oto numbers as I now have angelfish. I shall miss them but I can't risk their little lives with growing angels
 
Okay, test kits. Test kits are essential in this hobby. Normally, if we see an issue occurring in the tank the first thing to do is grab your test kit to see if the problem is caused by the water the fish are swimming in. Fish get ill the same as us but most fish deaths are down to a water quality issues rather than ill health. If you don't have a test kit, you can't check your water.
The best kits are the liquid drop kits - please leave the test strips in the store, they are really inaccurate. The one used most is the API Masterkit. There are others on the market and all are just as good but the API one's seems to be readily available everywhere. It's usually cheaper online than in store.
 
The main tests are pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. These four are included in the API kit along with test tubes and reading charts. You can also get kits for KH and GH but these are available seperately and are often not needed
 
I hope that's all useful info and has answered the questions you both had

Thanks. I don't think I'm experienced enough for an oto just yet, I'm going to return him and get a cycled tank and some experience before I think about letting an oto in the tank. Also, does algae/what oto catfish eat even present in an unplanted tank?

 

[NinjaCarnage]

Thanks for all the help guys, honestly. I don't think I'll be able to manage a freshwater tank, since my parents wouldn't bother taking me to the pet store since there is no way to convince them that there is more to a fish tank then "Food and fish." I really liked the idea of this hobby, but it just can't happen, I guess. Thanks for all the help though.