After 10 years of rest....

[Walt]

After 10 years without a tank, im back!
I had 5 tanks going at one time, including a 15 gallon reef tank and a 135 tank with just 1 fish.... a 2 foot Red Snakehead i raised from a baby...
My other tanks were various comm tanks....

But after moving a few times, and life getting busy, i had to get rid of 1 tank after the other till there were none left

Just last week, my neighbor whos moving, said... "hey, want my 55?".
Course! So im back in the saddle again!

Now im trying to find my old books and rack the ole brain on whats what

Im going to make it into t a comm tank...
So far i have cleaned it all out, put in an undergravel, n rock, then built up a back wall with large river rock (using sealent to hold any in place i didnt trust).
2 days later, i hooked up the Marineland Emperor 400B he gave me as well.... put in new bio wheels...
Then filled er up last night.. airpump n filter running great!

I think Ill try a fishless cycle... never done this before...Im hoping itll be faster

Couple 'newbie' questions...
1. Should i cycle with carbon in the Emperor?
2. Would adding plants during the cycle be a good or bad idea?

Thanks!
Walt

 

[Jen]

Live plants and undergravel filters are generally a no-no. Some people have tons of luck with them, and others have nothing but problems. Depending on the kind of plants, the root system gets too large and can clog the filter, or the filter sucks away all the nutrients in the gravel and the plants don't grow.

As for the cycling questions, I haven't a clue as I always cycle with fish.

Best of luck, and welcome back!

 

[Teelie]

No carbon during a cycle. It absorbs the ammonia and nitrite the bacteria colony need to establish. Undergravel filters are mostly considered obsolete now with hang on the back and cannister filters becoming the most effective. The Emperor with the biowheel sounds like a good filter though. And as canoechiq said, the undergravel filter doesn't work well with plants, or sand if you decide to change substrate in the future. Fishless cycling takes approximately a month, sometimes more but not by much. Most plants can do okay during a cycle and have no real impact on it.

Welcome back to the hobby.

 

[Walt]

Cool!

Thanks for the info!
Ya... i figd the ungravel wasnt needed with the Emperor, but then i thought... heck more bio is better
I had good luck with my ungravel n plants 15 years ago... so we'll see.. heh....
If it just starts 'sucking wind' ill just turn off the undergravel and let the bio in the powerfilter be 'the man'

Guess ill start adding Ammonia tonight

BTW.....A little place to rest my thoughts... sweet B)

 

[Teelie]

You can keep the undergravel in there if you like as it will offer more surface for the bacteria but the stuff that builds up underneath gets nasty, as you may remember.

 

[Walt]

THAT, i remember...