New Tank

[Rickster]

Hi,

I have decided to start keeping Tropical fish again after an absence of about 8 years. I set up my tank yesterday, however I have a few problems that I could do with answering. Firstly after putting in all necessary chemicals etc, there is a large build up of air bubbles on the filter and heater, and also on inside of tank in places. Secondly, this morning the water seems a little cloudy? I have no live plants in, only the gravel and a water stone stlye plant, I am going to get another pump for this today as the one I purchased was for a 40l tank, where as mine is a 90l tank. Any help and advice would be great, as I want to make sure its all perfect before even considering introducing any fish.

Thanks

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Sounds very much like common "new tank Syndrome" & will go away after max. 4 days.... Is it new or used gravel you have in there??

 

[Rickster]

Sounds very much like common "new tank Syndrome" & will go away after max. 4 days.... Is it new or used gravel you have in there??

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, the gravel is new, and I washed it thoroughly before putting in the tank. What should I do if after around 4 days the tank is still cloudy?

Regards

 

[waterdrop]

good, unlikely that any of the cloudiness is due to gravel dust.

Having lots of air bubbles and some cloudiness in a brand new tank is totally normal and nothing to worry about.

So you have a 90L/25G tank, right? And you say you've put some chemicals in. Could you tell us exactly what chemicals and the amounts and what their purposes were?

From your prior fishkeeping experience were you familiar with the "Nitrogen Cycle" and the term "cycling"?

I would say its important to have some discussion here prior to planning to bring home any fish yet.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Rickster]

good, unlikely that any of the cloudiness is due to gravel dust.

Having lots of air bubbles and some cloudiness in a brand new tank is totally normal and nothing to worry about.

So you have a 90L/25G tank, right? And you say you've put some chemicals in. Could you tell us exactly what chemicals and the amounts and what their purposes were?

From your prior fishkeeping experience were you familiar with the "Nitrogen Cycle" and the term "cycling"?

I would say its important to have some discussion here prior to planning to bring home any fish yet.

~~waterdrop~~

Tank is now clear, mainly due to the fact I cleaned it all out and started again. The stones had a lot more red dye come off them, which I was a little annoyed about, that said its all looking good now. The chemicals I refered to were filter start, and the other was for introducing good bacteria etc in order to help mature the tank. I will continue testing the water etc, until its ready for fish. I will start with neon tetras for now and build it up slowly. Later down the line I was looking at Elephant fish, are these suitable for community tanks?


Thanks

 

[mark.w.jones]

All "filter starter" products are virtually useless and do nothing to get your tank ready for fish. The only proven method of cycling your tank without fish is with ammonia solution. Please take a look at the add & wait method from the fishless cycling link in my sig. Really easy to follow and your tank is ready to fully stock safely with fish after 3-5 weeks. If you can get hold of sponge or ceramic media from a mature tank to go in your filter this time can be cut to as little as a week. I would advise against you cycling your tank with fish as it will do long term harm to the fish that are introduced in the early stages and is far more hassle to keep stable. i.e. you could introduce 3 platies to your tank today but will need to do 25% water changes every day for the next 2 weeks to keep ammonia and nitrite levels down. Fishless is best!

Neons are also not the best fish to begin a tank with as they are very prone to sudden deaths in new tanks and need stable water conditions. They are usually best introduced once your tank has been set up for 4 - 6 months. I would also advise you to check out all of the pinned articles in this forum and the tropical chat one as there is a huge amount of useful info. Some of the better ones are linked in my sig.

Good Luck

 

[Mikaila31]

As above you should look into cycling the tank before you even bother with the fish. Neons will not last long in an uncycled tank and neither will an elephant nose, which is not suitable for your tank IMO.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with the above.