Need advice new to owning a 10 Gallon tank

  1. Brittany0687 Initiate Member

    I have a 10 Gallon with a calico goldfish and a black moor also there is a plecostomus, It has been set up for 4 weeks now and i did not know when i purchased it that i needed to wait longer than 24hrs. that is what i was told when i bought it before i could put fish in it. My tank is cloudy now i was wondering if it could still be doing a bacterial bloom and would clear up in a few weeks? I have done 3 almost 50% water changes on it since i go it and vacuumed the rocks as I did the water change, this is a side picture of my tank. Can anyone help me? 2012-04-02_19-18-07_645 (1).jpg
     

  2. Lucy Moderator Moderator Member

    Hi Brittany welcome to FishLore!!

    Could be a bacterial bloom.
    Do you have a test kit? What the readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
    At this point it would probably be a good idea to step up on the water changes.

    I'm sorry to say that a goldfish and a pleco don't belong in a 10g.
    They both produce a lot of waste even though they are probably small, much more than a 10g can handle.

    It would be a good idea to look up their profiles and their tank requirements.
    Goldfish
    Plecostomus


    Best of luck! :)
     

  3. Brittany0687 Initiate Member

    Ya I figured that out after I purchased them and had them in here would of been nice for the pet store to tell me that, but on my part I should of done more research but I can't change that now only do what I can. But won't doing frequent water changes hurt the tank I mean I do need some of that bacteria right? Seems like I would be taking out what I need and causing it to do more clouding
     

  4. Brittany0687 Initiate Member

    The test kit said it was harmful I would take my fish out till its done I just have no were to put them but a small 1.5 gal and its not even set up so wouldn't do any good I'm starting to wish I would of never got it and stuck with my easy betta
     

  5. slashgash Member Member

    The bacteria lives mainly in the filter, not in the water. So, doing water changes wont hurt it. Also, most pet shop workers dont know a thing about fish, so they wouldnt know that goldfish and plecos are not suitable for a 10 gallon.
     

  6. jdhef Moderator Moderator Member

    Welcome to FishLore!

    I have a feeling that you don't have a firm grasp on the nitrogen cycle.(<-- Hopefully the words turned into a link to an article about it) I highly recommend that you read up on it. It really is the most important thing to understand when keeping fish.

    Once you have a good understanding on the nitrogen cycle, you will understand why having huge waste producers in a 10 gallon tank will not work. Plus both those fish will become stunted if kept in that small of a tank.

    But don't feel bad, I started out with 2 goldfish in a 1 1/2 gallon "tank".
     

  7. bowcrazy Well Known Member Member

    First off let me welcome you to FishLore!

    Now for the bad news. There is not a single fish in your tank that is suited for a 10 gallon tank. Goldfish, Moors and Plecos all require much larger tanks and you have compounded it by placing all 3 of them in it. It is going to be almost imposable to keep the water safe for them.

    Please take the time to read up on the Nitrogen Cycle and the profiles of your fish. You also need to get a liquid test kit to test the water with so that you know how your tank is doing. Don’t waste your money on the paper test strips because they are very misleading and inaccurate.