Filter, Lighting, And Water Chemistry?

[way cool jr]

Hello everyone, my name is Tom. I have just acquired a 75 gal aquarium and have few questions, any help would be great!... I have had tanks in the past, however many things I have forgotten, and boy technology has changed!!!!

I bought this from a guy who had live plants and cichlids in this tank. It has everything,,, and I mean everything.

I will be keeping this tank for community fish. It has plenty of sand and rock in the bottom (no under gravel filter) Large piece of driftwood (artificial) connected to loads of rock. Lots of hiding places. And artificial plants.

1.Fluval 405 filter? I have noticed that there are several different types of media it to use. In what order should I be placing the media? And what types of media should I be using???

2. Lighting? It has two light bars, each with 40 watt fluorescent bulbs. One of those is a Power-GLO and the other is an Eclipse Natural Day Light. Do I use both of those at the same or neither?

3. Water Chemistry? How important is PH? Right now I have a few starter fish in there (and are lonely) everything tests fine except the PH is high. How do I bring it down to normal level naturally? Do I even need to adjust this if I do not plan on breeding?

4.How Long? All the gravel, sand, rocks, plants and filter media is used. I have had fish in the aquarium for about a week (zebra danios, and common goldfish). Do you think this weekend I could start adding some other species?
Thanks Tom....

 

[vancouver]

1. I cant remember if the sponge goes on top or bottom of the other media.. Some people use ammonia remover or charcoal with their sponge.. I think I keep the sponge on top. Not positive if that is correct or not.

2. You can use both if you want.. if you start noticing algae you might want to only try using 1.

3. How high is the ph?

4. You might want to try adding a few more small fish but continue testing to see if you have anyspikes, before you add any large fish that will dramatically effect the bio-load.

Are the goldfish permanent residents? or just there to start out?

 

[andyt_uk]

unless your pH is absurdly high, i would rather suggest you look at keeping fish which tolerate your pH rather than try messing with it
as for the lights i would probably use both, but you may wish to change them for something that gives a softer (or brighter) tone - mostly down to personal preference.
if you like the look, but see algae forming, make sure you have no direct sunlight hitting the tank, or reduce the lit time
how long to cycle? if the tank was well populated, stable, and the media and contents were kept wet with tank water and not washed with tap water or allowed to dry out you should be fully cycled

 

[way cool jr]

How high is the ph?

PH is right around 8.5 to 8.7.....

Are the goldfish permanent residents? or just there to start out?

Im not sure if im going to keep them or not i have 4 of them in there along with 3 zebra danios to help with start-up. I might keep two of them...

if the tank was well populated, stable, and the media and contents were kept wet with tank water and not washed with tap water or allowed to dry out you should be fully cycled

Yes the tank was populated and stable I think!!! when I brought the tank home the filter had water in it so I am guessing that the media is still fine...

 

[vancouver]

Is the water in your area naturally that high?

 

[way cool jr]

Is the water in your area naturally that high?

I belive so....