Advice Please On New Tank

[excitednewfish]

Hi all,

I am new to keeping fish, therefore I would be grateful in any advice from experienced fish keepers.
I have read lots of articles about keeping fish and I am very excited about getting some fish for my new tank, but I just want to make sure that I am doing the right thing as I want the fish to be healthy and happy.

I purchased a fishbox tank 60 litres, which comes with a filter, thermostat etc. I set up the tank, strictly following the instructions last saturday. Therefore the tank has now been set up for 5 days. I have not added any fish as yet, as I was told to wait for 7 days.

I would like to know, when I can add fish, which type of fish would be best to start with, and how many? Also do I need to do anything else before adding fish?

I have the filter running, the thermostat is on and the temp of the watre is about 26 degrees.

I have sand on the bottom, and I am going to get some live plants today. However the water which was clear now seems to have turned slighty cloudy and has a sort of film on the top of the water. Is this anything to worry about??

Many thanks in advance

 

[Curiosity101]

Hiya, welcome to TFF

First things first, the tank needs to cycle...
Fish create ammonia as they live, this is toxic to them. Bacteria are present in our water which use ammonia as a food source and turn it into a less toxic form call nitrite. Sadly nitrite IS still toxic, but luckily there are also bacteria which use Nitrite as a food source and turn it into something call Nitrate. Nitrate is much much much less toxic which is great.

Well these colonies settle in your filter once there is ammonia in the water, but it takes a long time for them to reproduce enough to be able to deal with the ammonia in a safe amount of time. If you choose to use fish as the source of ammonia then this means the fish will be exposed to ammonia and nitrite over time which is damaging. This is call Fish-in cycling.

Alternatively you can buy a bottle of ammonia from a shop eg. boots or homebase. And add that to your tank to build the bacteria colonies up. With this second method you have to wait much longer before adding fish, but when you do finally add fish they wont be exposed to anything harmful, which is a good thing.

It is you choice which method you choose, you will find details guides that I REALLY recommend you read in our 'New to hobby' --> 'Beginners resource centre'.
As soon as you have read those you will understand why your instruction leaflet is wrong. And why actually leaving your tank for 1 hour or 1 month with JUST water in does nothing to make it safer for fish.

Onto the 'scum' on the top of the tank. Did you wash the sand before putting it in? If not then chances are it is sediment from the sand. As you don't have fish in yet, and if you didn't wash the sand, then my advice would be to empty the tank completely, wash the sand, replace and refill. When you fill the tank use something like a bowl or saucer on the bottom of the tank to avoid stirring up the sand again.

Also as for plants, stick to easy grow plants. And don't buy it if you don't know what it's called.
You are best starting with plants like...
Java Fern
Java Moss
Marimo moss balls
Anubias
Elodea
Amazon Sword(although these often need root tab fertilisers to keep them happy)

 

[excitednewfish]

Hiya, welcome to TFF

First things first, the tank needs to cycle...
Fish create ammonia as they live, this is toxic to them. Bacteria are present in our water which use ammonia as a food source and turn it into a less toxic form call nitrite. Sadly nitrite IS still toxic, but luckily there are also bacteria which use Nitrite as a food source and turn it into something call Nitrate. Nitrate is much much much less toxic which is great.

Well these colonies settle in your filter once there is ammonia in the water, but it takes a long time for them to reproduce enough to be able to deal with the ammonia in a safe amount of time. If you choose to use fish as the source of ammonia then this means the fish will be exposed to ammonia and nitrite over time which is damaging. This is call Fish-in cycling.

Alternatively you can buy a bottle of ammonia from a shop eg. boots or homebase. And add that to your tank to build the bacteria colonies up. With this second method you have to wait much longer before adding fish, but when you do finally add fish they wont be exposed to anything harmful, which is a good thing.

It is you choice which method you choose, you will find details guides that I REALLY recommend you read in our 'New to hobby' --> 'Beginners resource centre'.
As soon as you have read those you will understand why your instruction leaflet is wrong. And why actually leaving your tank for 1 hour or 1 month with JUST water in does nothing to make it safer for fish.

Onto the 'scum' on the top of the tank. Did you wash the sand before putting it in? If not then chances are it is sediment from the sand. As you don't have fish in yet, and if you didn't wash the sand, then my advice would be to empty the tank completely, wash the sand, replace and refill. When you fill the tank use something like a bowl or saucer on the bottom of the tank to avoid stirring up the sand again.

Also as for plants, stick to easy grow plants. And don't buy it if you don't know what it's called.
You are best starting with plants like...
Java Fern
Java Moss
Marimo moss balls
Anubias
Elodea
Amazon Sword(although these often need root tab fertilisers to keep them happy)

Many thanks for your quick reply, and advice-much appreciated. I will also read the new to hobby part that you have reccommended.
Yes I washed the sand for about an hour before adding to the tank, and I used a bowl like you suggested when adding the water.

So if I buy some ammonia, how much do I need to add to a 64 litre tank and how long should I wait before adding fish and how many?

Many thanks

 

[Curiosity101]

Once you have read all of the cycling topics then you should hopefully have all your questions answered.

If not then feel free to come back and ask questions.

I think you need to read:
What's Cycling
The Nitrogen Cycle
Fishless Cycling

Then I'm sure you will have a good understanding of what it takes to prepare your tank for fish.
If you decide you don't want to wait that long then you need to read:
Fish-in Cycling

 

[excitednewfish]

Once you have read all of the cycling topics then you should hopefully have all your questions answered.

If not then feel free to come back and ask questions.

I think you need to read:
What's Cycling
The Nitrogen Cycle
Fishless Cycling

Then I'm sure you will have a good understanding of what it takes to prepare your tank for fish.
If you decide you don't want to wait that long then you need to read:
Fish-in Cycling

Thanks.
I have also got something called filter start that came with my tank-do I add that to the water? Or do I wait for the fish then add it? I'm confused!

 

[Curiosity101]

Have you read the topics I suggested yet? This should remove all the confusion (hopefully lol )

Filter start...well honestly I've seen 99% of people use this and it do nothing. 1% of people swear buy it and say it sped their cycle up...personally I believe they got lucky and happened to have the correct bacteria in high enough numbers in their water supply to jump start the process.
But eitherways, it is a product that claims to speed up the cycling process. It wont hurt the cycling process to use it, so seeing as you have it, you may aswell use following the directions on the bottle.

I can't really help much until you've read the topics I directed you to.