Need advice for setting up a 3ft tank?

[northampton_matt]

I have just got a 36"x12"x15" tank and am just looking for some help to set it up. Thinking of a coldwater setup for now, as it should be easier to maintain and i'm moving house in 2 months.

It has an under gravel filter but i'm not 100% sure of how this works, and many different filters, the only one i'm familiar with is the kind the submersible type with the tube that comes up above the water level, there is one of these.

How do I go about setting this tank up, I could fill it tommorrow with tap water, then what do I need to do?? I have some water treatments, again really need to look into exactly what the do. Should I add some live plants? How long before adding fish? (not looking to before next week anyway)

Also not really sure what the recommended number of fish is for a tank this size?

Any help much appreciated

Matt

 

[ryan]

Fill up the tank with dechlorinated water. Switch all the filters on and then you can either cycle the tank (pinned topic in Beginner Questions) or you can add some hardy fish species after 10 days and use them to cycle the tank. I personally would go with the second option. I wouldn't recommend live plants with an undergravel filter. I'd go for plastic ones unless you can remove the undergravel filter. What species of fish do you plan on keeping?

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...opic=10099&st=0 - pinned topic on cycling.