First Tank

[Comacchio]

So after a while of searching for the right tank, I finally found one that I liked. It's second hand and I spent today giving it a good clean inside and out, have still to clean the filter units themselves (I have new filter media).

It's 100cm long by 40cm wide by 50cm deep, holding 200 litres/53ish gallon. It came with a Fluval 205 external filter, Fluval U4, Fluval 4+ filter, two heaters, a bubble thingy, protein skimmer (I know I don't need this unless I plan to go marine - which I don't), RO generator and a bunch of other stuff including gravel and fake plants.

My question really is aimed towards the substrate and cycle I guess. The fish I plan on stocking with (in the long run that is) are as follows: 10 Blue Tetra, 10 Cardinal Tetra, 2 Keyhole Cichlids, 6 White Cloud Mountain Minnow, 1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco, 1 Siamese Algae Eater, 2 Dwarf Gourami, 6 Harlequin Rasbora, 10 Cherry Shrimp and 2 Apple Snails.

Would I be better off with gravel or sand for these fish?

With regards to the cycle - should I have all my plants, substrate, background, driftwood etc in and the heater on throughout the whole cycle? I was thinking of chucking some snails in to help with the cycle also.

Thanks in advance,

-Allan

 

[Rickzayne]

Sand it better for any fish that eat off the floor.

If your doing a fishless cycle don't add plants as they will eat your ammonia.

 

[minnnt]

The stocklist sounds good but i would drop the white clouds and one of the Tetra groups and have 10 Harlequins. You have enough shoaling species already. Sand would be better as this keeps your options open in the future for fish such as cory's and loaches should you wish to swap and change.

 

[Comacchio]

Thanks for the replies.

Ok I will head to Argos tomorrow and get some sand. Should two bags be enough for a 100x40 tank? How do you clean it?

 

[Rickzayne]

I used 1 bag for my 100x40 and used one bag

 

[fluttermoth]

Fill a bucket one third full of sand. Fill it up with water, stir, and pour off any bits and and particles of sand that don't sink immediately,

Continue doing that until all you have is clean sand; test it by putting some in a clean glass jar, swirling it round and seeing how it settles; when it's properly clean, you'll see the sand drop to the bottom leaving clean water up top; the water chould clear within a few seconds.

 

[minnnt]

Yeah one should be enough, but two won't hurt as it's only 3 quid a bag.

 

[Comacchio]

Brilliant thanks. Also, should a 300 watt heater be ok? It came with both a 300 and 200 watt heaters, but my room is always fairly warm so I dont want to cook the fish!

I'm not going to go for a heavily planted tank, just some java fern and some moss etc.

 

[minnnt]

The 200W would be fine mate. Work on the rule of 1W to 1 litre of water. But the 300W would have to work less to maintain the temperature. Swimgs and roundabouts mate, both would be fine.

 

[Comacchio]

Beginning by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

Water is in, dechlorination stuff in and I'm letting it settle overnight. Tomorrow's task after work is to get the correct media for the 205 (I got all the stuff for the U4 today, shop didn't have the 205 stuff ), clean out the U4 and place media in then get it in the tank and add ammonia. Roll on fully cycled!

 

[OBIE1]

Beginning by Allan.Jones, on Flickr

Water is in, dechlorination stuff in and I'm letting it settle overnight. Tomorrow's task after work is to get the correct media for the 205 (I got all the stuff for the U4 today, shop didn't have the 205 stuff ), clean out the U4 and place media in then get it in the tank and add ammonia. Roll on fully cycled!

looking good mate

 

[Harlequins]

Good luck with your cycle,keep us updated

 

[Rickzayne]

Looks great!

I used sand but didn't wash it properly -.-

screwed me right up.

 

[Comacchio]

Well I poured in a bottle of Tetra SafeStart (Can't hurt, got it free), waited an hour then added 11ml of ammonia. According to the calculator this should bring me to around 5ppm. Tested the water and its hard to tell the colour of the liquid to the chart, but i'd say it was around 5ppm.

Now I wait and test each day for ammonia until it's reached 0 then test for nitrite, redose and repeat?

 

[Comacchio]

Also, tested my tap water and it appears the pH of it is between 6 and 7, is this normal?

Added ammonia at 11am, will test water tonight at 11pm and note any readings. Temperature on the heater is set to 26, but thermometer is reading 29.