Now I've seen how much I don't know!

a big day...

OK... big changes today, a trip to PetSmart, which is about an hour away, and the closest fish store that is worth visiting.

I'm afraid the total number of fish now is a bit high but the employee at petsmart (right or wrong) assured me that schooling is more important than keeping below a certain length of fist to gallon of water ratio.

So... as of now we have:

1 Black skirt tetra (considered more, but it has fin rot. The fin rot is improving after dosing with mela fix. Wanted to be sure this fish is going to survive before I added more)

3 neon tetra (wanted more, they were out)
3 black neon tetra
3 orange tetra (I'm forgetting their name. again)
2 albino cory cats
3 african dwarf frogs (Kids had to have them, and I like them too!)

Also bought three plants, 2 frills and 1 something that starts with an "a".

also added a fake drift wood thing.

Probably most important was the chemical test kit. I got the liquid type (I used to test pool water constantly and prefer the drip/reagent tests to strips) and here are the results:

pH: 7.0
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Total Nitrite: 0ppm
Total Nitrate (MAN those drops stink!): 0ppm (I'm going to repeat this test, as I waited too long to read the color of the vial)

I have been given the link to the thread on cycling, and am planning on reading it in depth, but feel free to throw advice my direction!

My tank is currently at 76 degrees, and I am hunting for a better heater that is budget friendly.

I'm far too cheap to pay $10 for something I can make. I intend to make a vaccumn out of suction tubing and a syringe. (I'm a paramedic, as soon as I saw their vaccums I thought "I can MAKE that!"

Some questions I have now:

1. Should I buy some chemicals/additives to have on hand to respond to any of the above readings being out of whack?
2. Will my plants grow in the rocks or should I have paid good money for 'aquarium dirt'? -I do have a bottle of "plant gro" that they assured me would help.
3. Am I crazy for having this many animals in a 10 gallon tank?

I'll include a before and after pic here. I hope that's alright! It's no masterpiece, but I don't think it's too bad for having no experience!

BEFORE:
337797935_34759118bc_o.jpg


AFTER:
337797870_753c04729f_o.jpg


Thanks again for all of your help! Without this forum, I'd be LOST!
 
ammonia at .5 ppm= water change time.

try to keep it below .25 ammonia is very toxic to fish (same will eventually happen with nitrites)

with the new load you will need to monitor a couple times per day and be prepared to do the water changes. do you have dechlor or do you plan to use bottled water?
 
so far I've been using bottled. But I do have a bottle of de-chlorinating stuff.
 
Hi,

Well, your tank is a little over stocked now. If you return your Neons, your Black Neons, or your Orange Tetras you should be okay with stocking.

I had ADFs a little bit ago too, they are really fun to watch!

By the way, pretty good looking tank.

Cory Lover
 
Why are you using bottled water?
 
I don't intend to continue using bottled water. I just but the de-chlorination stuff in a few gallons of tap water. Am I right that I need to wait about 24 hours prior to using that water in my tank??

Also... did I read somewhere that I should know my water's hardness??
 
It helps to at least know it on your tap water to see where your buffering capabilities are, which will help maintain your pH. Using pure water or RO lowers this capability.

What de-chlor are you using? Prime? Do you know if your tap water contains chlorine or chloamine?

I add straight to the tank and then begin the re-fill, except on my discus tanks.
 
I don't know what RO is....

The de-chlor is called "Watercare Chlor Out" by Wardley. to remove chlorine and chloramines so the label says. 5 gtts, sorry drops, a gallon.

I'm not certain what our city water contains.

Do I understand you right... I can add the de-chlor dose to the tank, and then add the tap water directly into the tank??

Also.. any advice on those plants? should I switch to sand?? that sounds mildly appealing to me.

I just read your post about fishless cycling. It was my first education on the whole cycling process. So now I'm staring at a tank with 15 critters in it thinking.... 'sure wish I'd read this before I bought my fish!!!'

Since it's too late for that, I suppose I'll just test frequently and make frequent water changes as needed.
 
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Ammonia today is less than 0.25ppm. Still did a 25% water change. Planning on switching to sand sometime in the next day or two. Hoping to do it without taking the water and fish out of the tank.
 
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