Topic: Please Help!

[Adkii07]

  Hi Everyone

I am a new aquarium owner, its small... Only 3 gallons. I have had it running for about 1 day with no fish. I think i am letting it cycle now?  I have added tetra-aqua aqua-safe to make the tap water safe for fish, at least that what it says on the trail pack. Ive also added a few flakes of the Tetra-fin food to help it cycle(I read to do that some where). But I'm not sure if there is any thing else that i need to add, Chemical Wise. I ran multiple p.h. test and it keeps  reading the pH at a 7.6. Ive attempted to add more water conditioner to it(the one mentioned above) to bring it down to at least a 7.0. I have bought a thermometer, and its reading about 68 degrees F. So I'm assuming i need a heater to be able to host tropical fish. But is the tank to small for a heater? But the main question i have is; Must ALL aquariums cycle, even if its 3 gallons? It is a Hawkeye Aqua-view 360. and it has a under gravel filtration system. How does that even work? I'm sorry to sound completely dumb, but I've always wanted fish, and i want to start of on the right foot. Even if its only 3 gallons!

Thanks Guys!!

[Santaaa]

depends what you want to keep in there. If  betta then no it does not need filtered. Smaller tanks are harder to maintain unless it is a betta. Nano fish are great but hard to find. I recommend getting some killifish. Aphyosemion Australe are good for that size tank and Aphyosemion Striatum. Although the Striatum need to be seperated every so often. The male seperated from the female as he will sometimes beat her up. Check out aquabid.com for killifish. Make sure you know what ones you get and that they don't get huge. Avoid Golden Wonder killifish they get huge. Avoid Fundlopanchax ones as they get bigger and are aggressive. Aphyosemion Australe orange are common and pretty colorful and are easy to care for. The tank is not too small for a heater. Wal-Mart carries ones for tanks that small.  It takes a long time for cycling a tank that way but it will work. Worry about the heater later. Test for ammonia, NitrIte, and NitrAte. When you get 0 for ammonia and NitrIte and get  a reading for nitrates then your tank is cycled. For the PH get something like Tetra's Blackwater it will bring it down. Although you should only fool with that if you are breeding fish otherwise don't bother. The less you have to fool with the water the better. I have to do it because my water is not good unless I fix it. I have to add baking soda to add minerals to stabilize the PH it also makes it go really high well above the normal level. So I add blackwater to lower it back to normal so I can use the water. It is a pain to figure out the right mixture but when you do it is not so bad but I still recommend against fooling with the water. killifish breed in softer water although not all will not breed. I had some that bred in water that was in a PH of around 8. This was before I found blackwater to fix the PH back into the lower range. Get killifish or a betta. Use no filtration with a betta just change the water ever 2 weeks fully wash the gravel out or don't use it. I find it easier not to use gravel with bettas.  If you can find nano fish such as a fish called Chili Rasbora not just any rasbora will do but Chili rasboras are perfect. Also, a pair of scarlet badis would work great but are hard to find. I know where to get them around me but they do not ship and I have never shipped fish so I just don't do it.

[LittlePuff]

You'll need to cycle the aquarium. Keep adding the same amount of food daily. Test ammonia and nitrites until the ammonia reads zero and you are getting readings of nitrites. Then start testing for nitrates. The process is complete when you get readings of zero on the nitrites and have some nitrates. It can take a few weeks.

For a 3gal, I would recommend a betta, or a couple male guppies, or male killies like Santaa suggested. You could also keep shrimp. 3gal kind of limits your choices. I would suggest a larger tank for a first time, it allows for more error. I would get a small heater. Don't worry about pH, or hardness/softness of water. Most fish will adjust to whatever you have.

When you do your water changes, you don't want to rinse out your gravel. That will kill all of your good bacteria and you will have to re-cycle your tank. I don't use undergravel filters, so someone else that does will hopefully come along and tell you how to do the weekly maintenance on them.

[Adkii07]

Thanks so much! I think this will be my new site for my new hobby!