New To The Hobby

[SteM]

Hi all, will be getting my juwel 180 next week, and i am new to it but i have a few books there i have been reading up on before i get started, im looking to start off in the deep end and have a planted tank, so please all advice and opinions on what substrate, filter heaters are best what plants are easy to keep and any other info that may be helpful to me

thanks, stephen

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hi - welcome to the forum! I think you'll find this is a good place for information from people that have been there, done that. Have you read up on cycling the filter yet? If not, I recommend you look at the Beginner's Resource Center and make some decisions regarding that. Most people will recommend you start fishless cycling right away to get that going, and then you can continue with your planting research as you cycle. There is also a "do and do not" list in my signature that answers a lot of common questions.

I am not a planted resource, but I do know one of the critical things will be lighting...watts per gallon and the spectrum of light bulb...will determine which plants will do best for you.

 

[SteM]

Hi - welcome to the forum! I think you'll find this is a good place for information from people that have been there, done that. Have you read up on cycling the filter yet? If not, I recommend you look at the Beginner's Resource Center and make some decisions regarding that. Most people will recommend you start fishless cycling right away to get that going, and then you can continue with your planting research as you cycle. There is also a "do and do not" list in my signature that answers a lot of common questions.

I am not a planted resource, but I do know one of the critical things will be lighting...watts per gallon and the spectrum of light bulb...will determine which plants will do best for you.

Hi Gvilleguy, yea ive read up on the fishless cycle but i will read into it more, it will be a couple of months before the first fish goes in anyway i want to make sure everything is perfect before i start to stock it, thanks for the advice

 

[Joe_Shafe]

Welcome to the forum. I'm also a novice and am looking to set up my first proper tank. I've been doing a lot of research and gathered everything i need to begin. Like you I want to do a planted tank. With a planted tank I learned you can do something called a silent cycle rather than fishless. Here's a link on how to get started http/www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_silent_cycling.php

Basically though by establishing a well planted tank you can put fish into the tank much sooner because the plants will eat up the ammonia and act as the good bacteria normally would in a cycled tank. The benefit of using plants is you can begin adding fish as soon as two weeks. Then once you add the fish you will also build up the good bacteria without the worry of killing your fish.

You will need to research how to properly care for plants though first, but I think its a great alternative to fishless cycling and fish-in cycling. I'm excited to start mine and will let you know how it goes.

Good Luck,
-Joe

 

[SteM]

Welcome to the forum. I'm also a novice and am looking to set up my first proper tank. I've been doing a lot of research and gathered everything i need to begin. Like you I want to do a planted tank. With a planted tank I learned you can do something called a silent cycle rather than fishless. Here's a link on how to get started http/www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_silent_cycling.php

Basically though by establishing a well planted tank you can put fish into the tank much sooner because the plants will eat up the ammonia and act as the good bacteria normally would in a cycled tank. The benefit of using plants is you can begin adding fish as soon as two weeks. Then once you add the fish you will also build up the good bacteria without the worry of killing your fish.

You will need to research how to properly care for plants though first, but I think its a great alternative to fishless cycling and fish-in cycling. I'm excited to start mine and will let you know how it goes.

Good Luck,
-Joe

Thanks for the advice joe will have a read of that now, will you be using an undergravel heater? heard these are great for plants, but i also want to know if i need a regular heater in the tank too, if you know anything about that please do share your wisdom look forward to hearing how you got on , best of luck

stephen

 

[Electric Warrior]

HI. I wouldn't recommend going down the route of silent cycling if you are a novice fishkeeper. I would suggest doing a fishless cycle by adding ammonia. In order to silent cycle, you need to plant heavily, and if you are brand new to the hobby, this could all be a bit much, and you could end up with a green/brown, swampy mess if you are not really familiar with how to take care of plants and what plants work best in what kind of water, etc. I don't have any issue with people who silent cycle their tanks, I just think it's a bit better to wait until you really know what you are doing before attempting it. Just my two cents...

I personally, would fishless cycle, and start off with some hardy plants that do well in a wide range of water conditions, until you really get to know your water chemistry. With a successful fishless cycle, you can generally stock your tank fully right away (allowing you aren't adding any real "delicate" species), and with a silent cycle, you be looking at slowly adding fish in order to make sure that your plants and filter can cope with the bioload. Regardless of how you decide to cycle, the first thing you have to do is get a freshwater master test kit, like the liquid API one.