Hello

[boris1981]

Hello All,

I have recently become a owner of a 12 gallon tank.

We are new to the fish keeping and are looking forward to help and support for all.

We have currently cycled the tank for over a week now and added some fish today as the water tests were tested at our local store and they were all ok.

We look forward to all your help and support.

Boris

 

[boris1981]

Hopefully this will work,

Here is a picture of my New Tank

<a href="http/s610.photobucket.com/albums/tt189/boris1981/?action=view&current=DSC_0216.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http/i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt189/boris1981/DSC_0216.jpg" border="0" alt="Boris Fishtank"></a>

 

[boris1981]

Ok I will get the hang of this soon
Lets try the below

 

[Duck and Dive]

lol love the animal heads!

The tank looks nice and clean! I cant see any algea at all! I like the white molly too.

 

[deathy]

Hi and welcome to FF.net

 

[21rm]

hey and welcome to TTF. this place has been such a help to me.
And nice tank by the way

have to say im a bit suprised ur tank has cycled so quickly.
How exactly did u go about the cycle?

 

[deathy]

That tank is scary lol.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi boris1981

Welcome to the forum! Your tank is cute indeed!

There is a lot to learn to become a successful fishkeeper and you've come to the right place. I'll move your thread over to the New to the Hobby section where the members who post there will teach you all about cycling and keeping your fish healthy. Best of luck with your tank.

 

[sjolliff]

Welcome

 

[drobbyb]

Cycling takes alot longer than a week. I bet the Local Fish Store (LFS for short) told you to set the tank up and wait a week and then add fish. I'm sorry to say that you may have been given some bad advice.

There are 2 main methods to cycle a new tank. The first and preferred way is called Fishless Cycling and all the details of that are found here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

The second and non preferred way is called Fish In Cycling. More details can be found here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=224306

That's alot of information to absorb, but it is vital for the lives of your fish.

Even more information can be found here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=277264

 

[mickspark81]

Hi and welcome

Just a little message to let you know how I went from starting fishkeeping 5 weeks ago

When i got my tank (110 litre) i didnt have a clue about anything.

5 weeks on (and plenty of posts here) I now consider myself to have a wonderfully increased knowledge of fishkeeping.

At first everything i was reading confused and bewildered me

However , step by step I learned all of the basics and quite a few advanced techniques

Make sure you purchase a test kit..DONT buy those test strip kind as they are very innacurate..Id suggest an API master test kit (liquid)

Once you understand the "cycling" process and have got your ammonia = 0, NitrItes = 0 and NitrAtes increasing you are ready

(I performed a fish in cycle as my lfs didnt inform me when he sold me the tank) Thanks to this forum I managed to keep my 12 neon tetra, clown loach and dwarf plec in great shape)

so as a fellow "newbie" to the hobby i can give you a few tips i found very useful

1. Ensure good water quality
2. Research everything before you buy (very important)
2. NEVER impulse buy fish (as a large ammount will not be compatable with your other fish, water hardness, temp or PH
3. If you have any concerns or doubts just ask on forums. (Alot of ppl here are VERY VERY helpful)
4. Always make sure water going into your tank is safe (dechlorinated)
5. Ensure water going into your tank is similar temperature and PH
6. Observe your fish's behaviour (Any sudden changes in the way they act could mean water quality is lacking, disease, etc
7. Dont panic (Its easy to worry about things and do drastic procedures to your tank without plenty of research
8. Google is your best friend (other than here)
9. Keep your tank out of direct sunlight as algae can be an issue (as well as rapid temp fluctuations)
10 Have fun.......(This one is the most important)

Good luck and any questions, problems or issues please just ask

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, welcome!, you are currently in what we call a "Fish-In Cycling Situation" which is not an ideal place to be but you've lucked into the right place to find out all about it and to learn how to handle it, we see lots of these situation each week.

Good luck reading up on your first "homework" as linked above and I'm sure the members will get going with all your questions as they come. The members here are great!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Boris.

Thanks for your post MickSpark. It sometimes seems that the advice that I or WD might supply are often a bit too much for a newbie. It is good to see a relative newbie step in to help. Many of the suggestions that you made are very appropriate for a new fish keeper. If nothing else, it should give the new person the confidence to try out what we suggest when they are trying to move forward. As WD said, you are in a fish-in cycle and there is a link to fish-in cycling in my signature area. That link is there because we run into people who are in your same situation several times each week and it is easier for us to just carry around the link than try to recreate the information each time.
I am certain that your LFS has stated correctly that your water is OK for fish. Unfortunately the LFS has not told you that the filter that they sold you is just a piece of hardware that some day may grow to be an effective biological filter. The whole point to the fish-in cycle thread is to help you go from bare hardware to a functioning biological filter without your fish suffering excessively. Please have a read through of that thread and come back to ask any questions that you might still have.