New Aquarium, looking for advise and help along the way

Hi, My name is Andy and I just got a new aquarium this week. Here is a picture.


It is a 10 gallon freshwater tank that came as a kit, with a filter, light, Aquasafe, some food, and the hood. I talked to the people at petsmart and they said that to get everything set up I should get some decorations and some gravel and then fill the tank with tap water, add the aquasafe and let it sit for at least a day before adding any fish. So I set it up with the gravel and decorations in the picture (That is a silicone plant) and let it sit overnight.
After getting the water tested, I added some residents, an African dwarf frog, a lyretail dalmatian molly, and a guppy, to help start bacteria cycle.
I could not get a picture of the guppy, as it was swimming too fast, or the frog as he was hiding, but here is a picture of the molly which is named dovahkiin.

I currently have a bubbler and a heater coming in the mail and they should be going in the tank next week along with some more artificial plants. I also plan to get 3 neon tetras, a betta, and a mystery snail to go in the tank in the future.

What I am currently looking for is some advice to help me get started, as I have not kept a full sized aquarium before. (Only a fishbowl with a betta)
For example, how often and how much should I change the the water? At the pet store they said to feed all the fish tropical fish flakes, and the frog frog pellets, should I look into getting something else like frozen bloodworms?
Otherwise, any helpful thoughts or comments? Also I am a poor college student, so as much as I would like to I will not be able to go buy the Ultra Ultimate Fishcare 2000 with Matching Fish Pajamas anytime soon, no matter how good it would be for my fish.

 

You are of to a decent start. I would have told you to let the tank sit longer, and to use RO or at least distilled water, but your tank is already up! I would get the heater in as fast as possible, and set it to about 76 degrees Farenheight. Get a stick on thermometer too, they cost like 4 bucks, and place it on your tank as far away from where your heater will be as possible.

I would think about upgrading the filter to a hang on back biowheel unit, the smallest one is like 20ish bucks. Its a much better filter, and will take out way more junk from your water.

As for water changes, get a siphon, and really clean the gravel every week to two weeks. in that size tank you probably only need to change about three gallons of water, but I would just make sure that you clean all of the gravel. Freshwater tanks can get really dirty if you let them slide, so I would make sure to keep on the water changes! And if you can buy reverse osmosis water from a local fish store, petsmart might not have it but if you have a store near you that specializes in fish chances are they will.

As for food, all I have ever fed my freshwater is flakes and pellets, I think you will be fine with that combo!

Welcome to 3reef btw!

 

Thanks, I will definitely look into getting a better filter when I have a little extra cash. I will post pics again when I have the rest of the equipment installed.

 

Welcome to 3reef Scarecrow.

 

welcome to 3reef!

 

welcome friend!! fresh water tanks are quite easy to maintain once you tank is cycled. its looking really good. My advice is don't listen to the people at pet smart, They are a huge company that hires misinformed people to make a sale. I advise asking questions on here first, A lot of the people on here will know much more. I totally agree with drew get a hang on back bio wheel filter its a little extra $$ but totally worth the investment. You are off to a great start i have had 4 successful fresh water tanks in my life so if you have questions feel free to ask. Good Luck its an addictive hobby, I say less than a year and you going to want a slat water tank haha. Also buy your self a good master test kit from API with fresh water you really need to test water occasionally but it will be nice to have it. again welcome to 3reef this is by far the best forum to be a member of

 

Thanks for the welcome everyone, and here is a little update. Today I woke up and found that the water in the tank was slightly cloudy, not very but if I squint at it it is just slightly less clear than air. From what I have read this is probably just the tank beginning to cycle because I added fish only a couple days ago, and the cloudiness should clear up on it's own as the tank cycles. Is this correct? Even tonight it is looking a bit clearer.

@DJ, Yeah I hope to get a salt water tank in the future, but I figured I should get some practice in first with a freshwater. Once I have a job and stable source of income I will probably use the tank I have now as a quarantine tank, but that will be a while in the future.

 

is the tank anywhere near a window? direct sunlight can cause cloudiness/algae blooms too

 

No, the closest window does not have a direct line to the tank, and it is more of a whitish cloudiness that the green I would expect of algae. I have had the light in the tank on during the day, but I turn it off at night.

 

Sounds like new tank disease.The cloudiness should go away but don't panic if it gets worse.