My 10 Gallon Journal

[A3M0N]

This isn't going to get too fancy, but I figured I could document my progress if anyone is interested. 

I'll go back to the beginning of this tank, a few months ago, and get caught up to now in a few posts. 

This is where it all started in January. I got the tank from Petco, while the water conditioner, bacteria starter, air line, air stones, and air check valve came from Walmart. I painted the back of the tank black, so that's a bottle of black acrylic paint. 

 

[Guppysnail]

Woohoo. Always excited to follow a new tank being set up. 

[A3M0N]

Here is the back painted! Added a sponge filter and light from Amazon. 

[A3M0N]

And here it is on the DIY stand, with heater, air pump, and lid from Petco. The substrate is blasting sand from Tractor Supply. 

Added two vallisneria from Pet Supplies Plus. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by A3M0N

[A3M0N]

And how we stand as of today. I got my shipment of Easy Root Tabs and Xtreme nano fish food from here at Aquarium Co-op, and the rocks are from Amazon. I used silicone to build up the pieces and let them cure for 24 hours. Next step will be some fish! I plan on around six neon tetras at first, then maybe add some shrimp in the near future. I made the little cave on the right side for them. 

[Patrick_G]

It looks good so far. I like that you’ve discovered budget items that work great. Blasting media, sponge filters, Amazon lights are all super functional and economical. 

[Guppysnail]

Looks like you are making good progress!

[dan12boy]

It’s coming together great! Do you mind providing the link or what I can search up to find those stones? Are they real? 

[A3M0N]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:55 PM, Patrick_G said:

It looks good so far. I like that you’ve discovered budget items that work great. Blasting media, sponge filters, Amazon lights are all super functional and economical. 

Yes sir! I do just about everything I can on budget. Especially after this project went well over the $100 Christmas gift card, my wife has been very patient... so far. 

On 5/16/2022 at 8:19 PM, dan12boy said:

It’s coming together great! Do you mind providing the link or what I can search up to find those stones? Are they real? 

Here ya go! They're real, slate and quartz. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07PB1ZGXL?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[Patrick_G]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:43 PM, A3M0N said:

Yes sir! I do just about everything I can on budget. Especially after this project went well over the $100 Christmas gift card, my wife has been very patient... so far. 

 It’s the plants that kill my budget! I can’t resist. 

[Torrey]

On 5/16/2022 at 7:43 PM, A3M0N said:

Yes sir! I do just about everything I can on budget. Especially after this project went well over the $100 Christmas gift card, my wife has been very patient... so far. 

Yes, the Nerm term is Patient Spouse™️ and we have a responsibility to take great care of them, as they appear to be an endangered species 😅

Seriously, your tank looks great!

[dan12boy]

On 5/16/2022 at 9:43 PM, A3M0N said:

Here ya go! They're real, slate and quartz. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07PB1ZGXL?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Thank you! Do those mess up your PH at all? 

[A3M0N]

On 5/17/2022 at 2:08 AM, Torrey said:

Yes, the Nerm term is Patient Spouse™️ and we have a responsibility to take great care of them, as they appear to be an endangered species 😅

Seriously, your tank looks great!

Thank you! 

 

On 5/17/2022 at 5:30 AM, dan12boy said:

Thank you! Do those mess up your PH at all? 

I really don't know yet. I just put them in the tank yesterday, and I'm still relearning all to recognize the ins and outs of water testing. I'll let you know if anything crazy changes over the next couple of days. 

I do have a question for y'all. The filter has been running for a while now, and I've been feeding the bacteria with ammonia. When I test the water I get no ammonia, no nitrite, but just a little nitrate. Is even a little nitrate safe to add fish? Or should I start adding more ammonia to really boost the bacteria to a water change level before adding fish? Or will that even work? 

Thanks! 

Edited May 17, 2022 by A3M0N

[Torrey]

On 5/17/2022 at 8:20 AM, A3M0N said:

I do have a question for y'all. The filter has been running for a while now, and I've been feeding the bacteria with ammonia. When I test the water I get no ammonia, no nitrite, but just a little nitrate. Is even a little nitrate safe to add fish? Or should I start adding more ammonia to really boost the bacteria to a water change level before adding fish? Or will that even work? 

I don't typically add fish until I am ghostfeeding the tank the amount of food the fish would be eating. Don't want to get the ammonia over 1.0 ppm, because it can overwhelm and crash the cycle. Getting the ammonia level up to 1.0 ppm, and then within 12 to 24 hours (and without a water change) you have zero ppm ammonia, and nitrites are close to 1.0 ppm, and then you see nitrates rising and zero nitrites, your tank's beneficial bacteria are ready for you to *slowly* start introducing fish.

 

I like a seasoned tank more than a cycled tank... and admit I didn't used to have the patience for a seasoned tank.

 

[A3M0N]

I've seen both of those videos, but I'm going to watch again! 

I loaded it up to 3ppm last night, and it was down to 0.5ppm tonight. I didn't feed it anymore, I'll see if it's at zero tomorrow. 

 

[A3M0N]

Alright, the water finally cycled and I have some fish! I ended up getting some API Quickstart and that really did the trick. I have a good about of alge growing, I dimmed the light a little bit and it runs for 10 hours a day. I just hope it's bright enough for the vallisneria. 

There are currently six neon tetras and two ghost shrimp. There were four shrimp, but two already died. The fish guy at Pet Supplies Plus said they don't live long, I guess he was right! I think I'll add some cherry shrimp in the near future. 

My original plan was to have a male betta as the "centerpiece", but now I'm thinking of just stocking up to like 10 neons and shrimp. Keep it simple. But maybe some other small, peaceful fish. And a clean up crew. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

 Hi @A3M0N, congrats on getting this far. I would wait for a bit- maybe about a month before adding any new inhabitants (testing the water to make sure the cycle isn't wobbling)- let the the new ones settle in and season your tank a bit more. Shrimp likely didn't die from old age- they are tricky to acclimate and require certain water parameters and a more seasoned tank. I would definitely not add any more shrimp until your tank's plants have grown in more (I'd suggest definitely adding more plants now- that can be fun and will be very helpful for future shrimp) and you get a more established cycle. This is the time you start planning a Quarantine tank and researching who you'd like to add next- but clean up crews are generally added last- they tend to be more sensitive and require stable tanks! 🙂 

Edited May 30, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Tazalanche]

Belated welcome @A3M0N. I'm northeast of Nashville too, but near the Kentucky state line. If you need any advice about stores in your area, plants, fish, etc., feel free to reach out.

[A3M0N]

Thanks everyone! Since my update I did end up losing one of the neons and two ghost shrimp, but the rest of the neons are doing great and and I added a couple more shrimp so now there are six shrimp and five neons. I think I'm going to add five or so harlequin rasboras and call that full. 

I ended up cutting my light power down a few clicks, and took it down to nine hours a day from ten and it seemed to really help with the stringy algae. I think I need some advice on feeding though. If I leave the nano food (Xtreme Nano) to float on top of the water it mostly seems to drift to the back corner then falls on the substrate around the filter and rots, or gets stuck on the filter. If I pinch some and put it under the water and let it drift down the neons will swarm around and eat a some, but most of it falls to the substrate and rots instead of being eaten. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better way? 

I took this right after the water change yesterday, I still need to add some foreground plants, but the vallisneria has already spread to one new plant. It's probably time to add some more root tabs, I'll do that next water change. The shrimp are much more active now, especially right after a water change. 

 

[Torrey]

Try getting a feeding cone. It's designed for worms, but works to keep food more localized and not drifting. You can also get a shrimp plate (or an old glass ashtray works well, as well as terra cotta plates that go under terra cotta plant pots, their are tiny ones only 1.5" across, up to 6" aross if you end up getting more bottom feeders)

Use a tube or planting tweezers to place food on the shrimp plate, and clean up any remaining food the next feeding (typically evening and night).

Offer the shrimp veggies, too.

See @Guppysnail's recommendations on using bamboo skewers for Repashy in her journal, and by targeting where the food goes, and probably feeding half of what you are currently feeding at a time, your water parameters will stabilize and maintenance will get easier.

[A3M0N]

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked for the little terra cotta saucers at Walmart, but they only had pots in stock. I'll check again soon. 

The ghost shrimp are getting more and more active, maybe that's the difference between a seasoned and only cycled tank? 

 

Here's the king of the hill! 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 6/28/2022 at 10:44 AM, A3M0N said:

checked for the little terra cotta saucers

Lowes, Home Depot and ace hardware almost always have them in stock. Check your local hardware/ garden center store

[A3M0N]

Thanks for the tips y'all! The bamboo skewer is working great for feeding the tiny food pieces. 

Unfortunately, all the ghost shrimp died. They lived in the tank a few months, but I read they're life span is about a year, and they were showing signs of age. 

I added four harlequin rasboras, all they had in the store, and a mystery snail. It's a much liveier tank now. The rasboras play in the bubbles from the filter, and the snail will climb to the top and drift back down. So now there are five neons, four rasboras, and one snail. 

 

[A3M0N]

Here are a few pictures, they wouldn't upload earlier. 

[A3M0N]

My vallisneria isn't looking the best. It's still alive, and has already creeped and started two more plants, but none of it is a tall and green as it was. I turned my light brightness up a bit, but then I saw an uptick in hair algae. 

So as of now my light is at half power, both white and blue lights, and running for eight hours per day. It was at 10 hours. 

Also, more for fun and I like to make things than for any other reason, and to see if it would help my plants, I made a very small diy co2 system. It's made from two 16oz soda bottles, air tubing, and an air stone. It probably won't run very long, but I just wanted to see if it would work and it does. I may upgrade to that gallon bottle next if it makes a big difference. 

I still need to change the water this week. I'll do that this evening probably.