New Freshwater Aquarium help plz?

Question

I bought a 10 gallon Aquarium Kit and some additional equipments yesterday from Petco yesterday. (I would have bought a bigger tank, but my dorm doesn't allow any tank over10 gallon)

Right now, I have the following:
-10 gallon tank, Hood with light, Thermometer, 50 Watt Heater, Air pump set, Whisper 10 Power Filter (90 gph), 10 lb of gravel, Fish net

I never own an Aquarium in the past, but I have read many guides before I set up the one I bought yesterday. However, I still have some questions.

1) I am wondering whether my setup is ok or not. Also, I want to know what other equipment do I need to buy. (Note: I have no condition, or tester etc yet. The stuffs that I listed above are all the stuffs I got.)

2) I don't have any plant or other decorations in the tank right now, but I am planning to buy some when I go to buy the fish next Monday. Can I put the fish into the tank right after I put those plant or decoration in?

3) How much air should I let into the tank?

Answer 1

1.) your tank is absolutely fine

Preparing a tank setup:
*wash everything with cold water, including the tank itself, the filter cartridge and especially the gravel, your heater needs to be washed off with warm water but not hot
*Put everything in your tank, fill up the tank with water, turn on your filter and your heater (set at 78 degrees)

Things you need to get after about 2 days of the setup
* Ammonia, pH and Nitrite test kit
* Aqua Safe (Water conditioner)
* Gravel siphon
* Real plants
* maybe some decorations if you want them ( but don't forget that you have to wash them off before you put them in)
* not necessary but very helpful, a timer (you leave your light on for 10-12 hours during the day and 12-14 hours off at night)
* a couple of zebra danios (these are the fish you start your cycle with)
* food for your danios

Here is some info on cycling a tank with fish
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cloudywater.php

Check your water regularly, and after your tank is fully cycled, that means no more nitrites in your tank, you can start adding more fish to it

You should also do weekly partial waterchanges of 25% with a gravel siphon

Don't overfeed your fish, put only as much food as they will eat in 3-5 min at a time

Also don't put yout tank near a window where the sun can get to eat, because that will cause algae growth

Any time you buy fish, you have to float the bag with the fish for at least 30 minutes in your tank that your fish can acclimate to the new water temperature


Hope that helps
Good luck and have fun



EB

Answer 2

Well - first things first, go back to Petco and get the water conditioner and little test kit, it doesn't cost that much, be sure your water conditions are correct before you put your fish in the tank.

You don't have to put real plants, you can put in a couple fake ones if you want.

I would suggest you purchase an Algae eater, they are the fish that attach themselves to the side of the tank and clean the Algae off.

You learn as you go with aquariums, don't fill it with too many fish, and be sure you always ask when adding a new fish if they will get along with the others, otherwise you wake up and most are dead, eaten by another fish.

As for Air, you should have enough air with the pump that came with the tank, they are really good about being sure the air pump they give you is right.

All you do is plug it in and it is set to go, no adjustment necessary to the air pressure.

Good Luck!

http://www.apollopumps.com

Answer 3

you will need to cycle the tank first, so when you buy the fish, dont buy alot or the wrong fish.

your only need 2 fish max, to start cycling the tank.

if you didnt set up the filter or gravel, you must do that before you start to cycle.

Test kits are very important. you will need to get one, as you have to start testing your water when cycling. Watching your water parameters(ph,ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, harndess) is very important for the success of the tank.

I would make two trips, the first trip to get gravel and live plants etc.. No fish.

Set up the tank and allow the pump to run with the gravel and the plants.

About 2-3 days after that, you can get 2 fish to start seeding or cycling your tank. This means the fish are needed to add ammonia to the tank and establish it.

These fish must be hardy as the tank is uncycled and it is hard for fish.

You should also get a water conditioner, my favorite is stress coat.

Also get some aquarium salt.

These two items will be neeeded for any successful aquarium.

The air should be on all of the time.

Answer 4

You will need to get conditioner. You will also want kits to test ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Those are the three things you will be looking for as you establish the biofilter in your new tank. If your tank is filled with water and running then you can get 1 or 2 hardy fish to get started on cycling your tank. I suggest you get Zebra Danios. They have to be the toughest fish I know of.

It will take 6 to 8 weeks to get your tank cycled. During that time you will be using those kits regularly to monitor the levels of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. First you will see ammonia rise and your will need to do partial water changes to keep it down. It will eventually stay at 0 and the nitrites will rise. Keep doing water changes to keep the nitrites down till you see them stay at 0. Then you will see nitrates rise. Once you see that then your tank is cycled. You will need to do regular water changes for nitrates but that is part of good tank maintenance.

That was my quick run through on cycling a tank. Good luck with your new tank. Email me if you have any questions.

Answer 5

1) The tank looks fine as it is. I have never used test kits, and my fish are doing great. You could by tests if you want though.

2) Yes, you should be able to add them right after.

3) I would just run the air pump at a low rate, depending on the fish you have. I don't use one actually.