10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

[ToCkSiC]

Hello everyone,

*Brand new member here, not sure if this is the best place to post this but I'm sure someone will move it if it's not.
So I thought I would document my first fish tank experience, I will hopefully post everyday about my experiences, my thoughts and all things fishy as I try to make the right decisions by keeping these little guys alive!
I would like to make a little disclaimer, I know very little about owning fish and I am trying to research as much as I can as I go, so please bare this in mind when you are shaking your head at my idiocy *

I've always wanted to keep fish for a number of years now, but with moving house(s) and having a kid it kinda got put on the backburner, but now my son is a little older he has started to develop a love for fish, he loves watching them swim and feeding them so I have finally decided to purchase some for our home.
Now not knowing anything about fish or keeping them I have tried to do as much research as possible to help myself and the fish to make everything as smooth as possible, this site has been very helpful and although I know I haven't done things perfect, I have without a doubt learnt and done things much better than I would have without this site!

So me and the family went down to the local pet store and found a "clearance" starter tank, which was a 10G glass tank with a built on light, heater, filter, and fish food for around £50 which is roughly $65. I have today found out that a 20G tank would have been better for me and so I guess I'm already at a disadvantage right off the bat...GREAT!

Now the plan was to do a fishless cycle for obvious reasons but unfortunately my wife and son have been getting too impatient and don't understand the whole process behind keeping fish, so I'm sorry to say I've been forced into a fish cycle instead (I know I'm sorry!).

so that's the long story behind everything so far, from now on I'll keep it shorter and segmented into days.

Thanks for reading this far!

Day 1-3 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 4 - 17/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 5 - 18/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 6 - 19/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey


Day 7 - 20/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 8 - 21/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 9 - 22/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day - 10 23/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 11 - 24/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 12-14 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 15 - 28/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 16 - 29/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 17 - 30/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 18 - 31/05/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 19 - 01/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 20 - 02/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 21 - 03/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 22-23 - 04/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 24 - 06/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 25 - 07/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 26 - 08/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 27 - 09/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 28 - 10/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 29 - 11/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 30 - 12/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 31 - 13/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 32 - 14/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 33 - 15/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 34 - 16/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 35 - 17/06/18 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 36-38 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 39 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 40 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 41-43 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 44 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 45-47 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 48 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

Day 49 - 10 Gallon Tank - 10 Gallon 'new Tank' Journey

 

[DanniD]

Good luck! There are ways to keep the fish-in cycle a little better. You can grab some tetra safestart or seachem stability and that should help. Also water change every other day. The cycle will be longer but not so stressful for the fish. Good luck!

 

[ToCkSiC]

Oh you can't edit posts, that sucks, unless I'm just being dumb?

 

[DanniD]

Oh you can't edit posts, that sucks, unless I'm just being dumb?

You can, just look right below your post text, should say Edit.

 

[ToCkSiC]

Good luck! There are ways to keep the fish-in cycle a little better. You can grab some tetra safestart or seachem stability and that should help. Also water change every other day. The cycle will be longer but not so stressful for the fish. Good luck!

Thank you! I'm assuming that lowers the ammonia and nitrite in the tank if things get a little high? If so then I bought a bottle of that today just a diff brand.

 

[OneLittleBubble]

I mean a fish in cycle isn't that bad. People just tend to look at them badly. All you have to do is make sure to keep the parameters in check, and do a water change once in a while. Good luck.

 

[ToCkSiC]

You can, just look right below your post text, should say Edit.

Hmmm perhaps it doesn't allow me because I'm a new member? All I have is my name, how long ago I posted and report on the left side and then on the right I have a number, bookmark, quote and reply

Nevermind the edit option just popped up! lol thanks

I mean a fish in cycle isn't that bad. People just tend to look at them badly. All you have to do is make sure to keep the parameters in check, and do a water change once in a while. Good luck.

That's the plan, I do have a testing kit and so hopefully I can keep things in check but I just worry about the ammonia spiking which it will do due to the two fish being introduced today, I'm assuming I would need to add the safestart stuff tomorrow once the ammonia starts to spike?

 

[OneLittleBubble]

It should say edit in between the time and report

 

[ToCkSiC]

It should say edit in between the time and report

Yeah thanks, for some reason it wasn't showing up straight away, maybe just a new member thing?

Update

Day 1:

Fish tank washed without soap and put in place
25% dechlorinated water added to tank
Heater and air filter attached to the glass close together
Two bags of black medium gravel thoroughly washed without soap and added to the tank
Rest of the water dechlorinated and added to the tank
Heater set to 27°c

PH Value = 8
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0

Thoughts:
Not sure where to put air filter and heater, read that having the filter close to the heater is good as it will keep the water the same temp throughout.
Not sure how much to wash the gravel, the water is pretty clear but not absolutely crystal.
Gold Tap Safe dechlorinator is really bad for use, basically used up a whole bottle for my 10G
I'll leave the water to regulate for 24 hours to make sure everything is working properly before adding anything else.
Need another 2 bags of black gravel.
Just read my filter could back siphon if it dies...I really need to buy a check valve!


Day 2:

Bought one potted Anubias
Bought gravel siphon
Bought check valve
Bought fish net
Bought better tap safe (Tetra)
Bought a medium/large sized ornament
Bought water test kit
Bought 2 more bags of black gravel

PH Value = 8
Ammonia = 0.1
Nitrite = 0

Tested PH value of water before adding anything else, value is 8

Washed gravel and added it into the tank.
Split anubias plant to have either end of the tank.
Added ornament, placed it infront of the filter and heater for aesthetics
Did a 50% water change

Thoughts:
My thinking behind the 50% water change was to get rid of any bad stuff the plant and/or ornament brought in.
Read that the anubias plant is a floating plant, so I used cable tie things to attach them to a suction cup on one end and to the ornament on the other end.
The extra bags of gravel definitely make it look better and I can only imagine its good for everything else in the tank.

Day 3:

Today was supposed to be the day I pick up a bottle of ammonia fluid from the LFS to start my fishless cycle but due to the family being Impatient the plan has changed, luckily I did a lot of research for both cycles and so I had a list of fish in my mind that would/could survive a fish cycle.

Bought 2 guppy fish - Platinum and Variegated both males
Bought tropical fish food

PH Value = 8 - Good - Guppies need 6-8.5 PH I believe
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0

Spent 30-35mins acclimatizing both Guppies in the bag, adding tank water every 5 mins until the bag was almost full and then releasing them into the tank.

Thoughts:
-Read that I shouldn't have added the LFS bag water to the tank because of diseases and/or parasites etc. I thought it might give me some much needed established bacteria, Oops.
-Not sure whether I should feed the fish tonight or wait until tomorrow morning to allow the fish to calm down and get used to the surroundings? Also will the added flakes add far too much ammonia to the tank for me to control?
-I feel like my tank light is to bright for them, they seem less active when the light is off but I think I need it on mostly for the plants?
-Just found out my filter is about 2-3 times to powerful for my tank...why would they sell this filter with the tank then??
-My ammonia seems to have dropped to 0 as yesterday it was a slight lime green colour but today it was pretty much clear, is this a sign that bacteria have begun to establish?

 

[HORNET1]

You're gonna love it here

 

[ToCkSiC]

Does the light seem to bright?

 

[Biev]

Here are some articles on the nitrogen cycle and the cycling process. I recommend reading them in this order.

Quick introduction: https://www.watercritters.ca/2018/03/22/introduction-to-the-nitrogen-cycle-or-why-you-killed-that-goldfish-when-you-were-little/
More in-depth explanation, if your brain hasn't exploded yet: Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
Cycling methods:
Filtration basics (understanding the role of bio media is important so you can keep a stable cycle in the long term): https://www.watercritters.ca/2018/03/25/filtration-basics/

 

[ToCkSiC]

Here are some articles on the nitrogen cycle and the cycling process. I recommend reading them in this order.

Quick introduction: https://www.watercritters.ca/2018/03/22/introduction-to-the-nitrogen-cycle-or-why-you-killed-that-goldfish-when-you-were-little/
More in-depth explanation, if your brain hasn't exploded yet: Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
Cycling methods:
Filtration basics (understanding the role of bio media is important so you can keep a stable cycle in the long term): https://www.watercritters.ca/2018/03/25/filtration-basics/

Thanks for the links, I did actually read these before hand on this site, perhaps it was one of your posts I followed actually lol It's definitely a lot more worked than I ever imagined before getting set up, but something I'm looking forward to experiencing.

 

[GuppyDazzle]

There are different schools of thought on whether bottled bacteria, cycle starters, work or not. Personally, I've always used fish-in cycling, without using any bottled additives. As long as you keep an eye on the water parameters, the cycle will progress without drama. I see so many people adding bottle upon bottle of cycle boosters and wondering why their tanks won't cycle. If you add fish, don't overfeed, and do 25% water changes every other day, your cycle should progress well and be done in a month or so. If you add stuff, you're probably going to get wacky readings and have no idea where you are.

 

[ToCkSiC]

There are different schools of thought on whether bottled bacteria, cycle starters, work or not. Personally, I've always used fish-in cycling, without using any bottled additives. As long as you keep an eye on the water parameters, the cycle will progress without drama. I see so many people adding bottle upon bottle of cycle boosters and wondering why their tanks won't cycle. If you add fish, don't overfeed, and do 25% water changes every other day, your cycle should progress well and be done in a month or so. If you add stuff, you're probably going to get wacky readings and have no idea where you are.

Perhaps my ramblings up top have been unclear, I wasn't planning on adding anything to the 'fish cycle', I was originally planning on doing a fishless cycle and then adding some ammonia to start the cycle as I thought that is something you have to do in a fishless cycle? I know you can also add fish food but I assumed the fluid would start it off better? But now due to getting fish I will be using the fish as the ammonia source and so I assume I wont be needing to add anything to the tank now?

I was planning on 25% water changes daily, but you think every other day is better? I'll also be doing test readings daily as well.

 

[seth rodgers]

what are you planning on adding fish wise?

 

[ToCkSiC]

what are you planning on adding fish wise?

Not entirely sure tbh, with it only being a 10G I know I can't have much more than 5 fish (not entirely sure on this?) but I originally wanted to get a few guppies and then a few corys but I've read a lot of different things about how many of each I should keep, so kinda undecided now.

I guess I'm happy to keep just guppies if that's all I can keep.

 

[seth rodgers]

Not entirely sure tbh, with it only being a 10G I know I can't have much more than 5 fish (not entirely sure on this?) but I originally wanted to get a few guppies and then a few corys but I've read a lot of different things about how many of each I should keep, so kinda undecided now.

I guess I'm happy to keep just guppies if that's all I can keep.

well corys do better on sand. I mixed my aquarium half sand half gravel and mine love it. However you dont have much room and your tank is gravel. My suggestion would be get some more guppies! they are beautiful and active.

 

[Sarah73]

well corys do better on sand. I mixed my aquarium half sand half gravel and mine love it. However you dont have much room and your tank is gravel. My suggestion would be get some more guppies! they are beautiful and active.

The OP's tank isn't big enough to have cories.

 

[seth rodgers]

The OP's tank isn't big enough to have cories.

Yes that is what i was saying