First Steps... Tropical Freshwater Tank.

[AlbertShipman]

It's my intention to prepare and maintain a 60litre tank of tropical freshwater fish for my young daughters enjoyment. something of a birthday present. although myself and girlfriend are both complete novices. any advice would be greatly recieved and appreciated.

Wed 30th Jan
Cleaned the gravel and 1 rock we purchased thoroughly in sink using only cold tap water. We then positioned and added to the tank

Thurs 31st Jan
Took a cold water sample straight from the tap, and secondry sample from kettle. Will allow to stand for 24hrs before testing.

Filled tank using a mixture of cold tap & kettle water, throughout this the temp appeared between 70-80F. 15ml of "Nutrifin AquaPlus" was added (60L tank). I then left this for 30mins before switching both the heater and filter on.
I intend to check water temp in 7-8hrs, for the fishless cycle would try maintain it at 80-84F. but will not perform a water test until 24hrs.
The tank light has been left switched off, and have placed no cartridges in the filter.

Does this First Step seem ok?
Current queries are...
is it correct using no cartridge in filter to start off?
is baking soda recommended for impoving water capability - if so what is the ratio?


Thank you to anyone taking time to read this, cheers.

 

[toshapetriji]

Welcome to TFF
 
Your first steps seem to be fine.
 
In the long run you might like to take a look at Seachem Prime as an alternative to your Aquaplus it is more concentrated and many would say is better value.
 
I'm  not familiar with your filter but in general set it up as you intend to have it running with the exception of any carbon that may have been supplied. I have never needed to use baking soda and suggest you see how things progress before even considering it's use.
 
You dont mention how you intend to test your water during cycling, however I can recommend the 'api freshwater master test kit' many here at TFF use it and it's  results will be familiar to us, if you need further help in the future.
 
Fishless cycling can sometimes seem a little slow but in my opiniion was a great time to research and for me anyway was time well spent and I applaud you for going this route.
 
Being able to obtain mature filter media from someone would enable you to speed the cycling process and there is a list of members here who may be able to help you however I'm not sure how up to date the list is these days.
 
Once again welcome to TFF and don't be afraid to ask questions, plenty of people here willing to help.

 

[the_lock_man]

From what I recall when talking to other Scottish forum members, your water there is fairly soft, with pH of under 7. If that is also the case with you, then adding some bicarb to bring your pH up to around 8.2-8.4 will aid your fishless cycle. There are no rules on ratio, because it depends on your water's carbonate hardness, so you need to add a teaspoon at a time and test, until you reach the desired level.

 

[AlbertShipman]

Toshapetriji ~ thanks for the recommendation regarding water conditioner, for a 60L tank would imagine a higher concentration to be beneficial.
~ water testing kit is "king british" 6 in 1 water test strips, will be carrying out first of these tests tonight. have no experience of these kits, but gather the API is superior?

The_Lock_Man ~ after testing my water, i now know i have the option to alter/increase the waters Ph levels. appreciate this as would it be constantly necessary in the future?

Regarding filter, my tank is a Marina 60L, the cartridges provided are "marina slim filter, bio-carb, carbon" are these ok to use, is there a more organic/natural alternative? Currently my filter is running with no cartridges.

 

[the_lock_man]

You seemed to be quite clued-up on fishless cycling, but I'm now not so sure.
 
DUring fishless cycling, you need to have a pH of around 8.2, to be at the optimum for the bacteria to grow, but after the filter is cycled, you don't muck about with pH, you just let it be what it wants to be. Can I just check that you are planning to add bottled ammonia to the water whilst cycling?
 
You will need to put the bio and marina cartridges in.

 

[leighton_87]

Toshapetriji ~ thanks for the recommendation regarding water conditioner, for a 60L tank would imagine a higher concentration to be beneficial. ~ water testing kit is "king british" 6 in 1 water test strips, will be carrying out first of these tests tonight. have no experience of these kits, but gather the API is superior? The_Lock_Man ~ after testing my water, i now know i have the option to alter/increase the waters Ph levels. appreciate this as would it be constantly necessary in the future? Regarding filter, my tank is a Marina 60L, the cartridges provided are "marina slim filter, bio-carb, carbon" are these ok to use, is there a more organic/natural alternative? Currently my filter is running with no cartridges.

Can't help on the filter as never used a cartridge filter - but I assume it has some filter media in there? If not there will be nothing for the beneficial bacteria to grow on and your tank will never cycle.

The lock man was talking about increasing your PH during a fishless cycle (ie the process of growing beneficial bacteria before adding you fish - check out the beginners resource centre for a full explanation. I think I speak for most people here when I say I wouldn't mess around with your PH once you have fish it - the water will soon buffer itself to its lower PH Orr time or through water changes and these dramatic swings will have much more of an impact on your fish than just acclimatising them to your tap water. There are very few fish you'll find in a fish store that won't cope with your local tap water.

If you do buffer your PH for the cycle a 90% water change before adding fish will get you back to the level of your tap water (or near enough) and you'll be fine to go from there

 

[AlbertShipman]

The_Lock_Man. Thanks for reply, i'm a complete novice, just been trying to read up as much as possible. Yes will be adding ammonia after my first water reading?
Re- bicarb soda, meant if my tap water ph was so low, would i not need to add the bicarb to increase ph levels before putting into tank for water changes etc? Apologies if sounds a little silly, quickly sending as i work. The whole process has me excited!

 

[the_lock_man]

No worries.
 
You only need to keep the pH up whilst the bacteria colonies grow, and you don't normally need to change water during that time. Occasionally, if you have problems, a water change can help, so yes at that point, if a w/c is necessary, then you would need to add more bicarb.
 
Once that's cycled, in a few weeks time, you get rid of all that water, and refill with new from the tap, just before you get fish. Once you have fish, trying to alter pH is dangerous, so just let the water do what it wants to do, and stock the tank accordingly.

 

[Essjay]

I would also add that bicarb is not a good way to increase pH (or carbonate hardness) once there are fish in the tank. Bicarb's full name is sodium bicarbonate, and all the added sodium is not good for fish long term. Very few natural fresh water sources have high levels of sodium, except for the Rift Lakes, so very few fish have evolved mechanisms to cope with it.

 

[AlbertShipman]

.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

As lock_man indicates messing with the pH is a BAD idea once you have fish, ESPECIALLY for beginners.
 
 
Having a "low" pH is not bad for fishkeeping, just cycling.  Many fish prefer pH in the range of 6.0-6.5.  In fact, some prefer even LOWER pH for breeding, such as cardinal tetras, rams, etc.  The key is to find fish that are most appropriate for your tap conditions.  If you have soft, acidic water, you want to stick with South American or Asian varieties of fish.  Meanwhile, hard, alkaline water is best for many African species.  Your tap water conditions are the FIRST criteria for which fish to keep, followed closely by tank size, and finally personal preference.  Once you have a bit more experience, you can start to mess around with pH, hardness, etc.  But, that is generally best left to more experienced aquarists.
 
 
What are your tap conditions and what is the size of your tank? We can help point you in the direction of specific fish that match your set-up, and help you along the way with the cycling process.

 

[AlbertShipman]

Fri 1st Feb

Last night i performed my first water tests on both the straight for tap cold water, and the boiled kettle water. Both had been left to sit for 24hrs and the results were identical.
PH. <6.4
KH. 50
GH. 125
Nitrate. 10 - 25
Nitrite. 0.5

After around 20hrs i tested my tank, results again appeared the same with the slight exception of PH which was more between 6.4 - 6.8

I then made a cple additions were then made, i added two bio-carb cartridges into the filter. I know there is debate on this site to the usefulness of "nutrafin cycle" but it doesn't appear to be a hindrance, i added 37ml straight into the tank.

My main concern last night was low PH levels. To the sampled water i still had sitting, i mixed 10ml of BioCarb then added into the tank.
(Please note i did make an attempt last night to post these results, however after trying to edit my post i lost half my txt, this happened twice. Leading me to add the BioCarb without any experienced direction.)

That was around 10 hrs ago, will perform a water test around 11am GMT.

My train of thought last night was priority has to be to increase ph levels before the ammonia is even thought about being added?

 

[AlbertShipman]

 
What are your tap conditions and what is the size of your tank? We can help point you in the direction of specific fish that match your set-up, and help you along the way with the cycling process.

My tap water results posted above.
Tank size is 60Litres, is that roughly 13 - 15 gallons??...
Although the fish will be a family decision, i'm in favour of first adding 3-4 lemon tetras. Reading up a lot and all their requirements/characteristics appear to be suitable?

also, knowing they like live plants, is adding plants at this stage of my fishless cycle advisable?

 

[AlbertShipman]

Sat 2nd Feb
Water Test
PH. 7.6 - 8.0
KH. 270
GH 125>
Nitrate. 25
Nitrite. 0.5

Tank temp sitting at 28c / 29c

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Lemon tetras would be nice additions in that tank.  They get to be about 2 inches and prefer to be kept in groups of about 6 or more, so they would basically be your entire stocking for the tank...
 
 
If you are open to other suggestions, I could offer a few.
 
 
I'd go for two groups of fish, one mid-water and one bottom dweller.  Your water is IDEAL for cories (well, except for the nitrite in the tap!)  That can be combatted with Prime (a dechlorinator, and a very good one - highly concentrated!) so that the nitrite is not able to hurt your fish after water changes, while the bacteria process it.
 
 
Cories that are suited to your tank: dwarf varieties...
 
C. pygmeaus - grow to about 1.25 inches, but spend a fair amount of time in the midwater in addition to the substrate.
C. hastatus - grow to about 1.25 inches, but also spends a fair amount of time time in the midwater.
C. habrosus - grow to about 1.4 inches, spending nearly ALL the time on the substrate (sand is preferred).
 
 
 
As far as midwater swimmers
 
These are shoaling fish that require 6+ to be content:
Ember tetras - 0.75 - 1.0 inches
Penguin tetras - 1.2 inches
Trigonostigma espei (Lambchop Rasbora) - 1.3 inches
Trigonostigma hengeli (Hengeli's rasbora) - 1.4 inches
Microrasboras spp.
Celestial Pearl Danio (aka Galaxy Rasbora) - 1 inch
 
 
Other options that don't require 6+:
Male endlers - 1 inch
Honey Gourami - 2 inches
 
 
 
I'd go with one group from the top (cories), one group of mid-swimmers and eventually either two honey gourami, or 3 endlers.  (This stocking would take a little while to build up to, and certainly not a good idea until the filter is completely cycled.  Good news for your cycle is that having nitrite in your tap water means that the nitrite oxidizing bacteria will have something to feed on immediately, so it might actually speed the whole process up a bit.  
 
Get yourself some ammonia (or fish food) and add it to your tank to give the ammonia oxidizing bacteria some food to get their colony growing (2-3ppm ammonia dose is ideal).  Also, add some baking soda about 1tsp per 5 gallons to start - to raise your pH to anywhere from 8.0-8.4 (just for during the cycle, you will need to do a massive water change at the end anyway, so you can remove the baking soda then as well).  Your temp is ideal for the cycle, but also will need to be lowered for the fish eventually.
 
Lastly, you never mentioned your AMMONIA reading?  That's something you are going to need to know about, for the cycle, as well as the fish later on.  What test kit are you using?


Live plants is best left for the END of the cycle, not the beginning.  Live plants require light and light + ammonia = algae.  Best to start researching plants while you are cycling, and add them towards the end.
 
 
Java fern and anubias - good newbie plants need to be attached to wood or rocks in the tank, rather than planted in the substrate.  Many LFS will actually sell them PRE-attached.