thanks Aquarius and others---here's what I did---suggestions on fish?

[kelley]

Okay, so I cleaned everything with Oxy Clean, got an undergravel filter set up, put in my Aqua Safe and Proquatics Bacteria Starter...took out the old filter with charcoal and stuck in a new "baggie" minus the charcoal.

Now, the big fish store is telling me that I can start stocking right away...and the Petsmart teen says to get two "starter fish??" in three days time.

I know I've killed off all of the good bacteria, though, so I'm not in a rush to go get new fish. Anyone know anything about the above mentioned product? It's the only one I could find.

Right now we are looking for more stocking suggestions. Are the little frogs okay? We'd love to have a few varieties of fish in there, but I'm really getting vastly varying info from the fish dudes at the stores.
Algae eaters that don't get too huge?


Thanks...again! Kelley

 

[Aquarius0015]

If you really want an UGF, be my guest. I do not care for them personally, but others love them.

I've never heard of Proquatics Bacteria Starter. The only bacteria-in-a-bottle that I've heard actually works is BioSpira, which is pretty expensive. Proceed with caution.

Unless you do decide to buy some BioSpira (or do a fishless cycle), I would not suggest adding all of your fish at once. You can get the frogs, but not to start out with. You want really tough fish as starters.

However, before you select a starter fish, you need to decide upon a final stocking scheme. If I remember correctly, you have a 10 gallon, so here are some ideas for possible fish/animals. Not all of them are compatible with each other. The ones with stars beside the name are good starter fish IMO.

Guppies, Platies*, 1 Betta*, Zebra Danios*, Swordtails*, Cories, Frogs, Snails, Shrimp, Tetras, Barbs* (some are aggressive, watch out), Kuhli loaches, 1 Paradise fish*, 1 dwarf gourami*, White Cloud Mt. Minnows

Algae won't be a problem if you keep your tank well maintained. Plecos will all get too big for your tank, and Chinese Algae Eaters get aggressive with age. Ottos tend to be delicate, but they might work. Apple snails might help out a little. A lot of times algae eaters are more hassle than wiping out the tank once a week.

 

[HarmonyAZ]

Kelley - I'm new to this but I was getting so much bad and conflicting advice from PetSmart, I went to the library and picked up some books and now I mostly go by what those say, and it's a lot easier. A good one that OrionGirl recommended was The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums by David Boruchowitz. I think you would like that one because it has many suggested stocking schemes. But it doesn't go into fishless cycling, so if you decide to go that route, you're best bet might be here or other books.

I had to almost totally re-stock due to having fish that were way too big for my tank, and too many, and not the best mix, thanks to listening to PetSmart people. Be sure when stocking you're not getting into something you're going to have to re-do in a year or less.

 

[Lauren]

That was my first fish book too. it has a really good step by step on how to cycle your fish. Lots of information, though, so it gets a little mind boggling. Read through that section a few times. The stocking themes are great for new aquarists too. They all start off with the hardiest of fish, which you can add for the cycle. So read through the cycle information, then flip to section four and pick a stocking theme you like (note: they are all for 25 gallon tanks, so if you have a 10g either remove half of each number of fish or remove a type or two) then, read the cycle info again, and go out and buy your first kind of fish. Be patient. Don't freak out if something goes wrong and you are stuck with a cloud of bacteria. Just keep an eye on the tank and keep the water changes up and you'll be on your way to a fabulous tank.

 

[caz]

i would ditch the undergravel filter, and just get a hob filter. personall opinion of course. as far as the advice yes you should add two "starter fish" which would be the easiest route. choose something thats cheap, hardy, and something that you will want to keep.

 

[kelley]

argh...I bought the undergravel filter because the fish store owners highly recommended it and spent a great deal of time explaining why it was good they didn't push me to buy their system, either, in fact they sent me to Petsmart to get one...so after setting it up last night (and cutting it apart, thus rendering it unreturnable), I'm hoping it's not such a bad thing. It has two air stones and tubes on either side, and I've got those hooked up to an air pump for a ten gallon tank. It's covered in gravel.

The petsmart guy said to start off with two zebra danios, but having been through the "hey, these are cute and they won't be a problem" with goldfish, I'm not really thinking this is a good way to go.

I have to call an 800 number to find out what the heck is in this bacteria starter! It just says "Improves the development of your biological filter and helps keep a balanced aquarium"

That book sounds great and I'm going to dig for it tomorrow! We really don't want to have another fish crisis.

Thanks everyone! Kelley

 

[Must4ng s4lly]

I did my ten gallon tank cycle with a betta and left in in the tank with all the swords, 2 cories I later got. it is heavily planted and all are fine! No glodfish! They are clod water and really poopy!

Good luck! I am sure all will be fine! Oh I have a plec in there too and when he gets too big, I will just trade him!

snails gross me out cause I spend hours squishing them in my yard so they don't eat my plants! YUCk! nasty things!

 

[TKOS]

Do not start with any fish that you don't plan on keeping. Too many times I see people say that they are cycling their tank with danios but then hate having danios. The list of fish above is a good vatiety of fish that can do well in a 10 gallon tank. Some are schooling fish so do your homework there.

A UGF will work fine but is considered older technology by many. You should post about the RUGF, the reverse version of the UGF. I here that they work much better. Possibly it is just a matter of altering yours.