Help! I inherited a mess!

Eileen, I like the idea of black sand. What kind did you get and where did you get it?

Also, Sirius, Eileen is so right about the size of the tank and the occupants. Another thing is that a 10 gallon is very difficult to keep stable. It is much more prone to swings in parameters. Beleive me, that's how I started and I can't believe they call a 10 gallon a beginner tank. The bigger the tank the more stable it is.

Some of my tanks with sand

Here are a few picture of my tanks with sand. Also adding live plants to a small tank helps in keeping the water stable. The live plants remove nitrates,nitrites in the water. I also have a hang of back filter on on my tanks even the small 2.5 gal. I got a azoo palm filter from drsfostersmith for $6.99 and it works like a reg. filter from 2-5 gal. I added a bio sponge in front of the outflow to the tank. Works great. I have never had a problem with my small tanks. I test weekly with a API test dropper kit and do 25% water changes a week, I stir up the sand once a week and with the pool filter sand I rub that between my hands if algae gets growing on it and it's good as new. The courser pool filter sand is great not to fine and a bit more courser as you can see in the pictures the tank with the pool filter sand is nice a bright against the black background.

My black sand I got at a local fish store. Just make sure you do not get really fine black sand as it can become a mess like charcoal. The black sand was in a qt. size zip lock bags of 5 lbs. It had a shiny sheen to it. The funny thing is that I did not have to rinse this I just added it and it was fine in my tank. The picture on the bottom I posted above with black sand is mixed with a bit of black eco-complete . Also did you know that black sand is good for your live plants as it has iron in it. you do not need to give your plants fertilizers and stuff as the iron is in the sand and they grow better another good reason to switch to black sand. I have seen a 20lb bag of black sand at the local fish store for about $20 for a 20lb bag. Just make sure you turn you filter off while filling your tank with sand. The water might be cloudy for awhile but the sand will settle and the water will clear up. I just rinse out the filter pad over a few days after adding sand. The pool filter sand took a bit of rinsing in a 5lb bucket but I did not get it perfectly clean when I added it to my tank.

Your tanks are lovely!

You know what I would do if you would like to keep your fish from the 10 gal. I would get a 55 gal or 35 gal. try craigslist if you live in the U.S in your area. Look under Pets or the general section this is a good site to rehome your fish as posting is free and you can post for 7 days and repost after the 7 days is up.Some people rehome for a small fee or rehome them for free to a good home. A bigger tank is easier to keep then a small one. Less work to maintain good water qty.

I bought my 55 gal. at Walmart awhile back and it was about $125 for a 55 gal. with filter and start up kit and it had a hood and light already. I upgraded the filter to a 75 gal. tank and added a uv/sterilizer/clarifier from drsfostersmith. I never opened the filter that came with my 55 gal. tank and sold it on craigslist for $20. You can get a really good price on craigslist for a 55 gal. tank sometimes with a stand included as some people loose interest in the hobby or are down sizing in an apt. or house. I would consider a 30, 40 gal. if not the 55 gal. tank.

I would then use the 10 gal. tank as a hospital tank for new fish that you get before adding them to you est. tank so that your exsiting fish do not get sick. The hospital tank should have the fish in for about 2-3 weeks and if they get any illness you can treat them in that tank. When not in use I would put some smaller fish or Mystery snails in it to keep the bio going. Pool filter sand is cheap and a 50lb bag should just about do it in a 55 gal. tank. By going with a 30,40, or 55 gal. you can get some nice community fish. a 30 gal. you can get a pair of angelfish or gourmis mixed with livebearers and a small school of schooling fish like rasboras, or glo-light tetras. Bigger tank like 55 you can get a nice pair of Discus even mixed with some fish they get along with. My 55 gal. I have 1 lg. angelfish I bought as a baby about a dime size that is now over 6" big, 2 Boesmani rainbow fish. I used to have 3 of the Boesmani rainbows , 6 harleqen rasboras, 6 dwarf rasboras, 2 brown bushynosed plecos, 4 bubblebee platies, 4 assassin snails. If you don't have the room for a big 55 gal get the 30 gal. tank. keep the 10 as a hospital tank.

I joined the San Diego Tropical Fish Society in San Diego in my area and they have mini auctions at the beginning of each meet up once a month and have great prices on fish, plants, and used tanks. Maybe they have a Tropical Fish society in your area that you can look up on-line that you can join. We meet once a month in the evening for a few hours and you meet really nice people and they have a presentation at each meeting and it's fun and not much to join.