Expert: Richard Hight - 10/14/2009

Question
Hi. I have a 10 gallon tank with 4 balloon mollies... its just a couple weeks old so i'm still working on getting the tank cycled. My ammonia levels are below .25ppm, and i'm vacuuming the gravel/changing 20% of the water pretty much every day. Once i get my ammonia at 0 how many balloon mollies can i have? Also, my tank kinda has a strange odor to it.... is this normal? Finally, how long does it typically take to cycle a 10 gallon tank?

Answer
Hi Allie

4 Balloon Mollies is about the maximum you can keep in a 10 gallon. The odor you are smelling is normal in new tanks and will go away when the tank cycles.

Any size tank can take 4-8 weeks to cycle. You are changing too much water though. While a tank is cycling with as many fish as you have, you should change 10-15% every couple of days. You also don't want to disturb the gravel too much. Only clean surface waste without disturbing the gravel. This will slow down the growth of good bacteria needed and cause your tank to cycle longer.

Hope his helps, good luck!

Richard