Aqua Start 320! Gotta Start Somewhere!

[gazbut]

hi all
1st congrats on a great forum!
ok starting small with a aqua start 320 28ltr (still got the wife saying "not another fad" ringing in my ears)
anyway complete noob with questions?
set tank up as instructions and added the supplied water conditioner, temp is steady at 24.
question? how high do you set the outflow head? at moment its rippling the surface.
also when i'm up and running how many hrs per day do you need lights on?

my local LFS -aquahome Leyland, lanc's (hope that means Local Fish Shop ) has told me to just wait one week then return with a water sample . if ok buy 3 hardy fish to start me off.
this seems very different from all the advice on here

i've ordered a cleaning kit from ebay, should i do a water change after 1 week before adding the fish?

thanks in advance
gazbut

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Gazbut. Many people have started tanks just the way the LFS has suggested. We read their concerned posts every day. What happens if you do that is that the ammonia in the water will start to build once the fish are in the tank. That is the beginning of a fish-in cycle which can be done with success if you are willing to do all of the work it takes and the daily testing that is needed for your fish to survive. It happens so often that I carry around a link in my signature area to the fish-in cycling method.
A much easier and less stressful method is to do a fishless cycle. What it amounts to is that you simulate having fish in the tank by adding the ammonia artificially. The bacteria that develop during a cycle do not care where they get their ammonia so they go ahead and develop just like they would with a few fish in the tank. The biggest difference is that you don't need to constantly be changing water to keep your fish alive during the process. You let things sit, do a few tests, add some ammonia when the test shows a need for it and think about the fish you will stock when all the testing is done and the tank is ready. You are not limited to the "hardy fish" that the LFS suggested for cycling the tank and get to choose fish you actually like instead. You even have time to spend exploring the different tiny fish that will work in a 28 litre tank. That is a very small tank compared to most of the ones we favor and will be more challenging to keep the water chemistry stable than a larger tank. I keep a link to the fishless cycle in my signature area too and would suggest you read up on it and come back with any questions. We really do prefer to have people fishless cycle when we can catch them before they fill the tank with fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, just a post here to say welcome and that you can trust the advice up there from oldman47, he's an excellent aquarist and you've lucked out with a tremendous opportunity to "do things right," reading up here and getting all sorts of info prior to making the mistake of getting fish too early!

~~waterdrop~~