Type of Filter?

[Anne L.]

What type of filter should I use for my new 10 gallon tank?

I've heard bad stories about the undergravel filters - are these good, or should we get a power filter that hangs on the back?

Which would you people recommend and which are lower maintenance?

Thanks!

[TKOS]

I have had great luck with an AC Mini. Cheap, reliable, great filter. Stay away from th UGF filters as there are just so many better alternatives these days.

For a small tank like the 10 gallons, the HOB (hang on Back) filters work best and are easy to clean and operate.

[Anne L.]

Thanks, TKOS. The starter kit came with a cheap looking underground filter, so we bought a new hang on filter. It seems to work o.k. and is very quiet. We don't have fish in the tank quite yet, as we're working out some of the other details yet. Hopefully we'll get our first fish to cycle with this weekend if all goes well.

[Erik713]

I love my Penguin Mini. It has mechanical filtering (fish poo, rotting food, etc...), chemical filtering (activated carbon filtering), and biological filtering (biowheel wet/dry filtering) all in one. The other cool thing is that you can take out the replace the mechanical flitering floss without getting rid of most of the bacteria (they're mostly on the biowheel).

It's a hang on back, and I can't say enough good stuff about it!

[Erik713]

Whoops! You hadn't replied when I started typing. I hope it works out for ya!

[TKOS]

Before you start cycling with fish you shoudl read the sticky posted in the freshwater newbie forum on Fishless cycling.

[aquariumfishguy]

The modern, quickest way to cycle your tank is to do a fishless cycle. To read up on it, here are a few links. Some on cycling in general, some on fishless cycling:

Fishless Cycling (http://www.fish-disease.com/articles.htm)

General Info (http://www.angelfire.com/pro/mavericks/Guide/Cycling.html)

More Info on Cycling (http://honors.montana.edu/~weif/firsttank/cycle.phtml)

HTH

[Anne L.]

I've read the info on fishless cycling but also have gotten the advice that I can start with 2 small fish and do water changes.

I'd like to do the fishy cycle just because this is my kids' tank and their Christmas present. I also don't really want the poor things to die, either, so I'm not really sure which way to go.

How long does the fishless cycling take?

If we do go with fishy cycling, should we do daily water changes, and again, how long does this take? We were told to use something called Cycle, and I have this in the tank along with water conditioner as advised by the fish store.

[TKOS]

If I were you I would get the tank running soon and do a fishless cycle which should take a few weeks. Then give your kids a gift certificate for a fish store instead of buying fish for them. That way they get to pick out their fish and possibly the group of you can research which fish are best first (for example no oscars in a 10 gallon tank). If the kids get to pick their own fish then there is a better chance they will be more interested in the tank and its running. And you get all this time before christmas to get the fishless thing going.

If you do go with a fishy cycle make sure to constantly test the water and do many water changes to keep things healthy. Doing a healthy fishy cycle will probably take much longer than doing a fishless where you don't have to change the water.

[aquariumfishguy]

Cycling with fish can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks. There is never an "exact" time, just when your testers start reading certain levels of certain pollutants/bacteras/etc... (we will get more into that if you REALLY want to use fish to cycle your tank).

Fishless cycling, however is much easier on everyone...not to mention much faster which means your children will have their "present" around xmas. :D

[Anne L.]

Aquariumfishguy, I could really use some help in this. I've read everything about fishless cycling and still have some questions.

This is where we stand now with the tank. It's set up with water conditioner, "cycle", and has been running for a couple of days. I have a friend who is willing to give us a couple of gallons of water from his established aquarium. Will this make any difference?

For fishless cycling, we add ammonia until it registers, then do the required testing as I've read until everything reaches 0. Approximately how long do you think this would take - this is the part that I'm not really clear on and does it make a difference that we've added the cycle stuff?

The tank water is slightly cloudy now, I have not done any additional testing other than the pH at the beginning which was 7.4.

Help, please? :confused: This is all starting to scare me and my older son is now getting worried about killing or hurting the fish.

[TKOS]

Do you already have fish in the tank? If so do not add any ammonia.

Tank water from an established tank really won't do any good as the bacteria live on surfaces. Getting some of his gravel or borrowing an ornament will give you a jump start on the cycle and make things go much faster.

The water will clear in a few days when the particles settle out.

Add ammonia to 5ppm and keep topping that off each day until it starts to hit 0 after 24 hours. During this time you should have anitrite spike and this will go down to zero as well.

If you have a source of good bacteria (as mentioned above) the cycle should get started quickly and possibly be ready at Christmas time. I have seen people go through it anywhere from 8 days to 30 days. A lot depends on temp (mid 70's to low 80's is fine), always making sure to top off the ammonia and not letting the nitrates (not nitrites) get too high. That is why test kits are essential to do this.

Use this time to help your kids learn about the proper way to take care of fish and all the cool science that is involved. Those test kits can be lots of fun as well.

Cycle probably won't help, but it should hurt anything either.

[Anne L.]

TKOS, we don't have any fish in the tank yet as I've been worried about what to do. I think we're going to go with the fishless cycle, and the fellow who was going to give me the water will likely lend me an ornament from his tank. I'll ask him when he comes back from his break. He's a coworker of mine who sits right beside me and is a pretty good guy, so I'm sure he'll lend me something.

Our tank is sitting about 76 degrees right now, so that should be good enough for the cycle to start.

The kids will be disappointed that they won't get fish this weekend, but I think it'll be worse for them to see their fish get sick and die from the ammonia. I know that I don't want to put a small creature through that - it sounds cruel. They like science type stuff a whole bunch too and so do I, so the test kits are pretty cool as well and will teach them about water chemistry and such.

I'll let you know how it goes - the trick now is to find ammonia.

[TKOS]

Make sure the ammonia 100% pure and has no detergents in it. Thta will kill fish off.

If all else fails then you can do what the saltwater people do and throw in a raw cocktail shrimp. This will decompose and give off ammonia. Not as plesant as using ammonia though.

[Anne L.]

Well, I'm getting an ornament from my coworker's tank tomorrow so that's great. Now to find ammonia or shrimp if I have to. Oh well, if I have to buy a bag of frozen raw shrimp, we can eat the rest! Not a problem there, for sure.

[Anne L.]

Well, I got the ammonia and an ornament from a co-worker's tank (thanks, Jason!). I put everything in last night, although it took more ammonia than I thought to get it up there.

I'll test it again tonight after work and see what happens. I have to pick up the nitrate/nitrite test kit tomorrow at the fish store.

Wish us luck!

[TKOS]

Cool, sounds like you are on the way to a healthy tank!!

[Anne L.]

I'm hoping so. My kids are very happy that there is a way to set up the tank without harming the fish. When I told them that fishy cycling can hurt the fish's gills and breathing, they were more than willing to wait for the rest of their Christmas gift.

Look for me here asking more questions in the near future.

[aquariumfishguy]

hehe...it will be a gift that truely keeps on giving! ;)