Hi, I'M New - So Some Questions

[Hungrydoug]

First post, so, hello! Apologies in advance for the long post.

I mentioned to SWMBO ages ago that I would like to get fish so she has surprised me and bought me a tank for my Christmas, I’m going to collect it on Saturday. It’s an Aqua One Aquastart 500 (65l, 16 gallon) which is on sale with a free stand just now, it’s also the perfect size for where I would put a tank too. I don’t think she realises all the extra stuff that I’ll need, heater, gravel, test kits, plants scrapers etc. but there you go.

I’m all set for setting up the tank and running a fishless cycle from looking at all the excellent posts on here and think I’ll use the article on stocking a 10 gallon tank as a start for my tank. That way I think I’ll still have a little bit of spare capacity for the future. Having said all that, I still have a few questions.

The tank comes with an undergravel filter; I’ve read varying opinions of these. Am I best to buy a different filter now? I’d like to have some real plants and have read the root systems could clog the filter, also I reckon a filter that’s not undergravel (not sure of the correct term) would be easier to maintain in the long run?

Do I have to get a CO2 system for real plants or will a few manage to survive without it?

Can I have a shrimp? I’ve seen some neat little creatures at the lfs, does it depend on what kind of fish I get, e.g. could I get one with the fish from the 10-gal tank article?

Will I need to get a polystyrene tile for under the tank if it has a purpose built stand or will it come with some sort of cushioning pad?

Sorry for all the questions, but the stupidest one is the one not asked!

TIA

Doug

 

[Trollfest]

Welcome to the forum, I'm quite new myself but have found everyone to be very friendly and helpful and more than willing to answer 'stupid' questions, I've asked plenty stupider myself! As I say quite new to this but I have a 63l tank with real plants and don't have a CO2 thingy. I planted about 8 to start with and had to remove 4 as they whithered and died but just replaced them with the ones that were doing well and they all look pretty healthy and are growing. With shrimps just have to be aware that some fish will eat them and also if you have to medicate the tank anything containing copper will probably kill them.

 

[Trollfest]

And yes I'd buy a filter rather than using the undergravel. Also for a substrate I would recommend sand, I used gravel and regret it now as most bottom dwellers prefer sand. I'm now planning to switch to sand and not looking forward to the hassle! Apparently Toys R Us playsand is fine and cheap, think I'll be getting that.

 

[mattlee]

this tank will not need anything underneath it as it should have built in braces underneath. undergravel filters are not ideal especially with whats on offer these days, i would go for something more modern but nothing too large as you will loose valuable tank space if you go for an internal. maybe a small external will be better...!!! or even a sponge air driven type filter but these wont remove any waste just provide bacteria when cycled and air to break the water surface, the shrimps will love this type of filter too and they are very cheap

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi Doug, welcome to the forum.

First off can I say good choice going with the fishless cycle it seems you have done a fair bit of reading before diving straight in which is always a good thing and will stand you in better stead for a healthy tank.

Right onto your questions, the tank shouldnt need any polystyrene underneath it if it comes with a purpose built stand. Have a read through the instructions and warranty because some tank warranties are actually void if anything such as polystyrene is used as it can cause uneven pressure on the bottom pane of glass causing cracking. If it does require any, it should say in the instructions. I'm not familiar with that specific tank but if it has a raised base then polystyrene definately should not be used.

I'm not a fan of undergravel filters, they are old technology. Although they do a good job when set up correctly, they are a pain to maintain and if you are planning on a planted tank then this can cause probs with undergravel filters. If you are in the UK I'd recommend you replace the undergravel with either a fluval 2+ or a fluval U2, both of which are available from here for under £20: Charterhouse-Aquatics

Onto the plants, I'm not an expert on plants, there are many more people on this forum who specialise in plants who will be able to give you much better advise. A CO2 system isn't a must although does help for a healthy planted tank. There are plenty of fairly 'easy' plants that will do fine in a tank with any type of CO2 system. You can always dose liquid carbon as well to help plant growth.

The things you will need for a fishless cycle are:

Household ammonia - If you're in UK then this is easiest to find in homebase or boots. Boots website do it for around £2-£3 and deliver to you.

A good LIQUID test kit - The strips are rubbish and highly inaccurate. The most popular choice is the API freshwater master kit which is available on that website I linked you to for the filter or you can normally get it a few pounds cheaper on ebay.

Turn your heater up a little higher for the fishless cycle, ideal temperature to promote bacterial growth is around 29 degrees celcius.

Any other questions, dont hesitate to ask

Andy

 

[furry catfish]

C02 is not a must but It makes the plants look really nice.You can get DIY C02 for a good price.here is a link to itMy link

 

[Hungrydoug]

Thanks for all the excellent replies so far! All I've done is read articles and forums on fishkeeping since I found out I was getting a tank. I'll certainly look into getting one of the fluval pumps and a liquid test kit.

As for heaters, which the tank doesn't come with, 150W for a 65l tank? Any recommended brands?

 

[arobinson1984]

You only need a 75W or 100W maximum for a 60L tank.

The recommended guideline is 1W per litre.

If you put in a heater that is too powerful it will cause your tank temperature to fluctuate a lot more which isnt too good for the fish.

Alternatively you could put in 2 x 50W, one at each end. Then you'd have a spare in operation incase one broke, all depends on if you mind seeing 2 heaters in the tank.

Andy

 

[Hungrydoug]

Thanks Andy.

I've oredered an API test kit and the place I'm getting the tank from has the Fluval U2 in stock so I'll pick one of those up too. I'll have a look at the heaters although the tank's reasonably small so I might opt for a single heater.

 

[Haych]

hi

i used to use undergravel and i found it really good but for the life of me i cant remember how its cleaned.

but personally i would go for a fluval internal filter, they are so good, leave the water crystal clear quickly, easy to care for and a good price too, but best of all, very quiet.

 

[natalie265]

I absolutely hate undergravel filters. I'll never use another one again.

For low tech plants, i would recommend: cryptocoryn wendtii, java fern, & java moss. I've heard that anubias is easy to grow as well. So you CAN have a nicely planted tank w/out the expensive lights and CO2, but you're much more limited on what plants you can choose from.

 

[Hungrydoug]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Off to get the tank tomorrow, so I should have most of it set up to begin the fishless cycle by Monday. Then I'll have a look for some easy plants (thanks for the tips Natalie) and some ornaments for the fish to shelter in. (I've not really seen anything I like yet, not a big fan of shipwrecks and sunken planes).

Then the difficult few weeks of deciding what fish to get first, at least it's a nice problem to have!

 

[waterdrop]

or you can just do a bare tank cycle and take your time deciding on wood, rocks and other hardscape to go with the plants. In fact if you wrap the tank in black plastic or cloth it will keep all the light out and you might not even have to clean algae off the glass, much less the gravel and decorations that might have been in there. It depends on how much family pressure there is to have something that looks presentable during the 2 months of cycling. A blacked-out tank is a great way to avoid the algae that comes with the ammonia and light.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Hungrydoug]

Waterdrop, that's not a bad idea. Was planning to to cycle the tank with only substrate in, (was planning on sand so not sure about adding that later, due to settling time) and SWMBO has been told that there's likely not to be any fish, plants or ornaments in the tank for at least six weeks.

I'm planning on putting the tank in a corner so two of the sides will be blacked out anyway, no reason not to wrap the whole thing in black (then it'll be exciting when it's unwrapped ) Was hoping to source some black sand, but no luck so far. Planning to have some cories so I think I'd prefer sand to gravel.

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, I didn't hear you mentioning kids so thought it might be a possibility. I hear a lot of people talking about and getting Tahitian Moon Sand which comes in at least a black version, probably other shades. I have black myself (I have gravel though, not sand, just because I really didn't think about cories before I started.) If you change your mind about black (because of not finding for instance) then another suggestion is to take a hike up a freshwater stream and find some substrate once you get away from most evidence of mankind. You can find multisize sand pebble mix, all of which is completely smoothed out by the water flow.

~~waterdrop~~