Dorm Tank - need help

[fishfinncustard]

so, first post on the forums, Hello out there!

Anyway, my family has kept tanks before, but not in a few years and since this will be my first time going it alone I need some advice.
First a little background, as the title suggests this tank is going to be in my dorm room. Luckily, I'm in a single room with a bathroom (college heaven) so I don't have to worry about roommates or hauling water. The tank is a ten gallon because that is as large as my school allows us to have, I've been doing some research so I know there is not a lot that can fit comfortably in a 10 gal but I'm pretty sure I can still keep something interesting.

The first problem came along today when I moved in. Naturally before everything was properly set up I was testing the water parameters and it turns out there is about 1.0 ppm ammonia in the tap water here (which definitely makes me not want to drink it). I'm guessing that this will be detrimental to the tank's inhabitants whenever I do a water change, I believe there are certain chemical treatments that neutralize the ammonia, what would you suggest. Other than chemicals I will now need, won't having ammonia in the water, even if it's neutralized, totally screw up my readings when I'm cycling, or just doing normal check ups for that matter? Does anyone else have ammonia in their tap water? I need some pointers on this.

The ph is also on the higher side, between 7.8 and 8.0 (no surprise there it's city water). I don't know the hardness yet, but I will be taking some water to the LFS soon to find out. The tank has a heater.

Also grabbed a starter kit of tetra chemicals and food at petsmart the other day on sale for cheap. On of the bottles was Safestart, which claims to cycle the tank instantly. i know all about cycling and I must admit the prospect of not having to worry about it during the first few hectic weeks of school is very tempting. Has anyone here used it before? Reviews?

My last question is a little more fun, what can I have in my tank?
I don't want the normal tetras/platies/guppies, in fact I want to have only a few larger fish, to make it a little easier when we have to move home between terms. I was thinking along the lines of a species or specimen tank. Obviously there's the betta option but I'm not sure how well they'd like the water params. dwarf or pygmy gouramis are also an option but would have the same problem. heard about dario dario, scarlet badis, but don't know a lot about them. Went into the LFS a few weeks ago to scope the place out and the guy there suggested shell dweller cichlids, they had multis but the research I've done on them suggests that they breed like rabbits - they also have what I think were brevis (couldn't get a good look at them and they weren't labeled), are these guys a little more selective about breeding? Are there any other cichlids that can be kept in a 10 gal their entire life? The guy at the LFS also suggested dwarf puffers and even suggested that a single figure eight puffer could be kept in a ten (feel free to contradict anything he has said) but I think the figure 8 would be brackish right. Any other suggestions are welcome, i just wants something with personality that's a little out of the ordinary. Mind you what ever it is will have to put up with coming home during the summer, so anything really sensitive is out.

WOW, that is a long post. i'm out of breath just writing it. Congratulations if you managed to stick with me through that. If you're still awake after all that I would really appreciate an answer to my questions. Thanks so much.

 

[SubluxT7]

Hi there,

I can comment on the tetra safe start. I think some people in here have had success with it but personally, i have not had it. I tried using it to cycle a brand new 10 and it did absolutely nothing (except cost me 7 bucks). Good luck with your tank!

 

[aclarino]

I agree with sublux. I tried it and it didnt work, my cycle took almost two months. Most of the stuff I have read about the instant cycles say that they may work but it can make the tank more unstable. I would just stick to the onld fashion way and maybe go to your LFS and get some used filter media or used gravel to seed your tank. I have a green spotted puffer. He is great. I think a 10 gal may be too small for a figure eight though and you would def have to upgrade sometime in the future. They are brackish but low end, so only a small amount of salt would be needed and its alot easier then you would think. I would definitally go with the dwarf puffers, you really cant get more personality then a puffer.

 

[jpappy789]

Plenty of nano fish out there...ember tetras, microrasboras, badis, sparkling gouramis, pygmy corys, etc. all would be my top choices (obviously not all together though).

Congrats on getting a coveted single room although I have to admit that it was fun getting the strange looks from the people on my floor when hauling a bucket from the bathroom to my dorm my freshman year. Now all I have to do is worry about my housemates who think I'm weird...

 

[Rbishop]

Prime as the water conditioner will lock that ammonia up for you into a non-toxic form that will still be available to the bacteria. It will still show on most test kits, but a well established tank should be able to handle it in 24-46 hours without issues to your fish.

 

[ianab]

The ammonia that shows in your tap water test is probably Chloramine that the water company has added to make the water safe to drink, so don't worry there, 1ppm wont harm you, but it can harm your fish. But Prime or any other good water conditioner will take care of that.

The high pH, which also suggests hard water, may be an issue for many fish, and will be an issue with cycling the tank. A high pH makes any ammonia more toxic than it would be at a lower pH. So what you might get away with at 6.5 pH is probably fatal at 8.0 pH.

The idea of Shell Dwellers should be OK. Yes they will breed, but they tend to be somewhat self limiting, and when the tank starts getting crowded they end up eating most of their offspring.

Never used the "Safe Start", but I'm dubious about it's claims. I can see how it could act as a "seed" or fertiliser and make a cycle faster, but to get the tank cycled you need to get that colony of bacteria established in the bio-film on the filter media. This is going to take time, and a source of ammonia.

A pity you couldn't have "pre-cycled" a filter at home, and bought it with you. That would have given you some real live cycle from day one, and allowed you to begin stocking the tank safely.

Ian

 

[rice4lifelegit]

haven't used TSS, but superbac does wonders for me although its kind of hard to find unless you got a fish specialty store, stability didn't work for me either =\

ps. chicks love cute fishes