Inherited a 10 Gallon Tank.

HI all, I am new here.. nice to meet you guys.

Just thought I let you know that this a great website and forum and I’ve learnt a lot from it.


I have inherited a 10 gallon tank from someone and thought I will start my first fresh water tank. I also inherited lights, gravels, small air pump, heater tube and a filter (unknown brand). I clean up all stuff and set it up. I filled up the tank and let everything run for about 2 days.

I went to shop and bought 2 gold angel fish, 6 neon tetra. I tested the ph and all seems to be fine. The fish seems to be doing well. I went out and bought some more fishes.

I have now a total of 4 angel, 6 neon, 2 guppies and 1 pelco.

2 days later, I discovered that the water is a bit cloudy and I suspected the filter is not doing the job. I went out and bought another filter called The Penguin 100 Bio-Wheel Power Filter (marineland 100B) to replace the exiting one.

I started to do my research and come across your website. I then discovered I’ve missed the cycle stage. (doh!). I bought a master test kit and to tested the water. Everything seems normal.

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0

I replaced 25% of the tank water with tap water which I have let it sit for 1 day in the bucket. The tank is not as cloudy as before but one of my angelfish died last night for unknown reason. I observed the rest and they seems to be active and not loosing their appetite. I tested the water again, all seems fine but the Ph is a bit high. It’s around 7.2 – 7.5 at the moment. (is that high?)

I need advice for the following.

1. There are crushed coral mixed in the gravels and I was told crush corals are the cause of high ph. Is that true? What should I do to bring the ph back to normal?

2. Would it be too much risk to have fish in the tank while the cycle starts? Any possible way to eliminate the damage caused by the cycle with fish in the tank? E.g. chemical solution etc.

3. Are there too many fishes in the tank?


Thank you in advance.

 

Oh my, you are in for a ride. Your tank is overstocked for sure. I hope our experts see this soon. Or maybe you should do a post with New Tank-HELP, so they get right back to you..keep a look out you need a lot of instruction.

 

HI ahcash! Welcome to Fishlore!

I'm glad you found us......hope we can help you through this....

First, what kind of pleco do you have? Usually you don't need to add a pleco until the tank has algae...It needs this to feed, or you have to feed algae wafers. ANY kind of pleco is to large for a 10 gallon tank!

YES you have too many fish! What you have right now would be ok for a 55 gallon tank! You have to remember that it is the ADULT size fish you count to determine stocking rates. Without the pleco you already are up to about 40 inches of adult size = 40 gallon tank!

The only thing you can do now is to do water changes, use Prime to help keep the ammonia non toxic, and if you can find some use
Bio-Spira to establish the right bacteria in the tank.

I would suggest you either get a larger tank, or take some of the fish back to the store....check with them first to make sure they will take them.....

 

OH dear...you need to take the angels and the pleco back to the store.

Even one angel cannot live in a 10 gallon tank, and it's not big enough for a pleco either.

 

also, you mentioned you bought new media for the filter, I ould take that out and put the old stuff back in, it will be loaded with all the good bacteria that your tan and fish need to thrive.

but please, before you buy anymore fish, read the beginners articles, plan on what species you want to keep in your tank and research them to see if you can provide the type of environment they need to live a long life.

for a 10G tank, you could have a nice shoal (school) of neon tetras, a few platies or some guppies.

keeping fish is a lot more work than it looks, but its well worth it if you take the tme to do it properly

 

also, you mentioned you bought new media for the filter, I ould take that out and put the old stuff back in, it will be loaded with all the good bacteria that your tan and fish need to thrive.

We only suggest trying to preserve the "old media" from one filter to the next if it NEVER dried out. If it dried out, or got cold, or overly hot, the bacteria is dead and it doesn't help to put the old in a new filter......

In your original post you stated you inherited a 10 gallon, not if it was up and running when you got it , or had been stored on a shelf or years......

 

wow... thanks for all the helpful comments.. I wish I could have found out about this website before I bought any fishes. The old media could have been dried out. The new media I am using now has this bio wheel which I am assuming will establish some right bateria in the tank?

Unfortuantely, before I inherited this tank, it has been sitting in the garage for the past few years I am afraid.

What should I do now?

Ohh yeah.. the pleco is a little one (about half the size of my pinky...) and I was thinking of getting a bigger tank if I gain enough experience from this..

 

Do you know anyone who has an aquarium? If so, you can ask them to give you a piece of their filter floss or sponge. That's about the only way to help cycle water quickly, other than buying Bio-Spira, which you would have to order online.

What should I do now?

You still need to take the angels and pleco back to the store. Baby angels are very delicate and will likely die. Even if they don't, you can't keep them in a 10 gallon tank.

 

I would still be interested in what kind of pleco you have. IS it a pleco? Otoes are about the size you state, but a baby common pleco can be small now, but grow to over a foot!

This is one of the reasons people in your LFS need to ask questions, and help customers just getting started, not purchase something that won't fit in their tanks....I am really sorry about all the bad news!

 

I would still be interested in what kind of pleco you have. IS it a pleco? Otoes are about the size you state, but a baby common pleco can be small now, but grow to over a foot!

Yeah.. I am very sure it's a pleco. https://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Pleco.htm. It looks like this. Very small at the moment.

I might take a picture of the tank and show you folks tonight.

Instead of keeping 4 angel. Can I give away 2 to my friends and keep only 2 in the 10G tank?

Bought it from BigAl and I don't think they accept return. I haven't asked though.

Ohh my.. what have I done..

 

This is one of the reasons people in your LFS need to ask questions, and help customers just getting started, not purchase something that won't fit in their tanks....I am really sorry about all the bad news!

I'm my experience, it really depends on the store and employee you deal with, if you get someone whos been there a while, they know the right questions to ask, if not, then they just don't, but not all the blame can be put on the lfs, it is also the customers responsibilty to ask questions as well, think of it as buying a dog or a car, you wouldn't buy either without first asking the obvious questions.
for example, when I go to my lfs, all the employees there will spend answer all your questions no matter how long that takes, recently I went to purchase some new lights for my tank so I could started with live plants, I asked what kind of plants I should have, and the guy went through about 5 different types of light strips and the bulbs available.

so really, in the end, communication flows both ways

 

Yeah.. I am very sure it's a pleco. https://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Pleco.htm. It looks like this. Very small at the moment.

I might take a picture of the tank and show you folks tonight.

Instead of keeping 4 angel. Can I give away 2 to my friends and keep only 2 in the 10G tank?

Bought it from BigAl and I don't think they accept return. I haven't asked though.

big als does accept returns, different locations have different return policies though, I think most common is they return half the purchase price, big als is a great place for a beginner

 

OK, just checking.....as for angel fish. They need a larger tank, if you read on them they even suggest a "tall" tank as they grow to 6" . We are just trying to help, it is always so hard to tell folks this, but a tank can only hold fish at a rate of 1" of adult size per gallon of tank.

It does sound like you are reading a lot of what is on the forum, I hope it helps you get this all sorted out! We want you to have success with your new tank.

 

Thank you all and thanks susitna-flower for all the help. I guess now I will have to send all the fishes to my mate's tank (bigger and healthy tank) and let them settle there first (better chance of survival). I will go through my tank cycle and get them back at a later stage.

Yeah.. been reading a lot from the forum and every time I read, there is something new to learn.

It's was my fault too, I am assuming that the tank can take a few fishes since the baby angel is 1.5" - 2" in size. so 4 angle fishes and a few tiny neon and guppy would be about right for the time being until when the outgrow their size a bit. I do have the intention to get a bigger tank in a few months time.

 

Good luck with that, and I would suggest doing TWO 50% waterchanges a week after it is cycled and the fish are back in it. MAKE SURE that the water you put back in is treated for chlorine (if it is municipal water supply) and that it is within 2 degrees farenheit of the water in the tank.

The fish you mentioned should be fine for 3-4 months, if you could get a 55 gallon that'd be awesome. Thank you for doing your best to do what's best for the fish when you realized the situation was not condusive to their health. Atleast now you know to research before purchasing new fish, but fishkeeping is a great hobby to be in, as long as you can learn the needs of the fish you plan to keep.

Oh and Welcome to Fishlore.

 

Welcome to FishLore. Sounds like you've gotten help getting things in shape there to have that tank setup.

 

Hi, it's me again. Just a quick question.

By reading some of the posts and articles, I had the impression that I should not be doing water change in the first week for new tank? partial water change should be okay I suppose?

 

I think water changes depend on wheter you have fish in the tank or not.Also I'm sure someone will post a more detailed answer for you, soon.

 

If you have fish in the tank, do water changes. If you're cycling fishless, don't do any water changes until the tank is cycled except for nitrates.