New tank start up?

[Patrick620]

I have been out of this for a few years and even back then it was just a side hobby. I scored a basically brand new 20 gal tank off of CL this morning for free. Hood, lights, Aqueon filter, not sure if the filter is a 20 or 30, no markings anywhere. I have it running now and will let it run for a few days before I do anything else. I treated the water and it is running through a charcoal filter. Right now the tank has nothing in it except water. I have researched starter fish. I guess my first question on here is how long should I wait for the starter fish to do their job? I still have not decided on what sort of substrate to use. Best starter fish? Thanks for any input.

 

[AilyNC]

Worth having a read of this and learning about fishless cycling.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Byron]

I have been out of this for a few years and even back then it was just a side hobby. I scored a basically brand new 20 gal tank off of CL this morning for free. Hood, lights, Aqueon filter, not sure if the filter is a 20 or 30, no markings anywhere. I have it running now and will let it run for a few days before I do anything else. I treated the water and it is running through a charcoal filter. Right now the tank has nothing in it except water. I have researched starter fish. I guess my first question on here is how long should I wait for the starter fish to do their job? I still have not decided on what sort of substrate to use. Best starter fish? Thanks for any input.

"Starter fish" is not advisable, as it is cruel to the fish (they never recover from the damage caused by high ammonia and/or nitrite). This "cycling" process can be explained in articles in the "Cycle Your Tank" section, if needed.

Cycle your Tank

Cycling a tank is vital to keeping your fish alive. This section is where you can read about cycling (the nitrogen cycle) and ask questions about how to do it properly.

www.fishforums.net

Fishless cycling is one method described there. The other uses live plants and avoids the "cycle" with ammonia.

Moving to another issue, water parameters. If you can give us the GH (general hardness) and pH of your tap water we will be better able to advise which fish species are best suited. Also, mention if live plants are intended.

 

[Patrick620]

Worth having a read of this and learning about fishless cycling.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Thank you. I will read it.

 

[Patrick620]

"Starter fish" is not advisable, as it is cruel to the fish (they never recover from the damage caused by high ammonia and/or nitrite). This "cycling" process can be explained in articles in the "Cycle Your Tank" section, if needed.

Cycle your Tank

Cycling a tank is vital to keeping your fish alive. This section is where you can read about cycling (the nitrogen cycle) and ask questions about how to do it properly.

www.fishforums.net

Fishless cycling is one method described there. The other uses live plants and avoids the "cycle" with ammonia.

Moving to another issue, water parameters. If you can give us the GH (general hardness) and pH of your tap water we will be better able to advise which fish species are best suited. Also, mention if live plants are intended.

 

[Patrick620]

I am fresh out of test strips for the water right now. I would just guess that the ph is about 7 or 6.5 right now. I have a nice limestone rock I want to add which will obviously raise the ph level a bit. As far as starter fish goes, I was under the impression that I should build up a healthy bacteria level to get the tank started. I was hoping for some starter fish that I could keep that are not so fragile and will become part of the tank family. I am not looking for anything fancy or high dollar, more of a "Dentist's office waiting room" set up for relaxation

 

[Essjay]

Using fish to build up the bacteria is now regarded as cruel. Instead we add ammonia to the tank before fish are added to build up the bacteria. The ammonia in the bottle is exactly the same stuff excreted by fish. The link the previous members gave is the method for growing these bacteria before fish are put in the tank

Please don't alter your pH until you know the hardness of your water. If you have soft water you need to keep soft water which which will be quite happy in low pH.
Look on your water provider's website for hardness - you need a number and the unit of measurement.

We should keep fish which originate in water with roughly the same hardness as our tap water. If soft water fish are kept in hard water, the minerals in the water cause deposits in their kidneys and they don't live as long as they should. Hard water fish kept in soft water suffer mineral deficiency and they get sick more easily.

 

[Patrick620]

Regarded as cruel? Apparently I joined a liberal panzy ass group. I am out.

 

[AilyNC]

Not being sadistic is hardly "liberal pansy ass".

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Regarded as cruel? Apparently I joined a liberal panzy ass group. I am out.

Weirdly enough, most people who enjoy keeping fish don't like to cause fish any suffering when it's completely unnecessary. Fishless cycling isn't that hard, even a child could do it, you should give it a try.

Were we meant to be upset that he left? Personally I prefer the forum when it's full of decent, caring people who don't treat fish like nothing more than decoration. How sad that he won't be one of us...

 

[Essjay]

Patrick620 has made his choice.