Hello

[chris30]

Thought it was about time i said hi on here i signed up a few weeks back now to read about the fish less cycle which ive just started today!
 
I have an aqua one 980 with tetratec ex700 external filter i have finished filling it about half hour ago just waiting for it to get upto temp now (whilst checking for leaks on the external filter)
 
not too sure what we will be stocking it with yet but if my mrs has her way there will be some mollies in there. Id like a plec saw some clown plecs at local shop but from what ive read they dont eat algea and like to hide alot so ill do some more research before i decide which to get.
 
regards
 
Chris
 
 

 

[fluttermoth]

to the forum, Chris

I wouldn't decide on stocking, just yet; you really need to find out what your local water is like first. Mollies like hard water and tend not to do so well if it's soft (although it is possible to raise hardness quite easily, as opposed to softening hard water which is very difficult indeed!).

Good choice of tank, btw; much easier to start off with a decent sized one

 

[chris30]

hi thanks for the welcome and will take your advice on board when thinking about stocking

 

[chris30]

water hardness is 66 according to suppliers website

 

[fluttermoth]

Ah; 66 what though? There are a few different scales for measuring hardness, all different; we need to know if that's KH, GH or what.
 
An easier way of doing it is; do you get a lot of limescale in your kettle/showerhead/washing machine? If you do, your water is hard. If you get only a little, your water is medium, and if you don't get any at all, you have soft water

 

[chris30]

it says moderatly soft 
 
66 - CaCO3 mg/l Water Hardness
26 -  Ca mg/l
 
and we dont get any limescale

 

[Ch4rlie]

to TFF
 
thats a decent sized tank to start with. Nice one!
 
A lot of people start with a tank less than 90litres, sometimes as little as 15 litres which can be hard to keep stable sometimes even for experienced keepers!
 
Welcome aboard anyway, if you got any questions at all, about cycling your tank, stocking, set ups, etc etc just post a question and we'll be more than happy to answer to the best of our abilities.