New Troical Set Up

[jonnyedwards1981]

Hi all, I'm sure regulars have probably replied a thousand or more times to a thread like this, but if anyone fancies giving some valuable advice it would be greatly appreciated.

I used to keep tropicals, for 5 years or so, but two kiddies came along and the hobby came to an end. The kiddies are now a little older and whenever we see other tanks and fish they are fascinated, so, this weekend we ordered a new tank and are now waiting for it to be delivered. We have gone for an aqua one UFO 550 corner tank as it will fit in perfectly with where we want it to go. The spec says 120 litres, owner, after gravel and bits and bobs the local stored think more like 85-100 litres of water.

Wha I really would like a hand on is, what is the best way of setting up and cycling the tank. I have started reading up on fish in and fish less cycles but thought it would be good to get opinions of people who do it as opposed to just the shops that want to sell every possibly chemical to speed things up so they can then sell you a load of fish!!

I want the tank to be a community tank and so imagine will have things like guppies, danios, mollies, maybe a coupes of torpedoes etc along with having a grade base (I think) and live plants.

So, where do I start? Some say put the plants in straight away, some say leave it for a week or so.

Anyone want to help in getting me up and running?

Many thanks in advance

 

[Aquascaper]

I would say do a fishless cycle......not getting into the whole cruelty to fish thing but knowing what my two kids are like they were happier to wait for a few weeks with an empty tank so that they could go to the LFS and buy all the fish in one go rather than getting a few fish, waiting to see if they make it and then slowly adding more fish over the next couple of months.

Get some ammonia, a decent liquid test kit and involve the kids in dosing the tank and sampling the water.

As for plants I wouldn't know, I haven't had a planted tank for 8 years and my last one was pre-cycled when I planted it.

HTH

 

[jonnyedwards1981]

Thanks, am guessing the API test kits are still the way to go?

 

[Moby-Krib]

Thanks, am guessing the API test kits are still the way to go?

For the general keeper the Api liquid kits are exactly what you want
Cost effective for a close enough result on Ammonia and Nitrite.

 

[jonnyedwards1981]

Great thanks, hoping the aquarium arrives tomorrow so can start to get cracking over the weekend!

 

[jonnyedwards1981]

Can anyone recommend a good water conditioner? Used to use aqua plus I think it was called

 

[gilaesther]

Can anyone recommend a good water conditioner? Used to use aqua plus I think it was called

Most people on here prefer Seachem Prime. You can find it on Amazon if you don't have it locally.