Stocking list for 10 gallon tank

[tetras_rock]

OK im new at this so give me a brake if i say something dumb
ok i have a 10 gallon and is 6 neon tetras or 6 flame tetras( i have read this a schooling fish and this is the min for schooling but i would like more but i really dont want to over stock the fish, fishies first i think) with lots of plants maybe like a drift wood with a java fern on it and a few smaller pieces of driftwood covered with riccia or the riica on the same piece as the java fern and maybe a moss wall at the black. Is this set-up alright and how do i set it up like order, fish first or plants first or what(this fish tank hasnt cycled)? ok what types of lights do i need and do i need co2 injections for the plants? ok thanks heaps

 

[hughitt1]

Heya,

You don't want to cycle the tank with most tetras- they are not the most hardy fish when it comes to high levels of pollutants. So to cycle the tank you wanna try to do it before you put the fish in (i.e. a fishless cycle). What i would do is get everything set up with you tank, except for the fish. Get a test kit that can check ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates- i use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, but there are simpler ones where you just stick a test strip in the water to get the levels.

Next, start adding little bits of fish food to the tank each day. As the food composes it will give off ammonia which is the first reactant involved in the nitrogen cycle.. then just start checking your levels of the 3 each day until you you see them all go up, and finally ammonia and nitrites should go back down to 0, and your ready to add fish. (You could also use solutions made for this kind of cycling instead of just adding fish food, but you would have to check with people on how much to add or which one to use.. i've never tried em).

For the gravel, use something suitable for plants- e.g. Flourish, eco-complete, etc. and add about 2 1/2 -3'' on the tank, but first, make sure you rinse the substrate thouroughly!! Even if the bag says pre-rinsed- rinse it again.. and again.. otherwise you will end up with a super cloudy tank.

For lighting a CO2 for a planted, ideally you want at least 1.5-2 watts/gallon lighting (so like a 15+ watt bulb), don't know any specifics off hand.. if you tell the LFS you want to grow plants though, they should be able to help you pick one out. I would go with DIY C02.. its probably not neccessary, esp with the java moss and ferns, so check on the requirements of the plants first to see how demanding they are, but either way DIY isn't too much $ so you could set it up and it would help a little for sure.

hope this helps!
Keith

 

[LunchBox]

as an aside from all the info hughitt1 put down, I think it's a good idea with a planted tank to get it set up and let it run for a couple weeks so you know what your water conditions will be fir sure before buying fish. It'll give you time to work out stuff like how much CO2 is in the water, if your substrate or hardscape is doing anything to your ph, etc. without risking affecting fish.

I don't think you have to do this, but I think it's a good idea.

 

[jennypenny]

Okay first things first.

Cycle first (you could fishy cycle if you want). A good fishy cycle will take one week to more than a month. Luckily you have a small tank, so your cycle should take less than a month. I have cycled a ten gallon in under two weeks. If you haven't already, read this cycling article.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64301

Many people cycle with pure ammonia, but you can also cycle with fish food. This is a much less scientific approach but it does work. They only problem is that you may end up with a small colony of bacteria. So, you need to add fish slowly at the end of the cycle. (2-3 at a time). You still need test kits and go through the basic cycling procedures. You just let fish food rot, instead of adding ammonia. You would add a couple of pinches the first day then they same amount you would feed a full tank of fish every day after that. At the end make sure to do a thorough gravel cleaning before adding fish.


You could add plants during the cycle, but they make things a bit more complicated. I would add plants at the end of the cycle just before you add the fish. The day before, or even on the same day, but this will depend some what on the plant your chose. Make sure to get plant from a tank without any sick fish in it. Plants do carry disease. You may even want to buy your plants and keep them in a bucket while you cycle. Keeping them away from fish will help to kill off some types of disease. The amount of light and CO2 you need will depend on the types of plants and how many you get.

If you wan to add fish first give them time to acclimate to your tank before adding plants or making major changes to the decor.

A ten gallon has room for 6 neons. I imagine you could add more, but I do not keep neons. So, double check that info. However if you want to add anything else (bottom feeder, shrimp, sails, etc.) that will reduce the number of neons you can have.