Help for starting up a 10 gallon tank

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Bravofleet4

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Dec 27, 2006
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hi I made a post earlier about having a betta currently in a 1.2 gallon jar and looking into buying a 2.5 gallon tank for it. Well, I decided to just go ahead and buy a 10 gallon tank for $10 instead from petco. However, noob that I am, I am already having problems setting it up. For one thing, I've just realized I don't have nearly enough gravel to provide 3 inches.

My first question is I've been reading up on cycling fish tanks. Unfortunately, I don't have an existing tank to draw existing bacteria from and not wanting to spend money on nitrate and ammonia tests (being a college student, we try to spend very little), I was wondering if it was acceptable to put my single betta in it and just do frequent water changes for perhaps 2 weeks, so I would not have to worry about nitrate or ammonnia levels while still allowing good bacteria to grow. After that, I wouldn't add anymore fish for another two weeks and even then small one's, one at a time. Does this sound acceptable???

My second question is I also realized my tank doesn't have a lid. How much water should I expect to evaporate and require me adding more? Or is it essential?

P.S. I realize how weak my commitment right now might but I just hate the idea of spending any amount in such a short amount of time like this. I will probably get all these things later (like in 1 or 2 months) when I have some more income (remember college student!). I just want to have some money lying around just in case and don't want to spend it all right now.
 
You don't need 3 inches of gravel. If it's going to be an unplanted tank (no live plants) you only need enough gravel to make it look good. I like around an inch but just put in whatever depth you like.

Evaporation is no big issue, just top it up as it evaporates. A jumping fish however is an issue, I believe betta's can jump so you might need some kind of lid.

All I know is a betta in 10g of water is better than a betta in 1.2g. Someone else who knows more about betta's will advise you about how to cycle.
 
is there a reason you need 3 inches of gravel? you can put in as little (enough to cover the glass) or as much (3 inches. . . . ) as you want. the more gravel, the more food and poo will get built up in it. there's no set rule about that.

ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests are standard basic necessities of fishkeeping. however, taking your water to an LFS is a good way of tracking water quality on the cheap. make sure to get the ACTUAL number and not a "it's good, don't worry" or "it's bad, buy this and make it better". you can do the water changes, probably 15% a day would be fine with just one betta in there.

a lid isn't necessary. just make sure that after you cycle the tank you still do water changes, not just top off the tank. simply adding water will concentrate toxins, metals, etc. . . you have to still change the water out to remove the buildup from evaporation. IME in the winter evaporation with a lid is around 2-3 inches a week. depends on your humidity. in the summer, no evaporation. probably different if you have AC in the house.

if you don't have a lot of $ right now the best thing to do would be upgrade for your betta and that's all. once he's settled, start saving for more fish or a larger tank (or other nice things like tank lids and test kits!)
 
you don't need 3 inches? oh, i had just seen that number on a website while researching on-line. So I guess the majority of the bacteria will be found on my filter? I had expected that a significant number would also be expected to come from the gravel.

Thanks for all the answers btw
 
just shows everone needs to watch where they get their info from. 3 inch is great in a planted tank but no reason in a non planted tank.

if your going to do a tank you should do it right. is $14 to much for you? if you have a pets mart you can print out their price for the ap master test kit which has most all the tests you will need. ill even give you the link.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...t+kit&In=All&previousText=master+test+kit&N=2

since you have a betta in a jar it would be better just to put it in a 10 gal tank. you will prob have to do water changes every day to keep the levels down.
 
$15 isn't too much but I've also had to buy a filter, gravel, and heater, in addition to the tank, so it is adding up for me. Like I said, I'm a college student (who isn't working part-time). More importantly, I didn't buy the bettas, someone gave them to me for christmas. I didn't go out and buy these or otherwise I would've figured out what I needed way in advance and known how much to spend. Right now I'm looking at spending $60 for a $3 gift...I'm not being defensive...I just don't want to seem like a scrooge :-p
 
my cousin bred them and raised them as fry's and gave them to us. Unfortunately...I don't think she ever thought it through with what she was going to do with them afterwards. That's probably why she gave one to everyone for christmas. LOL I don't think I can return them.
 
hmm...after reading more about the harms of cycling with fish would it be possible to raise any significant amount of bacteria just using some of the fish food and maybe pouring in the water I keep dumping out during my water changes? Or perhaps I could use one or two of my ghost shrimp. It seems very slow this way in any case, so I wonder how much good it would do. .

P.S. Where do you get liquid ammonia btw?

[Edit] Although many of you think that 10 g is an improvement over 1.2 g anytime, so i'll probably try to arrange that as fast as possible. However, to give you the complete details, I actually have 3 bettas to take care of right now (since my brothers don't want theirs and are pretty irresponsible), so this still might prove useful.

I don't think I will use craig list since I'm still pretty unfamiliar with those kind of things (don't even have a credit card yet...if that's used).
 
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