New to aquarium

Hi, I'm new to having an aquarium, so I went to my local pet shop and purchased a 10 gallon tank that came with a filter and lights ( as well as water conditioner ). I also bought a heater, enough gravel to cover the bottom, some decor, and 4 small live plants. I have yet to purchase any fish, and I was wondering if anyone on here could help me! Am I missing anything important, and what kind of fish would do well in my tank?

 

Possibly bacteria ifyouhave not established nitrogen cycle.

ideas: a few guppies or a school of ember tetras or a betta,
these also make decent shrimp tanks.

 

Welcome to Fishlore

Your profile says you don't know the nitrogen cycle so the very next and most important thing to do is read all about it and understand it before putting any fish in the tank. You'll want to then decide if you want to do a fish-in or a fishless cycle. We can better guide you once you decide.

Other items to buy are a test kit (the API Master Test Kit is one most used here) and a bacteria supplement like Tetra SafeStart Plus or Seachem Stability. What kind of water conditioner did you buy? I recommend Seachem Prime because it also detoxifies ammonia/nitrite. A gravel vac would be useful for water changes.

Depending on the type of plants you bought, you may need a better light and ferts.

I agree on the stocking choices above. Here is a list of more options:

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/stocking-list-for-10-gallons.207629/

 

Thanks for the quick replies! So, I was reading about the nitrogen cycle and I noticed you mentioned a fish in fish out decision that has to be made. Can you help me understand the difference and any obstacles that might occur if I wanted to do a fish in vs a fish out?

The water conditioner that came with the tank is aqueon water conditioner. Tomorrow, I'll look into buying a test kit and a bacteria supplement.

 

Welcome to Fishlore

Your profile says you don't know the nitrogen cycle so the very next and most important thing to do is read all about it and understand it before putting any fish in the tank. You'll want to then decide if you want to do a fish-in or a fishless cycle. We can better guide you once you decide.

Other items to buy are a test kit (the API Master Test Kit is one most used here) and a bacteria supplement like Tetra SafeStart Plus or Seachem Stability. What kind of water conditioner did you buy? I recommend Seachem Prime because it also detoxifies ammonia/nitrite. A gravel vac would be useful for water changes.

Depending on the type of plants you bought, you may need a better light and ferts.

I agree on the stocking choices above. Here is a list of more options:

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/stocking-list-for-10-gallons.207629/

You can cheap out on a gravel vac, by picking up a turkey basterfor a buck. It works for a 10 imo.

 

I have a home made grave vac that works great. I took a water bottle, cut off the bottom...then screwed it onto a section of garden hose, cut to my preffered length. 6foot for me.

To get it going, I submerge the bottle right to the gravel(so I don't suck in any fish)

Give a suck on the end of the hose, and drop it into my bucket , and I'm good to go

 

When cycling a tank, you need an ammonia source to feed the bacteria that is trying to establish itself in your tank so those sources would be from the fish waste (fish-in cycle) or from fish food, raw shrimp or pure ammonia (fishless cycle). If you are going to do a fishless cycle, I would use pure ammonia which you can find at a hardware store (Ace Hardware has one that is safe to use).

Of course, it would be more humane to do a fishless cycle since you don't risk the lives of any fish while cycling your tank. However, it's a personal choice and no one will judge you or criticize you for doing a fish-in cycle either. Before I knew about the nitrogen cycle, I put in several fish into my first tank so I had to do a fish-in cycle.

After you have chosen which cycling method to go with, you'll want to choose one of the bacteria supplements above and add it at the same time as your ammonia source. There is also a big difference with those 2 supplements. With TSS+ (needs to say Start Up on the bottle), you add the entire bottle 24 hours after the use of a water conditioner and then do NO water changes for 2 weeks. If you're doing a fish-in, you'll also want to use 1-2 small fish per 10 gallon so that you keep ammonia levels low. With fishless, you keep ammonia only dosed to 1-2ppm.

With Stability, you're allowed to do water changes anytime while you dose it daily until you are cycled. Some people prefer this supplement because they are not comfortable not being able to do a water change for 2 weeks. However, both supplements have been proven to successfully cycle many tanks.

Hope this helps.

 

You can cheap out on a gravel vac, by picking up a turkey basterfor a buck. It works for a 10 imo.

Well, I'd imagine it would take you forever to suck out all that debris from the substrate and I can't imagine it would be as effective!

 

Well, I'd imagine it would take you forever to suck out all that debris from the substrate and I can't imagine it would be as effective!

its a 10 gallon, its not gonna take that long unless you waited too long imo. if you just want to do a water change you could just use a small pail. This is not a lot of water, especially for betta or shrimp

 

I think that I would like to do a fish in cycle using the tss supplement. As for fish, what do you recommend to make the fish in cycle simple?

 

I think that I would like to do a fish in cycle using the tss supplement. As for fish, what do you recommend to make the fish in cycle simple?

Only ever fish in cycle with fish that will be in their new home permanantly. Be aware it changes how you use prime.

Possibly bacteria ifyouhave not established nitrogen cycle.

ideas: a few guppies or a school of ember tetras or a betta,
these also make decent shrimp tanks.

 

My favorite gravel vacuum is actually a top fin, petsmarts brand. It has a bulb you squeeze so you don't have to suck the end or self prime. I've found their bulb works better then the other ones I have tried.
Best is a python, but that is overkill on a ten gallon.

Also, I use stability by seachem in place of tss, I like that I can do a water change if needed, with toss you can't do a water change for two weeks. All depends on what you stock with to cycle...

 

its a 10 gallon, its not gonna take that long unless you waited too long imo. if you just want to do a water change you could just use a small pail. This is not a lot of water, especially for betta or shrimp

A turkey baster vs a gravel vac? LOL ok. I guess to each his own.

I think that I would like to do a fish in cycle using the tss supplement. As for fish, what do you recommend to make the fish in cycle simple?

Do you like any of the fish choices that were mentioned or any ones in this stocking thread?

 

I think that I would like to do a fish in cycle using the tss supplement. As for fish, what do you recommend to make the fish in cycle simple?

Welcome to fishlore!
I would do a fishless cycle for a 10g, because the types of fish that are more hardy and more likely to survive a cycle need a larger tank. Unless, of course, you plan to rehome them right after the cycle is over....

 

if you have a friend with a healthy tank, the fastest way to cycle is to borrow some material from decorations, filters, etc. and stick it in your tank for a while. aka kidnap some bacteria.
Ive cycled new tanks this way almost instantly.