Newbie! Info Please

M

mzaltadena

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Dec 12, 2006
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Well, hello all......

My name is Desiree and I am a new owner of a 10gal starter kit from Tetra-Tech.. I got the freshwater kit.....KNOW SOME INFO/ADVISE PLEASE

OK I set my tank up on Sunday, and yesterday I went to this well known and been in business for 40 years tropical fish place in located in Pasaden, Ca....

I went into the pet store and was immediatly helped by the owner of the store. I told him that I wanted to get a kit that would help me to determine the nitrate, nitrite and amonia in my tank. The kits were all separate and would cost me about $10 each or $30 to test all three... So with me being on a budget, I just decided to get the amonia test kit for now. I also asked the owner about getting some live plants and he suggested a couple with I bought for about $6.99 a piece, he told me that they would eventually start spouting flowers too. I was excited~...then I told him that I wanted to go and look at the fish he had in his store. Now this store is not like your PetSmarts, or your petco, this is more like a mom and pop type tropical fish store and they had so many fish to choose from..they even had some fish that I had never seen before that looked really cool. I can remember when I was growing up my mother had a pretty big fish tank and she bought 3 oscars for it and one point in time and then 2 ended up dying within a year or so, but one of them stay alive for about 10 years...we would feed him pelets and occasionally goldfish (that was always neat for me to see as a kid) Well I asked the owner of the store, could I get 1 oscar to put in my 10g tank, he told me that that would probably be fine, but you should never just get one fish, and not two either because they will get territorial and fight. so he recommended me getting 3 oscars for my 10g tank....SAY WHAT... I was very excited, I could put 3 oscars in my 10g tank...YEAH RIGHT is what I told him, I know how big those things get.. He said well they do not grow that fast and you could keep them for about 1 1/2 years before you would need a bigger tank... HUUUUH, I get on the internet and start doing some research and I found out that the absolute minimum to keep an oscar is 55g.... I have also seen some sites where people have had 1 oscar in a 10g tank and it did just fine and has been alive and kicking for 2 years so far. Well to make a long story short... I guess I just need a couple of questions answered.

When I tested my amonia in the water it read at .25, I do not have the other kits yet to do the other testing

Why would he tell me something like that?
What other types of fish could I get that are smaller than oscars but also eat live fish and that I can also keep in a 10g tank

And any other type of advise/info you can give would be great.

It is currently tues day, I have two live plants in my tank, but no fish yet. I really want an oscar, but I kinda already know my tank is not big enough to fit 3 oscars. What would be the problem if I did get just 1 oscar and maybe some other smaller fish to go with the oscar?
 
jm1212 said:
on oscar will not fit in a ten gallon no matter what, and they need at least 75 gallons without any other fish in the tank

for your ten gallon, you could get six neons and then 4 zebra danios, and then some ghost shrimp and a snail for the clean up crew
Click to expand...



Sounds like an interesting set up, and plenty of fish activity in my 10g tank. Thanks, also do you know of any fish that I can put in my 10g tank that eat live fish/guppies?
 
Well, you will get plenty of advice soon.

What I'll say for the moment is that you will need the ammonia test first, and then the nitrite test 'real soon'. The nitrate can wait a couple of weeks and it's not really critical.

You have a couple of options - like doing a fishless cycle or getting the tank cycled with a small fish load. Essentially you need to get the tanks biological system up and running. The most important life form in the tank is the bacteria that eat ammonia and nitrite, and it takes a few weeks to populate the tank. If you have fish in the tank when you are doing this, then it means water changes a couple of times a week or maybe daily, but that's not too bad with a 10g.

What sort of filter? Is it one with the wet/dry trickle filter in the lid or a hang on filter? Either way, part of the filter will have sponge or ceramic noodles and that is where most of the bacteria live. They are the important guys. Oh, and they can be killed by chlorine in the tap water, so you have to use a water treatment for that or let the water sit 24 hours before adding it to the tank.

Yes, oscars are too big for a 10g. So are goldfish and many other species. Even one oscar would be too much as would one goldfish.

I like gourami myself and you could find some of those who would fit in the tank...
 
mzaltadena said:
Sounds like an interesting set up, and plenty of fish activity in my 10g tank. Thanks, also do you know of any fish that I can put in my 10g tank that eat live fish/guppies?
Click to expand...
im pretty sure that any fish that would like to eat feeders will get to big for a ten gallon
 
amosf said:
Well, you will get plenty of advice soon.

What I'll say for the moment is that you will need the ammonia test first, and then the nitrite test 'real soon'. The nitrate can wait a couple of weeks and it's not really critical.

You have a couple of options - like doing a fishless cycle or getting the tank cycled with a small fish load. Essentially you need to get the tanks biological system up and running. The most important life form in the tank is the bacteria that eat ammonia and nitrite, and it takes a few weeks to populate the tank. If you have fish in the tank when you are doing this, then it means water changes a couple of times a week or maybe daily, but that's not too bad with a 10g.

What sort of filter? Is it one with the wet/dry trickle filter in the lid or a hang on filter? Either way, part of the filter will have sponge or ceramic noodles and that is where most of the bacteria live. They are the important guys. Oh, and they can be killed by chlorine in the tap water, so you have to use a water treatment for that or let the water sit 24 hours before adding it to the tank.

Yes, oscars are too big for a 10g. So are goldfish and many other species. Even one oscar would be too much as would one goldfish.

I like gourami myself and you could find some of those who would fit in the tank...
Click to expand...


Wow this board is amazing and very helpful, I really do appreciate your time with giving me advise on my new tank. I will definatly take up the advise on not getting an oscar until I am able to get a bigger tank. Thanks again!
 
Wow! He really railed you on testing supplies as well as fish. Go to one of the big chains and pick yourself up a jungle labs 5 in 1 quick dip test strip. Costs about 10 bucks, and tests everything but ammonia (and you already got an ammonia kit). You can also take a water sample in to some shops and get results, but their tests can sometimes be slipshod.


Glad you are going to hold off on an oscar, but don't be too upset. There's a ton of really cool things you can do with a ten gallon, and you're already getting suggestions on here. I'll throw in my 2 cents and bring up endler's livebearers.

Welecome to the forum, and happy fishkeeping!
 
jm1212 said:
im pretty sure that any fish that would like to eat feeders will get to big for a ten gallon
Click to expand...


Darn, that takes away from some of the fish excitment I remember as a kid! :sad:
 
Well, you could have guppies. They eat their own fry...

Or you could feed the fish brine shrimp or mosquito larvae - depending on where you live :)
 
jm1212 said:
for your ten gallon, you could get six neons and then 4 zebra danios, and then some ghost shrimp and a snail for the clean up crew
Click to expand...

Hi,

I just got five Zebra Danios, and they are sooooo active! A ten gallon tank is way to small for them.

For your ten gallon, you could get four Pygmy Cories, one Dwarf Gourami, plus some shrimp or a African Dwarf Frog.

Happy fish keeping and good luck with your tank!

Cory Lover
 
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