My New Tank

[d1k1m4y]

bought this tank on friday gonna wait till next sat to put a couple of fish in ive put some bacterlife ina nd dechlorinate waited till today and put a log from an already running tank in for some bacteria also sprinkled a few flakes of food in there just to get things going.

is there anything else you guys recommend before putting the fish in and which fish would the tank suite best?

its a 55L tank

thanks alot Rich

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Dont put any fish in your tank until you've done a fishless cycle. There are threads on here telling you how to do it. The reason for cycling is to get your bacterial system working correctly to cope with the fishes waste products. Read up on it in this forum but dont be afraid to ask more questions.

 

[zophie]

Hi Rich,

You have a fairly small tank, so you are going to have to cycle well. Do you know what cycling is? If you don't check out the begginers resource center. There are a few steps you will have to go threw before putting in your fish.

1. Decide what fish you would like to have. I recomend choosing one starter fish (example: White Cloud Mountain Minnows), one seacondary fish (Example: Cardinal Tetras) Your tank will proboly not fit any more fish. So try and decide on two easy to care for, peacful fish, and then do all the research you can on them. Talk to pet store people, friends, fish forums, etc.

2. Decide on the plan of your tank. Are you satisfied with the plan of your tank? Or do you want something else? I would highly reccomend adding live plants- Live plants clean the water of your tank, keep away algae, and proide refuge for timid fish. IF you like this idea, choose easy to care for ba backround plants like Green Cambomba, or Amazon Sword. You can put your wood in the front. This will create a naturel feel, especially if you grow a little Java Moss on the log.

3. Fishless Cycle Vs Fish Cycle
You them must decide if you want to carry out a Fish Cycle or a Fishless Cycle. If you don't know the differnece read up on them in the begginers resource center. Fishless cycle takes alot longer, is more expensive, but is much better for your fish. a Fish Cycle is fast and easy, but is very bad for your fish. Think of it this way. Do you want the best for your fish, or the best for you?

4. Test the Water
First thing first: Get up and remove the fish flakes from your tank.
Done it? Good. You see, left over fish foor creates un nessesary Ammonia. There already is a large quanity of Ammonia in your tank- My doing this you are just drivingg it over the edge. So now, to get back to topic, you need to test the water. I reccomend using drip tests, The basic tests are Ammonis, Nitrite,Nitrate,pH,and Water Hardness. Read up on your fish's water chemistry before you start this process.

5. Cycle the tank

Using whatever meathod you have chose (See above) you can now start cycling the tank. I bet you now realise that setting up a tank is a big thing- It will take over a month- But you have to realise, this will all pay of. Soon you will have a beutiful tank, full of fish, plants,wood.etc.

Conclusion: Well, have fun setting up your tank. If you have any questions, post on my wall, or on the forum. Remember- There is always a friend at the Fish Forum.

Have fun, Rich!

Zophie.

P.S Could you please tell me a little more about your tank set-up?

 

[d1k1m4y]

hi zophie i've tred adding a picture but im finding it difficult to post up any ideas?
i'll remove the flake.
theres a lot of plants 8 species of them and some are growing on the log
im at 24-25c at the mo and the ph is around 7.6 but the log ive just added may help a little.
The tank is brand new and the filter and the heater the gravel is also new.
i plan on putting guppy's and mollies in the tank as they are apparently quite simple to care for they are also livebearers so possibilities to raise a few fish.
but i am also liking the danios as a first fish to add to the tank as they are very lively and hardy.



i am quite new to this but do want the best for my fish i hear bio-spira or something is good i'll read some more on fishless cycling.

thanks for everything
Rich

 

[arobinson1984]

Just to add to a few points that zophie said,

A fish-in cycle is not fast and easy if done properly, it requires a lot of hard work and water changes keeping the water stats to an acceptable level to keep the fish healthy. No fish should be seen as 'sacrificial' in order to cycle a tank.

A fishless cycle doesn't take a lot longer than a fish-in cycle, it can take a little longer as ammonia would be dosed to a higher level (4-5ppm) but on the other hand it means you can pretty much fully stock the tank once a fishless cycle is complete whereas after a fish in cycle, fish have to be added slowly week by week.

I dont see how a fishless cycle is really any more expensive than a fish in? The only added expense if a bottle of ammonia which if you are in uk is about £2.50 which you'd probably spend on fish to do a fish in cycle anyway and with the chance of the fish dying then extra expense would occur replacing it. Whichever cycle you choose to do, a good liquid test kit is required.

The decisions are down to you but as a beginner you would find a fishless cycle a lot easier and less work. Have a good read up on cycling by reading all the links that are in my signature.


Andy

 

[d1k1m4y]

i have decided to do a fishless cycle it will be better in the long run.

but i have a few questions.

is it ok to leave the plants in there and what will they require to keep going? nutrients etc.

after the large (dechlorinated) water change has been made when should the fish be added, the same day when the tanks up to temprature or a day or so do another test make sure its all good then add fish?

will the log i purchased from the store help the process?it came from an existing tank.

i'm buying a test kit, gravel vacc, ammonia and a bucket today.

thanks alot guys this forums ace.

 

[d1k1m4y]

this is the tank.

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi,

1. Its not normally recommended to have plants in a tank whilst cycling as they will use small amounts of ammonia. It should be ok with a fishless cycle if you are dosing ammonia to 4-5ppm.

How many plants are in the tank?


2. At the end of the cycle you want to do what is called a qualifying week which is basically carry on dosing ammonia daily to ensure the filter is constantly and consistently dealing with the ammonia and nitrites. At the end of the qualifying week you need to stop dosing ammonia 18-24 hours before you plan on adding fish, do the large 90-100% water change remembering to dechlorinate the fresh water and try get it as close as possible to the correct temp.

3. The log will have minimal effect, there is probably less than 1% of beneficial bacteria on a tanks ornaments etc, roughly 99% are in the filter

4. When it comes to the test kit, make sure its a good liquid based test, the one with test tubes. The test strips are next to useless and are highly innaccurate. If you've read about on the forum you will have probably seen that the API freshwater master kit is the preferred choice of most and is available cheapest on ebay, which is quite abit cheaper than most lfs. An alternative good liquid test kit is made by saliferts but I'm not sure if they do a master kit, I think you have to buy each test seperately (PH, ammonia, nitrite are most important to start with, then after fishless cycle a nitrate would be required)


Andy

 

[d1k1m4y]

so what do i do with all the plants? 8 plants are in the tank at the mo.
i would prefer to leave them in if possible and do a fishless cycle.

when you put the new water in it has bubbles,(i think its because tap water is pressurised??) does this effect the fish at all?


thanks alot rich.

 

[waterdrop]

You can perform the fishless cycle with the plants still in there. Its possible you may have trouble with algae but its also possible you won't. I recommend you start with only 4 hours of light (all in one 4-hour session) per day. The way most of us do this is with simple lamp timers that you get at the hardware store. If you get the simple mechanical versions you don't have to worry about batteries. You may need some plant nutrients added to the water column since there are no fish to start creating them. The recommendations for plant nutrient products are different by continent - are you in the UK or north america?

The tiny bubbles you see on surfaces after doing a water change are harmless and go away. They are due to the fact that tap water in a city pipe system must be under pressure in order for it to be delivered to homes and businesses through the pipes. The greater pressure is usually caused by a water tower or other water container in a high place. Because of the greater pressure, more gas can be dissolved in the liquid and that excess gas begins to come back out as soon as the liquid is returned to atmospheric pressure.

The critical acquisitions for you at the moment are the correct sort of simple household ammonia (this can be an adventure sometimes) and the correct sort of good liquid-reagent based test kit (many of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.) The ammonia must not have dyes, fragrances, surfactants or soaps. When you shake it, it should bubble only for 2 or 3 seconds like water. It should not foam. In the UK, Boots seems to have the most accessible version and in the USA it is often from ACE Hardware.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[d1k1m4y]

i live in the UK

i'll follow the normal fishless cycle procedure and add some nutrients for the plants.

does that sound ok?


thank you very much, Rich

 

[arobinson1984]

Yes sounds fine rich,

Clicky <-- This is the ammonia you want, you can either buy it online or most of the larger boots stores stock it in the household section.


Andy

 

[d1k1m4y]

thanks alot everyone you've been a great help im going shopping for some stuff now i'll most likely have a few more questions for you when i begin the cycling.


thanks again, rich.

 

[arobinson1984]

Hi Rich,

Im starting a fishless cycle today on an old 25 gal tank I had knocking around. I'll race you


Andy

 

[d1k1m4y]

hi Andy,
what ppm do you goin for first?

im gonna attempt to get someones cycled filter to wash in my tank, might help me out abit

i hope it goes alright got a bottle of that ammonia ordered for tomorrow.
will that bottle be enough?

i dunno whether to turn up the temps with the plants in my tank and i heard that the venturi type aerates it better but i dont think the plants will like it, what you reckon?

i'll try and get some decent results.