Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got my first 10 gallon freshwater setup kit. I've gone through the steps and been patient (no fish added yet- 36 hours in). Everything is going well except the water temp is hovering at 76F. I do not have a heater nor fancy lights, just room temp tapwater and the lights the set came with. At this point I don't plan on doing the tropical fish thing but it seems that 76 degrees is a bit high.

Any tips before I put in the guppies would be appreciated!

Cheers.

76 is perfect for the tropical fish tank, and perfect for guppies. Way to go on waiting! I know it's incredibly hard to do. Have you seen the fishless cycling I've posted on the boards a few times? There's also an article on cylcing your new tank under features (if you need help finding it, I've posted a link below, but you should really check out the features section - there's guppy info there too). The article does not mention fishless cycling, but it does talk about the process. It definitely helps to understand what's going on, and how long it takes (4-6 weeks). Just be sure to keep up with the water changes. Ammonia poisoning is the number one fish killer... it's silent and extremely quick. A water testing kit is necessary, preferably one that will tell you ppm (parts per million). You will also want to have a water conditioner if you are going to use tap water (to remove the chlorine that will kill your fish) - always add it to the water before putting it in your tank.

If you want a coldwater tank (for goldfish and such), you would need a chiller as your water is incredibly too high for them. Chillers can be quite expensive.

Hope this helps steer you in the right direction. Good luck, and let me know if you need help with anything else.
Cycling article

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Phishie
Site Coordinator

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Phishie-
Thanks so much for the counsel! I have been patient for sure. I think I am going to purchase a heater and the fancy lights so I can have tropical fish and live plants. For now I am cycling water while following the guide our local aquarium store provided. I did put in 6 white cloud minnows on day 3 and 4 have died. Unfortunately, the dead loss was due to the fact they got sucked up in the filter snorkel...crummy way to go. I'll have to remedy that somehow.

Your site is sweet. I will continue to peruse it and post. Thanks for you great work.

Cheers!

Glad I can be of service... that's what I'm here for.

6 was probably too much for the brand new tank to support so even though they died in the filter (poor little ones ) they probably would have died from ammonia poisoning if they survived the filter.

Please keep us posted on your progress. I hope all goes well from here on out.
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Phishie
Site Coordinator

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Way to go being patient and trying to do it right! It's not easy, I know, and unfortunately, you may lose more fish before your tank is matured. For a ten gallon tank you only want to add one to two inches of hardy tropical fish such as platties, or even bettas are an excellent choice. Males are actually very peaceful as long as there aren't other bettas and the other fish are peaceful, and females can be just as gorgeous as males but with shorter tails, and you can have more than one of them, they are super hardy, and you won't have to wonder what you're going to do with them once the tank is cycled. You should wait at least at least a week and a 10% water change before adding more fish, and again only 1 to 2 inches. You have to be careful with a ten gallon, they are easy to overstock. Most fish dealers test water for free, I would bring in a sample at least once a week to see where you are in the nitrogen cycle. They should be able to help you find solutions for any issues that arise, and if they don't, look elsewhere for fish, if they can't help you , they can't take care of the fish they have for sale. I know, I ran the fish dept at a pet store, this is why I'm rambling. The biggest step in succeeding with fish is asking for help. Don't give up, it will be worth it once the tank is matured. If you have any ?s, I'll be around.
Good Luck!

MandoLynn-
Good stuff! Thanks for the response. I am 11 days in and have been following the cycling instructions to the tee. It has worked beautifully. We still have 2 white cloud minnows and they seem happy and healthy. The water is clear, the bubbles are bubbling and our 2 year old twins are fascinated with the "fishies".

I plan on taking the water to the local aquarium store again on Wednesday (free test day...nice!).

At this point, I still need to purchase a heater to ensure any further tropical additions are safe and sound. Once I do that, I am going to let each of the twins choose one fish. 2 is enough to start and I don't want to overcrowd my little ecosystem!

Funny side note:
I let the kids choose something decorative to put in the tank after I had it set up the way I liked it. Keep in mind they are 2 yr old twins, boy and girl. My daughter picked a Dora the Explorer pirate thingy and my son picked a tacky purple whale...Classic! Truth is those two additions give the tank more personality than I could have dreamed up.

Here's to toddler decorated tanks!!!

Feel free to send advice anytime. I'm learning and it's nice to have support so I don't screw it up.

Cheers!

I would like to add some corrections to Mandolynn's statements. Bettas are aggressive fish, and are not suited for community tanks. That being said, there are some people who experience no issues, but I always advise against it. You are supposed to keep like temperments together. 20% water changes should be performed every 2 weeks (additional water changes can be done -about 10% or less- during the cycling process). Every time you add a new fish, your tank will have to cycle again.

It sounds like your cycling is coming along nicely. Just be sure to keep the temperments the same in your tank, and that will equal a happy tank. The fish should be labeled in the pet store as community (or peaceful), semi-aggressive, or aggressive. It is always wise to do research on the particular fish you are interested in adding to your tank. Don't worry so much about "screwing it up." Mistakes happen, and that's how we all learn. Everyone started somewhere, so don't feel like any question is stupid. Feel free to ask absolutely anything that you would like an answer to. There are no stupid questions, only not asked questions.
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Phishie
Site Coordinator

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Got it. Thanks. I'm excited to be able to add fish in a few weeks. I have no clue what type I would like to have yet. Thankfully, our local fish store is aquarium centric They are super knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.

Any suggestions for neat species would be greatly appreciated.

Take care and thanks!

So you do want to do a community tank correct?

I do like guppies, and platies would be a colorful choice as well. You should probably get at least one cory cat (a bottom feeder), I think they do a good job at keeping the bottom pretty clean. You are limited to how many species you can keep (if you choose guppies or platies or even mollies for that matter) if you wanted to have a schooling fish species (such as a raspbora or tetra). Since your tank is still new, tetras would need to be added later if you are going to have them. Remember only to add a couple of fish at a time so your tank can adjust without crashing and having to start cycling all over again. That's something I learned the hard way when I started out.
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Phishie
Site Coordinator

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

That's great information. I can't wait to see what my options are at our local shop!

So...I had a little water problem recently so I still haven't added any more fish than the 2 white cloud minnows who currently reside.

Here are my water specs (10 gallon tank- all water changes on schedule)

9-22
NH3/NH4- 1.0 (I found out my wife had been feeding the fish w/o my knowledge cuz she thought they needed more..doh!)
NO2- 0
NO3- 0
PH- 7.4
KH- 2

9-29
NH3/NH4- .5 (much better and no dead fish, phew!)
NO2- 0
NO3- 0
PH- 7.2
KH- 3

I'm hoping the water test on Wednesday will show better nitrate/nitrite numbers so I can add more fish. (I believe the number should be around .3...?)

Here is my question:
I've decided to add a heater so I have more options of species. In the future I'd like to have live plants which means new fancy lights. When I decide to add lights and live plants how will this affect my water quality? Should I wait to add tropical species until both the heater and live plants have been in the tank for a bit?

Thanking,
Dawgthis

Wow! The ammonia got really high, but it did go down quite a bit. Still not to the optimal level of 0 ppm. Tell your wife that fish are beggers; they act like they're always hungry when in fact they can fast for 5 days and still have the nutrients needed to live and be healthy. Once a day feedings are just fine, even every other day would be fine. One thing you can also tell her (and this is for your information as well), if you overfeed your fish can get constipated (aka swim bladder disorder), which isn't good. That is generally easy to fix, but some species are more prone than others. Your minnows should be fine, but fish like goldfish or discus and angels are more likely to have issues because of their slender figure.

The optimal numbers for your water quality are ammonia 0 ppm, nitrate
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Phishie
Site Coordinator

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."