Newbie- first aquarium and would love some tips

[Tara914]

Hi, I am new here and we just got our first aquarium. I would love any advice that you can give as long as you are nice to me- I have no idea what I am doing but I am enjoying the learning process! :)

I used to have a turtle in a big aquarium years ago but this is my first time having fish. DH and I got one of those kits that has a tank, filter etc. We set up a few days ago and here's what we have: 10 gal aquarium, blue pebbles on the bottom, heater (temp is about 77-78 degrees on thermometer near the top) one big rock structure thing in the middle with a few plant-ish things on it, a medium size purple plant on one side and a small green one on the other. We used water conditioner and let it run for a few days before adding fish.

We went to a chain petstore to get the fish and they were kind of "oh you can put any of the community fish together" so here is what we ended up with. We got three gold barbs (they told us to get three so they could school but they are NOT schooling, now I am reading that we would need at least five?) they mostly hide toward the bottom/back of the tank. One oranged colored platy who swims around at the top, and two ghost shrimp. One of the shrimp we can't find anymore so I don't know if he got eaten or is dead somewhere or just hiding.

We want to add a few more fish gradually- we were thinking some sort of bottom feeder (my husband really wants one, not sure what to get), maybe a larger snail if he won't reproduce, I would like neon tetras but the petstore worker said they aren't good for beginners. And maybe a "pretty" fish with stripes or something.

Please let me know if we are doing anything wrong, also advice on what to add/when/how many. Thanks!

[rich311k]

I would read theE-book before doing anything else. It is a great guide for starting a tank. You will need a test kit as your tank needs to cycle. With a ten gallon tank you dont have room for many more fish.

[glarior]

Do you have a test kit?

How many fish total are you wanting to add?

[MonkeyPox]

+ 1 for the test kit. That is the first step for anyone wanting to learn about fish keeping.

[Owlbehere]

Read the e-book. Its the best and you will learn so much! I didn't know what i was missing until I read that, it was an eye opener and I learned so much from it... Oh and stick around here there are a lot of seasoned fish keepers here that can help you with everything!

[Tara914]

So the test kit is just to test the water for PH etc? I kind of understand how that works because I used to lifeguard and we have a hot tub at our house. I will have to see if a test kit came with our stuff, if not we will pick one up tomorrow.

I located the missing ghost shrimp. He is either hiding or dead partially under the big rock decoration. He is not moving at all but he's not turning pink or anything yet. Also the three barbs keep hovering above him- would they be eating him?

The other ghost shrimp is live and well and feisty. He keeps fighting with the biggest barb, they keep darting toward each other and then he jumps toward the fish and then they both swim away.

And does the platy need a friend?

[MonkeyPox]

At a minimum, you want to test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
pH is something worth testing for as well.
Did you use a dechlorinator?

Don't add any more fish for a bit and let your tank cycle. After that's complete, then you can start looking at what else (if anything) you can add.

[robflanker]

Make sure you get the API Liquid Freshwater Master Test Kit. Do not, do not, do not chemical testing strips. They are crap.

Make sure you get dechlorinator as well

[Northernguy]

You really should sit and read the free e-book,its on the left in the menu.
You can buy a master liquid test kit and save a few bucks.
Here is a link on how to cycle your tank.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

The pleco you want to add is not going to be able to live in your ten gallon.Some get near two ft long.A few can go in smaller tanks like a 2ogal.
They also need a very well established tank.

[Tara914]

We added de-chlorinator before starting. we only let the aquarium run for a few days. The people at the petstore said "Just let it run until the water is clear and then it's fine!" Oops... so I am learning a lot here. We will not be adding anything for a while. But I am really looking forward to adding. I can see how this would be addicting and become a really fun hobby. We will start testing the water tomorrow so I will probably be back with some questions. Also you said not to get a "pleco"- what is that?

[sid101]

Welcome to the AC!

Here is a link to different kinds of plecos and so you can learn about them, i would recommend you that same website so you can learn at least some basics about almost any aquarium fish there is in the regular market.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[iZinedane]

We added de-chlorinator before starting. we only let the aquarium run for a few days. The people at the petstore said "Just let it run until the water is clear and then it's fine!" Oops... so I am learning a lot here. We will not be adding anything for a while. But I am really looking forward to adding. I can see how this would be addicting and become a really fun hobby. We will start testing the water tomorrow so I will probably be back with some questions. Also you said not to get a "pleco"- what is that?

common plecs tend to grow big
depends on what pleco you will get

[iZinedane]

common plecs tend to grow big
depends on what pleco you will get

and forgot to mention
gold barbs need at least 5 or more
so they wont be shy around the tank
and atleast a 12g minimum

[megastealer]

A pleco is what you would more commonly call an algae eater.

You've seen em, they sell them at walmart.

They look something like this usually:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

They are sold at walmart as tiny little guys, but they can get to be easily 2 feet long.

[iZinedane]

A pleco is what you would more commonly call an algae eater.

You've seen em, they sell them at walmart.

They look something like this usually:
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

They are sold at walmart as tiny little guys, but they can get to be easily 2 feet long.

+1 on that

[Fraoch]

I don't mean to be a fear-monger, but that shrimp may be dead.

If you read about cycling, you'll see that for a while you will have toxins in the aquarium. Invertebrates cannot tolerate toxins very well and they may not make it.

Unfortunately you have a lot of work for the next month or more:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Be prepared for testing the water daily and be prepared for many partial water changes, perhaps daily. Cycling is not a pleasant or quick process, no one likes it but we all had to go through it at least once.

Good luck, and continue coming here for help and support - we've all been there!