Setting up a very first tank. Please advice!

[Sunny]

Hi! I have been reading your forum for two days now, and there's a lot of information. I am very very new to this. The last time I had an aquarium was when I was a little girl at my parents house.
We are getting a 10 gallon tank today, which I feel is a good size to start with. The book I have seems to be more or less outdated. It offers all the basic info, but I feel I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. I am particularly interested in learning more about the steps we need to take with cycling, and if someone could please explain to me step by step what we need to do first before adding the fish, or maybe direct me to the most important threads on the forum?
Thank you!

[dwayne]

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=26051

Link to the Cycling thread!

Good luck!!!

~Tara

[tomm10]

Welcome, Sunny. If you haven't already bought the tank I would advise going with a 20g. They're not much bigger in foot print and not much more expensive but it doubles your water volume which will mean more water stability (easier for you to maintain) and more fish. The 10g will be okay but I wished I had bought a 20g about a week after I set up my 10g.

Good luck!

Tom

[Sunny]

Thanks, guys!
It maybe too late for me to change my mind about the tank size, my husband just went out to get one already, lol.

[tomm10]

I was going to pm you this but I was feeling wordy and its too big to go :D

Sunny, I see you posting to a few different forums and I didn't want you to get too confused by conflicting answers. The folks in the plant forum can be over the top about plants so when you ask about simple plantings they can over complicate things. I'll give you my $.02 and then you can use it as you wish.

Worry first and foremost about cycling your tank for fish. Cycling is the term we use to refer to the creation of a bacteria colony in an aquarium that will convert ammonia contained in fish waste and left over food into nitrite and then into nitrate. This is a pretty simplified version of what goes on but here goes:

Once ammonia is in your tank, be it from fish waste or by adding it directly, bacteria begin to colonize your tank. These bacteria tend to attch themselves to areas of your tank that will see good oxygenation or high water flow through like your filter cartridge. These bacteria will eat the ammonia and convert it through their waste to nitrites. Once nitrites become present another bacteria moves in, much like its predecessor, and eats the nitrite. It then converts the nitrite to nitrAte. Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are all toxic to fish but nitrate is much more tolerable and can be handled through regular water changes. In addition it is absorbed by live plants as food.

You can go through this cycle either with fish to create the ammonia (Fishy Cycling) or by adding pure ammonia to a fishless tank (Fishless Cycling). If you cycle with fish you are exposing them to harmful toxics that could kill them or at the very least cause stress. Fishless cycling is more responsible because it doesn't expose fish to the toxins but you have to look at an empty tank the whole time. Either way you're looking at about 4 weeks of cycle time.

To speed up the cycle you can add filter material from an established tank to your tank. This will seed the tank with a mature bacteria colony and will significantly speed up the cycle. After my first tank was cycled I started all my new tanks with filter material from an established tank. They all cycled instantly. You can get filter material either from a friend with an aquarium or from a decent LFS for a couple of bucks. Once you have it just stuff it into your filter or swish it around in the water and leave it in the bottom of the tank. Wait 4 weeks or so to remove it.

As far as plants are concerned, you will need appropriate lighting to grow them. In a 10g tank your light hood will probably have two screw in incandescent fixtures. You can replace those bulbs with 10w compact fluorescents and that should be enough light to grow crytocyrne, java fern, and java moss to start. If you want more than that in the future you can research it more in depth later. you can do plants right from the start though some say if you fishless cycle you should wait until the tank is cycled to plant otherwise you risk a big algae bloom. Even if you don't do plants right away, switch to fluorescent bulbs. They give off much less heat which should help keep the tank's temperature stable.

Good luck!

Tom

[Sunny]

Thank you, Tom! This certainly explained what I wanted to know, and I will print out your post and take it to the store with me. :)

Now that I know what cycling is, do future water changes affect anything or is this just something I have to do only in the beginning?
I remember when my parents had an aquarium they had to keep water in huge glass containers for weeks before pouring it into the tank. :rolleyes:

How will I know if my tank is ready for fish? Which species are hardy enough to be placed first in the aquarium? (My husband is really into Angelfish.)

[tomm10]

Buy a test kit. You will need to test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates daily while cycling. After the tank is cycled, weekly is fine. You should also test for pH frequently. A test kit for hardness (KH and GH) will also be helpful in determining what kinds of fish and plants will do well in you water.

While the tank is cycling water changes are a daily event to keep the toxin levels down. once the tank is cycled you'll find a routine for water changes. Generally a 20% water change weekly works well but in a 10g tank its just as easy to do a 40-50% water change weekly considering the small volume of water involved. Aging the water like your parents did is a must if your water supply contains chlorine and you don't use chlorine/chloramine removers. If, however, you use a chlorine/chloramine remover in your water changes, you can change water right from the tap. Bear in mind that water right from the tap may have a differnt pH from you cycled, stable tank. Changing a large amount of water when the pHs are different can be a shock to the fish. you should check the pH of water out of the tap and compare it to that of your tank (once its cycled). If they're close then you have no worries. If not, you will need to keep your water changes smaller (more like 20-30%) or age your water to get the pH closer.

You Testing will work like this at first. The first day you test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, they'll all show 0 (they might register slightly but only from what exists in the water from the tap.) Over the next few days ammonia levels will rise. Eventually they'll drop and nitrites will rise. Finally both ammonia and nitrites will register zero and nitrates will begin to register. At this point you'll be ready for fish. If you do a fishless cycle be aware that there are some other procedures you need to follow. A search for fishless cycling should yield you all the info you need to know to do that correctly.

If you fishless cycle you really don't need to worry too much about hardy fish. You just won't want to get any of the real challenging fish right away. Angelfish won't work in a 10g. they get too big and need more swimming space.

BTW, when looking for fish, always think of their size interms of their adult size rather than their size in the store. For example, a common pleco may only be 2" long in the store and seem perfect for your 10g until you realize they can grow up to 24" long.

Tom

[happychem]

I think that Tom's pretty much covered all the salient points, but I just wanted to add that a number of stem plants can also be grown in the light you'd get with a couple of screw in PCs. Especially since 10s are so shallow. Plants like hygrophilia species have done very well for me.

While we're talking pH, don't be overly concerned by your readings. The important point is that you pH is stable. If you slowly acclimate your fish, I don't think that there are any fish that will fit in a 10g that will mind any pH you're likely to observe, so long as it's stable.

However, a good test to do is to fill a shallow bowl with tap water and leave it overnight. Test the pH and KH (alkalinity) in the morning. Your tank pH will likely be very close to this value so long as you're fairly diligent with water changes.

LFS people may try to sell you various snake oils for cycling, buffering or proper pH. All that you need to know is that in almost all cases, the best remedy is water changes. I think the best imagery for this is to imagine living in an airtight bubble with just a fan to push air around and replenish oxygen. Wouldn't you want new, fresh air as much as possible?

My final piece of advice, go fishless. For all the frustration of staring at an empty tank and wondering when the $%$* nitrites are finally going to drop, fishless is a lot less frustrating and cheaper than putting your fish through the cycle and replacing the ones that die.

[hcgirl80]

What's your fave fish? I could work out something maybe(I have a 10g too) if you could give me something to start with.

~Paige

[anonapersona]

If you are ging to have a well planted tank, that is not just a plant or two plants but a lot of plants, an actual underwater garden, then you can skip the cycle entirely.


Pop in at
Chuck Gadd's site (http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/) and read the articles there about how to start an planted tank.

If you get a 10 gallon, you actually are better off with the hood that has the two screw-in bulbs that you can switch for the 10 watt u-tube compact flourescent ($5 at Walmart pet dept).

And, be sure to look at AGA Contest site (http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004.cgi) for inspiration on what an underwater garden can look like.

[Sunny]

We finally got the tank and set it all up. No fish yet. Bought beautiful driftwood that looks like a mountain with lots of alcoves and nooks for the fish to get into or go through, rocks and plants---all natural. The pet store was great, they talked to us extensively about fish, etc. and even sold us used aquarium water ready for the fish to make the cycling process go quickly. I was also pleased that we were able to get a membership to their pet club with which we can now get 50% discount on all fish on certain days and also discounts on everything else in the store. So I am a happy camper. Now I have a few questions about some of the equipment, etc. you may have experience with:

1--We got a basic pump with the tank and a sponge filter. The filter has to be cleaned once a month. The pump is making lots of noise. It is "Elite 799" brand. We put it into a cabinet and it is better noisewise, but we've been wondering if there are other pump brands that make less noise?

2--Since we have a 10g tank with two incandescent bulbs it is heating up the tank to where the temperature stays about 78-79 degrees F all the time, and at night never goes below 74 if not higher (We live in warm climate) even if the light is off. The counsellor at the aquarium store said that with this situation we don't need a heater. Thoughts?

3--We let the female Betta into the tank to see if she works out, and had to remove her back into her old tank already. I am jealous how others are able to keep a female Betta in a community tank. After my recent bad esperiences with Bettas I discovered yet again that this particular female is not suitable for a community tank. What happened is that we bought a Dwarf African frog (grey with black dots) after I had a long discussion with a counsellor who said that these frogs don't get more than 2.5 inces long and don't bother regular fish unless it is feeder fish. I put the frog into the tank, and the female Betta wouldn't leave it alone. She kept harrassing the frog, following it around and pocking at it until the frog hid deep into the crack in the driftwood. Even then the Betta kept at it. The only defence the frog had was pushing the Betta away with its paws. So we removed the Betta and put her back into her old tank. The end of that story. Will never put another Betta into a community aquarium again.

--------------------------
4--I am very interested in acquiring a breed called "Badis". Does anyone know anything about this fish, if it is a rare find in stores, its price, etc. I have read that they are very peaceful, not to mention their beautiful colouring.



Sooooo, what do you think??

[Watcher74]

and even sold us used aquarium water ready for the fish to make the cycling process go quickly.

Doh! They swindled you on that. There is hardly any of the good bacteria you need for cycling in the water. If the tank is an undergravel filter then there will be lots of good bacteria in the gravel, if it is a power or canister filter then the good bacteria(nitrifying) is found in the biological media within the filter.

I'm afraid there is nothing good about the water they sold you. Actually it might hurt you as there might be some disease in it. If you've already put it in your tank, go ahead and change out all the water and clean everything with fresh tap water and paper towels, nothing else.

As for you not needing a heater, it is a good idea to use one anyway. The fish will be stressed from constant changes in water temperature. Find a small, good heater(Visi-Therm is good) and put the temp around 78.

[happychem]

I agree that the water's not going to help much, and that they basically sold you something that they would have (should have?) been throwing out within a week anyway.

I strongly doubt that you have anything to worry about disease-wise, but I think that I would be tempted to complain, in a polite and tactful manner. I tend to think the best of people and I suspect that the lfs person who sold you the water believed (as many do) that it would indeed be helpful. The bottom line is that bacteria need a surface on which to colonize and that surface needs to have water flow to bring a fresh supply of food (i.e. NH3/NO2) and oxygen. Explain that to them and if they are a decent store, they should be more than happy to give you lots of filter squeezings or some old filter media.

While we're at it. Don't fall for the old activated carbon scam. It's for lazy fishkeepers. You don't need activated carbon unless it's to get meds out of your water after a treatment. Even then lots of water changes are far more effective.

[Sunny]

Okay, I'll have to work something out with the water. I also wanted to ask about the tablets that's supposed to help clear the water and bacteria. They work sort of like Alka-Seltzer. Is that the carbon you are talking about or something else?

Will feeder fish help with the cycling of the tank?

[Watcher74]

No, the tablets you mentioned are a type of water conditioner to get rid of Chlorine/Chloramine. Personally I prefer liquid additives to prepare the water, but to each their own.

The carbon mentioned is used in a lot of filters. There are three main types of filtration found in different types of filters like canister or power filters.

1) Mechanical- used to catch particles in the water that get sucked up by the intake like fish food or poop or plant material with a planted tank. When you service your filter you rinse this out with old tank water to remove the debris.

2)Biological- This is where the nitrifying bacteria populates in the highest numbers and should be disturbed with as little as possible.

3)Chemical- Several different things can be placed in here for achieving different results but using carbon is the most common. The carbon absorbs impurities in the water such as medication or other things that can make the water smell like sewage. If you ever need to add medications to your tank make sure you don't have any carbon in the filter while you are treating the tank. When you are done place the carbon in the filter for a few days to remove the medication. Usually other than that it is not needed, but it gets a lot of recommendations to constantly use it, which is not usually necessary.

[Sunny]

We got a sponge filter with the tank, recommended to clean every month, says the box.
What about pumps? Which brand is the quietest? The one we got makes a lot of racket, and we had to place it inside the cabinet. Still noisey, but not as bad as before. Do they make any noiseless or quieter pumps?

[Watcher74]

A duetto power filter is very quiet and a Duetto 100 would be perfect for a 10 gallon. It fits inside the tank and is completely submersible. Goes for about $25.

[happychem]

Ah yes, you mentioned that already. My bad!

I actually have the Elite 801, and I agree that it's noise. Actually, from where I'm sitting right now, the bubbling is making more noise.

Personally, I find that air driven filters make too much noise. I'm using this one only because I needed a quick, cheap hospital. Also, I prefer to have some mechanical filtration, which I don't seem to be getting much of using the sponge method. The aquaclear mini is what's running on my other 10g, and I couldn't be happier. It's quiet and easy to maintain. It also removes solid wastes from the tank, so the gravel doesn't accumulate a lot of detritus.

[tomm10]

Sunny, go for a Hang On Back style of filter. You can get a little Whisper filter cheap and it will work fine. These type of filters hang off the back of the tank and pump water up through an intake tube, pass it through a filter cartridge, and cascade it back into the top of the tank. If you keep the water level on your tank high enough these filters are completely silent.

Ditch the incandescent light bulbs and get the fluorescent ones. This will help kill the temperature fluctuation. Also, I agree that you should get a heater to keep the temps stable.

Tom

[Sunny]

I am pulling my hair out with the incandescent bulbs. But when we looked in the store for the fluorescent we couldn't find the kind that screw on, and that's what the tank hood requires. Is there an adapter for that or did we look in the wrong places? We went from 25 watts incandescent to 15 watts and if we keep the light on constantly 9during the night too) the tempareture goes up to 82 degrees. There's no fish in the tank just the frog, and he is doing well, but isn't 82 kind of high for most fish?

[tomm10]

Sunny, the problem isn't so much the temperature as the temperature fluctuation. For now, keep the light off until you find the flourescents.

The bulbs you are looking for are compact fluorescents. You can find them in the 10w variety in Walmart both in the lighting section and in the fish section of the pet department. This is the style of light you'll be looking for:
Compact Fluorescent (http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=23463;category_id=1857;pcid 1=1843;pcid2=)

[Sunny]

Thanks, Tom! Cross my fingers we'll find some in Wal Mart. I was surprised the pet store only had those plug-in fluorescent bulbs, not the screw on.

[tomm10]

IME pet shops are notoriously bad about carrying the screw in compact fluorescents. When they do have them you'll usually pay 100% more for them than you would at Walmart.

Tom