Grandparents Fish Tank.

I am setting up a 10gal fish tank for my grandma and grandpa this July, they will be taking care of it when I am gone so I want to make sure it is as easy as possible for them. They want a sand and pea gravel substrate, live plants, and a pleco. Those are the only restrictions that I know of.

 

They're going to need a bigger tank if they want a pleco. Even the smallest plecos will outgrow a 10, and trying to cram them in isn't worth it. First, the fish will be stunted and suffer. Secondly, the waste from a pleco in too small of a tank will just make "taking care" of the tank a living nightmare. No fun in all that.

 

Common plecos need a 125 gallon or larger as they grow to over a foot in length. Smaller plecos like clown plecos or bushy nose still need a 30 gallon or larger. Unfortunately no pleco species are suitable for a 10 gallon.

 

Ran in to a friend and we were talking about cycling the tank first, I said that one to two or three days would be fine in a ten gallon tank, he thinks it needs longer, we talked it over and need an in between. I only have like two weeks to set it up so yeah, need answer.

 

It takes 2-6 weeks to cycle a tank.

 

It's a process that has to be monitored, there is not a set time.
There are ways to speed it up with cycled media or bacteria starters but you will need a water test kit to know what's going on in your tank.

Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle

 

Two weeks minimum and that's only if you add something like Tetra Safe Start from the beginning and put in a fish or two. Otherwise, it takes a month to 5 weeks.

 

If you know someone with an established tank, ask if they can give you some of the sludge out of their filter when they squeeze out the dirty sponge in a bucket of old tank water -pour that water in and it will speed up the process to about 2 weeks..

 

Two weeks. I learned this the hard way once. Lots of lost neons and rasboras and a platy

 

Sry bought the no response, it is all put together, nothing died yet. I did not have a lot of time to set it up and wait.

 

Sry bought the no response, it is all put together, nothing died yet. I did not have a lot of time to set it up and wait.

Also what do you think of my new water bottle?

 

Sry bought the no response, it is all put together, nothing died yet. I did not have a lot of time to set it up and wait.

Mine took 3 or so weeks, I think, and I had used mulm from a pet store tank. But I'm sure that it depends on the area.