New Fish Tank For Birthday

yoly

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This is what i think i should get for my tank

TANK
Top Fin® Aquarium Starter Kit - 37 Gallon
FISH
Fancy Guppy-3
Rainbowfish-3
Bleeding Heart Tetra-5
EQUIPMENT
Top Fin™ Ammonia Remover
Seachem Stress Guard
Aqua Clear Power Filters by Hagen
Hagen Gravel Vacuums
Super Naturals Premium Aquarium Substrate
AquaClear BioMax Filter Insert
AquaClear Ammonia Remover Filter Insert

what else should i get and what should i not get, i have one month to plan this
 
Don't get any fish until you have completely done a fishless cycle. Don't bother with any fancy filter media either, what it comes with will be fine. Substitute all this for an API test kit and a bottle of household ammonia. :good:
 
This is what i think i should get for my tank

TANK
Top Fin® Aquarium Starter Kit - 37 Gallon
FISH
Fancy Guppy-3
Rainbowfish-3
Bleeding Heart Tetra-5
EQUIPMENT
Top Fin™ Ammonia Remover
Seachem Stress Guard
Aqua Clear Power Filters by Hagen
Hagen Gravel Vacuums
Super Naturals Premium Aquarium Substrate
AquaClear BioMax Filter Insert
AquaClear Ammonia Remover Filter Insert

what else should i get and what should i not get, i have one month to plan this



Make sure you do the cycling first.
Platys are quite hardy, and personally, i love them.
You defo need a gravel cleaner, light, heater and filtre.

 
And decorations as well as substrate. Lets not have an tank void of any of that, it would be a very boring place with no plants or a nice castle to hide in :good:
 
how many platys should i get. i looked up the fish and they look cool.
also what type of filter insert should i use and after i do the fish less cycle should i get a new filter or just clean out the old one.
 
What minnnt said.

Was water conditioner on the list? If not get that with the API test kit and bottle of ammonia. Thats all you needs.

No fish for 7 weeks until you get the filter cycling correctly.

And a gravel hoover/syphon to empty the tank when changing water.
 
Don't get the ammonia removers. You want to build bacteria that eat it so you want to keep ammonia in the tank at first. Once your tank is cycled, you shouldn't ever have to worry about ammonia unless you kill your bacteria. As recommended, get an API test kit and a bottle of pure ammonia to dose you tank and get the cycle started. And the best thing you can do is find someone local that can give you some filter media full of bacteria to speed up your cycle. Don't put any fish in the tank until you read 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. Read up on the fishless cycle instructions on how to go about it.

Definitely need to add a heater and some decorations to your list and you'll be in good shape. Good luck!

p.s. don't forget to get tap water conditioner if your water has chlorine and/or chloramine in it.

p.s.s. DON'T clean or get a new filter after you cycle your tank! You will have just spent a ton of time building bacteria on this filter, you don't want to lose it!
 
The reason you need to cycle is to build a bacterial colony in the filter to deal with the waste produced by the fish you keep as it is highly poisonous to them.

Have a good read in the beginners guides pinned at the top of the forum, make sure you understand everything and if you don't then ask questions and we will be able to guide you through it.
 
thanks. but should i get a specific type of filter sponge or will any type work
 
Agree with the above. TopFin is the PetSmart brand. It is fine to get the light, lid, tank, stand. If the stand is furniture you should check whether the top is particle board. If it is then it is important to be quite careful of splashes and spills around the edge of the tank. Water can swell the particle board, causing lift points along the edge of the floating tank base, leading to bottom glass cracks. A sheet of thick mil black plastic (such as from a large garbage bag) can be cut to barely show past the bottom of the tank and will help ensure the particle board doesn't take on water.

If you have the budget you could consider an external cannister filter for a tank that size and even an external in-line heater. But AquaClear filters are quite good too and we hobbyists like them because the simple rectangular filter box allows flexibility in media choice (all you need for media are sponges and biomax (AquaClear's version of ceramic objects that help randomize the water flow and can even take on some biofilms since the surfaces are rough. You don't need (or want) any ammonia removers or carbon.

Agree with the others that one of the first things a beginner needs is a good liquid-reagent based test kit, such as the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. This will be your central learning tool over the month or two while you are growing bacteria and preparing the right environment for your fish. Depending on your country, the members will help you find the right household simple ammonia to feed the bacteria. You'll perhaps want a couple of syringes, towels, a hang-around-your-neck kitchen timer, some buckets, a correctly sized gravel-cleaning siphon and a bottle of Seachem Prime ideally, as a tap water conditioner.

More than anything else you will need patience and the mind-set that the first month or two can be a great learning period about biofilters and water chemistry and tank maintenance questions. The members here are great and will really work with you to help you absorb that. To counter those topics you will also work on your initial "stocking plan" to figure out how to choose fish that you like and that you can care for and that will be able to live within your equipment limitations and with the other fish you choose.

Stocking plans start off with the fish you've seen or heard about and think you might like. Then you have to learn how to estimate the bioload your tank can likely handle (it's about the level of maintenance you can handle too!) Then you have to learn about minimal groupings that various species need and other quirks of individual species. Anyway, the members will make it all easy to learn.

~~wd~~
 

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