Help

[ric1984]

Hi all I am brand new to this hobby and today bought a Juwel Rekord 70. I have followed several installation steps and the tank is now running fine. But there is a couple of problems:
1) The water is all murky and cloudy is this normal?? If so will the filter clear it pretty quick??
2) How long does it take to heat fully??#
3) I got some plants free and they are live ones, I dont wanna put them in yet dues to the water are these likely to die?

Cheers

 

[chrisn20]

Hi Ric, welcome to the forum. I am a relative newcomer myself but you have come to the right place. The people on here are all very helpful.

Make sure you read the threads at the top of the beginner page especially the one regarding fishless cycling.

Your tank will probably clear by itself and if you want to add the plants now they will be ok. When I first set up mine, I put plants in straight away and they have been fine.

I am just about finished my cycle and am going to add my first fish at the weekend. Its been about 5-6 weeks since I first set up. This might seem to be quite a long time but while you wait for your tank to cycle you can read up on all the fishes available so that you already know all about the fish you want when its time to add them.

Good Luck

 

[ric1984]

Anyone else help me further?? I have added plants but the water is still freezing how long does it take to heat up??

 

[OldMan47]

ric,
If you have your heater in the tank and it is cycling on and off, you can tell by the little orange light, it should only take a few hours to reach its final temperature. The tank will need to be cycled, as chrisn20 said, before you should think about adding fish. The slight cloudiness should clear up in a few hours once the filter is running. Live plants are a great way to start a new tank. If your local fish store provided them and they are suitable to the amount of light you have, they will help you get through the cycle a little quicker by being a seeding source of the beneficial bacteria every tank needs to convert the various forms of nitrogen ultimately into nitrates. Conceptually if you have nitrites or ammonia forms of nitrogen they are hard on your fish but nitrates are tolerated in much higher concentrations. The so-called cycle you will try to establish converts these other forms to nitrates so you can relax a little and not need to change your water every day to keep your fish healthy. Something you will need to get soon is a test kit to measure ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The liquid type test kits are known to be much more accurate than the "test strips".

 

[ric1984]

ric,
If you have your heater in the tank and it is cycling on and off, you can tell by the little orange light, it should only take a few hours to reach its final temperature. The tank will need to be cycled, as chrisn20 said, before you should think about adding fish. The slight cloudiness should clear up in a few hours once the filter is running. Live plants are a great way to start a new tank. If your local fish store provided them and they are suitable to the amount of light you have, they will help you get through the cycle a little quicker by being a seeding source of the beneficial bacteria every tank needs to convert the various forms of nitrogen ultimately into nitrates. Conceptually if you have nitrites or ammonia forms of nitrogen they are hard on your fish but nitrates are tolerated in much higher concentrations. The so-called cycle you will try to establish converts these other forms to nitrates so you can relax a little and not need to change your water every day to keep your fish healthy. Something you will need to get soon is a test kit to measure ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The liquid type test kits are known to be much more accurate than the "test strips".

Cheers matey the cloudy water has cleared up a little but still there slightly