Coming Back To An Old Love After Many Years

[Merithyn]

Hello, everyone.

This is an amazing website! Just reading it has gotten me excited about coming back to an old hobby. I've read numerous threads and am excited about putting all of your suggestions to use. Unfortunately, there is a lot that is kind of lost on me.

I got my first fish tank 20 years ago next week. While I loved my fish tanks over the years, when my twins came 14 years ago, it was time to put them away as I just didn't have the time to deal with all three of my babies. Well, the boys (and their two younger siblings) are now old enough to not only enjoy but help with one of my favorite hobbies. So, I'm in the process of buying and putting together a fishtank for the first time in a LONG time. (Short story long, eh?)

Now, I plan to buy used and rebuild on that. And for the first time ever, I plan to try live plants.

Is there anything that I should be aware of that may have changed in the past 15+ years? I know that undergravel filters are considered a poor choice now, and I'll have to be incredibly more knowledgeable about my water if I'm going to work with live plants. What do I need to do differently if I'm going to be planting those? I assume the rock base is important for live plants?

I know, a ton of stuff for a first post, but I've waited a long time to get a tank going again, and I'm excited.

Thanks in advance for any advice, suggestions, or simple hellos.

 

[shang hi]

its nice to know that you are going to be keeping fish again.
and yes under gravel filters are now almost redundent, and in medium to large tanks the best way to go is external canister for filtration now, as they hold alot more media.

im still learning about plants so ill tell you anything usefull i find.

 

[Merithyn]

its nice to know that you are going to be keeping fish again.
and yes under gravel filters are now almost redundent, and in medium to large tanks the best way to go is external canister for filtration now, as they hold alot more media.

im still learning about plants so ill tell you anything usefull i find.

Thanks and hello to you, too, Shang Hi.

The tank I'm looking at is a 55gal. I was thinking of a BIO Wheel for that. I read the discussion on best types of filters and it seems that there's a wide variety of ideas on what the "best" type is. Is there a specific one that works best with live plants?

Also, is there a post somewhere listing the preferred status of water to avoid bloom outbreaks, etc.? I did a search, but must not have the right terminology.

 

[Luketendo]

I don't know about BIO wheels because they're not very common in the UK, I'd recommend a canister filter but that's because I don't know about BIO wheels.

Visit the Planted Tank Forum for information on live plants, they give very good advice.

 

[Tolak]

If you are planning on plants I think the canister filter route is a better one than the hob power filter. Hob filters tend to add too much O2 to the water for plants.

If you are looking for used, or cheap anything check out http/www.champaignfish.com/

 

[Merithyn]

If you are planning on plants I think the canister filter route is a better one than the hob power filter. Hob filters tend to add too much O2 to the water for plants.

If you are looking for used, or cheap anything check out [URL="http/www.champaignfish.com/"]http/www.champaignfish.com/[/URL]

Wow! Thanks! Didn't know that existed.

 

[Will91]

Welcome. I too kept tanks many years ago and recently restarted the hobby. I too was using ungravel filters at that time. One thing that has defniitely revolutionized the hobby is the internet! There is so much useful information to be found on this hobby by simply doing a google search. This forum is fantastic! Lots of super friendly and helpful folks.

I got interested in live plants but only after I set up my new 26 USG bowfront tank so I didn't want to re-do the tank to place the proper media, etc. I learned that there are lots of plants that do well by simply being tied to driftwood or rocks - live java fern or anubias nana plants. I have a few of them now and they are doing quite nicely. Live plants are so much nicer than artifical and look fantastic tied to my African Root Wood.

You also might want to check out www.plantedtanks.net or the plant forum on this site for other useful info.

 

[dthoffsett]

Another newer bit of knowledge in the hobby is fishless cycling, if you haven't already read about it, I recommend checking out this link.
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical-Chit-Chat/73365/How-to-Do-a-Fishless-Cycle/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical...Fishless-Cycle/[/URL]

Welcome back to the world of fishkeeping.

 

[Merithyn]

Another newer bit of knowledge in the hobby is fishless cycling, if you haven't already read about it, I recommend checking out this link.
<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical-Chit-Chat/73365/How-to-Do-a-Fishless-Cycle/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/Tropical...Fishless-Cycle/</a>

Welcome back to the world of fishkeeping.

Thanks everyone for the great hello.

I've always done at least a weeklong fishless cycling with my tanks, just to be on the safe side. I never trusted the bought conditioners. And I've been pouring over this website for about a month now. There's so much information and just so little time. You guys are a fount of information, and I can't tell you how great it is to hear how you've accomplished what you've done. Thank you for sharing it all.

 

[Merithyn]

Okay. Bought a 10g today to get started. I'm giving it until Saturday before I add any fish to give it time to cycle through. The kids are antsy, but this will give them time to help decide what we're going to get.

I'll post pictures once I get batteries for the camera again. As I work tonight and will have little to do, I'll be plotting out what style and type of tank I'd like it to be. I really liked the Buddha-scapes that I saw someone had on here, but there are also a ton of other ideas floating around. As it'll be my first foray into a planted tank, there's a ton of information for me to go over before deciding.

Scary how much fun this is. I'd forgotten how much I love this.

 

[fourthtimelucky]

Welcome back to the hobby (and to the forums!)

I would definitely recommend doing a fishless cycle, especially if this will be your kids' introduction to the hobby. Watching their new fish die because the tank isn't properly cycled -- not a good start!

Leaving the tank a week or less will not cycle the tank, I'm afraid. "Cycling" refers to the building up of a mature bacteria colony in your filter which will then process the waste excreted by the fish. There are two "fishless" methods, both of which involve adding ammonia to the tank and measuring the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the water with a test kit. There is a really great pinned section at the top of this page on fishless cycling which explains it all. It is probably worth printing this out and reading it together with your kids.

A fishless cycle takes a while (usually around 3-4 weeks) but means you won't be harming your fish at the beginning. If you are new to plants this would also give you time to fiddle around with the planting and layout before you put the fish in.

Perhaps you could set up a chart and each of you could take it in turns to test the water & add the ammonia, plotting the results onto a graph together. The API master test kit or similar involves playing around with test-tubes and potions, which is fun in a "mad scientist" sort of way.

A month of water tests and planning your stocking, planting etc would be very good preparation for the responsibility of looking after live fish and I think your kids will be more interested & involved than if you just "buy fish, plonk fish in water, fish sickens / dies" etc which can be very offputting.

I hope you all have fun!

 

[Merithyn]

Sorry not to have been clear. I've poured over the pinned "How To" on cycling and will be following the directions, closely. I guess I didn't understand that it took so long, however. I was under the impression that it was about a weeklong process. No matter. I'll just take them plant shopping, instead. We can get the fish later.

Also, having read over the process listed, I'm still not 100% sure how often one adds the ammonia. Daily? Hourly? Three times per day? Only when testing shows low ammonia levels? In which case, how often should I test for those levels?

 

[Will91]

I much easier approach (and faster) is to use Marineland's BioSpira. This is beneficial bacteria you can purchase at many local fish stores or on-line. It is composed of two types of bacteria - one to process ammonia and one to process nitrites. These two types of bacteria are the kinds you are generating during the month-long fishless cycle. With BioSpira, you can add a few fish and BioSpira at the same time and you are off to the races. No fuss, no muss. Just make sure your lfs has kept it refrigerated or the on-line source sends it in a cold pack, AND keep it refrigerated at home till you are ready to use. Do a search on the topic - plenty of info. Good luck!

 

[Tolak]

Sorry not to have been clear. I've poured over the pinned "How To" on cycling and will be following the directions, closely. I guess I didn't understand that it took so long, however. I was under the impression that it was about a weeklong process. No matter. I'll just take them plant shopping, instead. We can get the fish later.

Also, having read over the process listed, I'm still not 100% sure how often one adds the ammonia. Daily? Hourly? Three times per day? Only when testing shows low ammonia levels? In which case, how often should I test for those levels?

Test for ammonia daily,you want to keep your level between 4-6ppm. If it stays at that level, which it will at first, don't add any more. Only add ammonia when your level drops below 4ppm, add enough to bring it back up to 4-6ppm. Adding ammonia once daily is fine once the ammo level starts to drop. When the ammo level starts to drop you will start to see nitrites, keep adding until the nitrite levels drop to zero, and the tank consumes 4-6ppm ammonia in 24 hours.

Another way is to put some mature media in your filter or tank to jump start the cycle. You can try your lfs for some mature media or gravel. There is also a list of people willing to donate mature media here; [URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...ia-To-Newbies-/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...ia-To-Newbies-/[/URL]

If you can't get it from anyone else I know this guy in Chicago who ships mature media. Pm me your address, I'll send you some, I changed out enough floss over the weekend to half fill a 5 gallon bucket, but have plenty more.

 

[Merithyn]

I much easier approach (and faster) is to use Marineland's BioSpira. This is beneficial bacteria you can purchase at many local fish stores or on-line. It is composed of two types of bacteria - one to process ammonia and one to process nitrites. These two types of bacteria are the kinds you are generating during the month-long fishless cycle. With BioSpira, you can add a few fish and BioSpira at the same time and you are off to the races. No fuss, no muss. Just make sure your lfs has kept it refrigerated or the on-line source sends it in a cold pack, AND keep it refrigerated at home till you are ready to use. Do a search on the topic - plenty of info. Good luck!

Interesting. I'll look into that. Thank you.