Setting up tank in my dorm room...

[from my dorm]

Hello all! I am new to this site and it was recommended by my brother. We now live 3 hours apart so I feel I need more then just his help. I am in my dorm room at college and I want to set up a simple 10 gallon tank. I need to know information on what exactly I need. I have the tank, hood and a filter. I know I need a heater (recommendations for that would be great) and some plants. Of course gravel, food, etc. I have had a tank but not for 3 years and my brother did most of that. He told me it was important to set up a cycle, either fishless or one with fish to get a good ammonia level in my tank? This might be wrong, so let me know! Any replies are going to be a help I am sure! Thanks!

from my dorm

 

[mvigor]

Find the article here about cycling a tank and read it thoroughly. It has lots of good information.

 

[knashash]

Best thing for you to do is a search...all the information you need is out there and very easy to find. Yes you will need to cycle the tank before adding fish...so look up info on that first. If your going to keep plants and I am assuming you have standard lighting...you should choose low maintenance plants like Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias and Crypts all of which are good for low maintenance, low light setups. I would look into using a good plant substarte either in addition to regular gravel or on its own. Flourite is a good choice..but there are other options. Aside from that choosing what fish to put in there is important as well.

Try and find out what your tap water is like first. Is is hard...how hard? Whats the PH? Even though lots of fish are adaptable to different water conditions....giving fish the water thats close to theior natural habitat is better and will allow them to thrive and possibly even breed if the conditions are right for them.

You should be able to just call a local fish store and ask them about the tap water parameters. 10 gallon is a nice size and lots you can do with that space....but a good plan and research will save you lots of headache down the road.