Hi!

[RadishFish01]

Hello everyone! I'm relatively new to aquariums, I have had fish when I was little, but it was 2 small goldfish in a 10 gallon . We did clean the tank and they actually lived for quite a while but always died in two years. Since quarantine began, I been wanting to get a fish and I tried to learn as much as possible. I used my 10 gallon tank and made it in to a Walstad with a filter and put some RCS and a nerite in. I'm planning on getting a betta soon since they're so beautiful, but as of now it's still cycling.

 

[AilyNC]

Welcome

 

[Retired Viking]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[RadishFish01]

Welcome

Hi! I liked your tank on the Tank of the Month

 

[Ch4rlie]

Welcome to the Forum

Are you using the Fishless Cycling article to cycle your tank?

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

 

[HoldenOn]

Welcome

 

[AilyNC]

Hi! I liked your tank on the Tank of the Month

Thanks it was a crazy start. Hopefully you have smoother sailing

 

[RadishFish01]

Welcome to the Forum

Are you using the Fishless Cycling article to cycle your tank?

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

I don't have any test strips yet, so I've kinda just been letting the tank run for about a week so far. I've assumed the organic soil would have ammonia and nitrifying bacteria already, especially as the compost breaks down, so right now the snail and shrimp are just running around in the tank eating algae and the filter has been running too. Should I be actively adding ammonia or like algae wafers or fish food into the tank?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ok, would not recommend dip strip test kit tbh as not very reliable.

You would be better off getting API Master Freshwater Test kit as it’s more accurate and reliable as well as being cheaper than strip test kit in the long run.



And it takes more than just letting the tank run for a week or two with snails and shrimps to cycle the tank and adding fish food as a source of ammonianis

Really is not as simple as that. If it was LFS or another website that said this then this is just simply bad advice.

If you were to add fish now or next week, I can guarantee you that they will sick and likely to die due to ammonia and nitrite poisoning.

So please read the fishless cycle article that I linked earlier.

Following my advice really will save you a lot of trouble and hard work, a lot easier to cycle the tank first before adding any livestock.

So, first is to get the test kit, then would purchase some bacteria starter such as one of the two recommended Tetra Safe Start or Dr Tim’s One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria.



That will help you get a nice start in getting the correct bacterias into your filter and tank, quickens the process by a week or two, worth it.

And also you will need a source of ammonia, much easier to calculate dosages with this rather than algae wafers or fish food as it’s important to dose 3ppm ammonia otherwise you run the risk of crashing the cycle and then having to start over again.



A lot of information and advice to take on but this is the correct way of doing things.

By the way, I’d recommend you take the shrimp back or rehome it as it’s very unlikely it will survive the cycling process am afraid, shrimps are much more sensitive than fish to water parameters.

 

[RadishFish01]

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely get the test kit instead of strips, it seems that's the consensus everywhere too. I've tried to read up on cycling but it's really confusing, Walstad's book says that cycling is not needed and may actually be harmful because aquatic plants prefer ammonia over nitrates. And then I read in your link that cycling is needed for sure. I haven't planted super super densely, but my plants are growing really fast already. Is it possible to test if the tank is cycled or not without running a full ammonia dosing, say like half dosing and then testing the water parameters after 24 hours? If I do end up doing a full cycle I'll definitely take the shrimp out though.

 

[Essjay]

If there are a lot of fast growing plants which are actively growing, you are doing a silent cycle. We have several members who always use this method. The main risk when people think they are doing a silent cycle is when there are only a couple of slow growing plants; or when the tank is stocked too fast. With just 1 betta in 10 gallons, you should be OK provided the plants are growing well.