What should I put in my new tank?

[dslr.cow]

Hi,
I bought and set up my 10 Gallon aquarium on Friday. Added 2 Mickey Mouse Platies and 3 Zebra Danios on Tuesday.

One of the platies came injured from the bag, i.e. back fin and one side fin was bit off. I thought about exchanging it, but then starting liking it.
The injured platy now has a whitish spot on one side, and one on the back fin too. Is it ich? What should I do?

Also, I want to add some other fish to my tank. The danios are very active, platies basically don't do anything.
I did some reading, and I want more cyprinidae. My local Petsmart doesn't have a lot of variety. Does anyone know any good Toronto fish stores?

Also, I need bottom-feeders. What should I get, and how many?




What other fish should I add?

 

[FroggyFox]

In a 10G you are pretty limited. Did you add biospira or stabilize or any kind of cycling product to the tank....or just set it up and added fish? Whether you have added anything or not I would say you shouldn't add any fish until your tank is cycled. Do you have ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits?

After its finished cycling I dont think I'd add anything to the tank except maybe an apple snail and an otto for your cleanup crew and a few more danios. You could try some different danios? I dont think I'd add any tiger barbs or other barbs to the tank...as they'd probably pester the livebearers. Adding more danios will hopefully keep them from pestering them too much. I wouldn't add a school of rasboras to the tank, mainly just because there's not enough room to put 5 more fish in there.

 

[adagiolove05]

what do the white spots look like? are they fuzzy? or just a tiny little dot like?

and like froggy said, you dont have very much room for anything else. you do have to account for the adult size of your fish. do you know if your platies are male and female? the ratio should be one male to every 2 or 3 females so that he doesn't just harass the one. you could add one more platy and a couple of danios at most. and for bottom feeders i'd go with a mystery snail. they do wonders

 

[dslr.cow]

I added what came with the aquarium kit (Top Fin).
StressZyme and Stress Coat, and Tetra AquaSafe for dechlorination.

My male MM platy (the injured one) died. It had bacterial fin rot. The store people said that it was their fault as they had a couple die on them too. They said my water was fine, except that I had too much ammonia.

I got Seachem Prime. Added a couple of drops of that.
Also got Omega One food. The fish just love that stuff.

I got a sunburst wagtail platy as a replacement for the dead mickey mouse. I In the beginning, it was a lot more active than my mm, then my mm started hanging out with it, and both are active. Will they mate?

 

[FroggyFox]

I dont think stress zyme is going to do a whole lot for you. You might pick up a product called stabilize....or there's one called biospira that is refrigerated and more expensive. Both of them have had good results from people cycling with fish in the tank already.

Generally its a bad idea to add more fish after one fish has died...you should just let your tank settle and make sure no more die from the same thing before getting another fish. In your case again, I wouldn't add anymore till your tank is finished cycling.

You should read up on how to set up a tank (there's a thread stickied at the top of the beginner forum that is great) and the cycle that all new tanks go through.

I would also pick up ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits so you can monitor the cycle...

 

[dslr.cow]

The person at the store said that the remaining platy would be lonely, and that the danios would bother her if she was alone.

 

[SANND]

Please don't add any new fish until your tank has settled down. you really really need to get a test kit before you buy anything else.

 

[lordroad]

I was kinda in the same boat when I started my tank. I began with 2 zebra danios, a female betta, and a white cloud.

Ammonia skyrocketed, and then nitrite. What I did was water change every day or every other day, about a gallon or two. This kept the fish alive and cycled the tank.

The important thing is not to add anymore fish until your water parameters stabilize. Bare minimal test kits are ammonia and nitrite... when they go down to zero, then you can assume the tank is cycled. A nitrate test kit is good to have too, but they are a little more expensive and sometimes hard to find.

Per bottom feeders, my favorite for ten gallons are kuhli loaches. Be sure you add them when the tank is ready, though. They stay pretty small and I currently have 5 in my ten gallon with tetras and guppies.

Another choice is 2 or three cory cats.