[Quickslvr311]

Hey I just got a tank set up a few days ago and I have a few questions.

1. I have a 10 gallon tank and I have 10 small fish in it. They have plenty of room to swim around and they look happy. Is that too many to have in one tank?

2. My water was crystal clear on the first and second day but the thrid day I added some algae chips for my algae eaters and the water turned a bit cloudy. Will this eventually go away?

3. How often should I feed my fish. I have 2 black mollies, 4 red finned tetra (not sure of the exact name) 2 red wags and 2 algae eaters.

4. I have a hang on filter and an air pump set up on my tank but I want to get a cover for the tank is this possible or do I need to change my filter type?

Thanks I probably will have more questions but that seems sufficient for now.

Cheers,
Quickslvr311

 

[roc-aquarium]

1. 10 small fish in a ten gallon tank is about the max you can do. The standard rule of thumb is one inch of fish per gallon. Less for messy fish. Less for full bodied fish.

2. How long was the tank set up before adding your fish? The clouding is normally part of the tanks first nitrogen cycle. Test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The ammonia and nitrites should be zero. You want the nitrates as low as possible, under 20 ppm.

3. You should feed the fish 2-3 times a day. Very small amounts. Only what they can eat in two minutes. As a rough guide a fish should eat an amount of food roughly the size of their eye.

4. You should get a cover asap. Fish jump. Most of the covers on the market should work for you. The basic ones have perforated panels that you can pop out to make room for your filter. If it doesn't you could always use a grinder or jigsaw to make a hole.

Good luck, and welcome.

 

[djrichie]

You should get a liquid test kits for freshwater..... Your tank has not cycled yet, this is very important because this natural process concert ammonia created by fish waste into nitrates and themn into nitrates which are less harmful to the fish and can be removed with weekly water changes (WC).

Roc gave you some good info, except we differ on feeding just on how many times a day. I feed my fish 2X's a day in the amount roc listed. Right now it inportant not to over feed beacuse that will increase the ammonia levels and until the cycling has completed this is your fish worst problem.

When selecting fish you should fish research the fish, and the 1" per gal. is for the adult size of the fish. It very important not to get fish that you cna not house properly for the health of the fish.

 

[Mustang Boy]

what kind of algae eaters do you have cause common pleco can get over a foot long and there are many other pleco that can get too large for that tank infact i think every pleco will outgrow that tank

 

[BigBrownTank]

congrats on the new tank. IMO, as long as you dont start having die off, leave the tank alone, except for 20% watcher changes, and gravel vac 1/2 side weekly, alternting 1/2 sides. lso add Prime.

2 algae eaters is a bit extreme, i just started a 155 gal 1 month ago, and have 15(ish) fish (sm/md), and 2 newts... i have 1 pleco, and havent seen algae yet.

also have cherry shrimp, in 10gal growing though...

IDK, but good luck with teh tank. i never had much problems with small tanks. just let em do there thing.

 

[Quickslvr311]

Thanks all for the replies i think my cloudiness was due to the algae chips i put into the tank. I let them get filtered out and now my water is crystal clear.

Im wondering how you all vacuum out your gravel. Is there a cheap type of vacuum I can buy for such a small sized tank?

 

[Quickslvr311]

Oh and to reply to what type of algae eaters I have, they are Otocinclus Cats. Little dwarf sized suckers. They like hanging onto the weed cover I have in my tank hehe

 

[djrichie]

Otto's are algae eater that for sure... I think we all asumed a pleco or golden algea eater....LOL ... Otto's are a great choice... to feed them just drop a 1/4 of a waffer in the tank at night... thats when you see them getting thin.

As far as a gravel vac they do make a small one for your tank. I think it Lee's that make it not a 100% sure on the maker. but I seen it a pet supermarket and online....

It important with your 10 gal tank to only vacume a 1/4 of the the tanks gravel eack week. this way you alway have a strong bio colony. not to say you can go over the top off the rest of the gravel to get and surface stuff just don't shove it down into the gravel. Doing it this way will help maintain the WQ and not constantly going thur mini cycles. Figure out you water line when you do a WC and on the back of the tank put a peace of tape, so the next time you do a WC you just drain down to that line.

 

[Marty]

Correct me if im wrong but mollies will eat algae as well.I know i drop an algae chip in my tank my two cories my pleco and my Dalmation mollies eat at it..

 

[Fishboydanny1]

when we say 'vacuum,' we mean a siphon that you can buy at any pet store. it's just a clear rubbery tube with a wider diameter end to it that allows 'junk' to get sucked up but not the gravel. good luck with your setup!