Setting Up A New Tank, Advice Etc Appreciated

[justjon]

Hi all,

First post on the forums!

Basically, I am wanting to get into the "fish" life a little bit more than I have done the past 6 months.

I started out with a BiORB 30L - I've found it OK however now I think it would be nice to get a decent tank, so i've purchased one from the shop today and it's getting delivered tommorow.

The tank i've ordered is a Jewel Rekord 70 (70L) - It comes with the full pump, filter, heater all within the usual black box in the corner of the tank (where as at the moment, i've only got a normal tube heater and an external air pump)...

At the moment the only fish I have is a Pleque and 2 Medium sized fathead modllies.

I have the gravel coming tommorow, and i've grabbed two treatments for the tank to get the cycle started.

The guy in the shop has told me to let the tank run for 1 week, then it will be ok to put the small 3 fish I have in, then he reccomended just having those in for about 6 weeks before getting anymore.

I just wondered what people reccomend I could get for the tank when it hits 6 weeks, it's my first proper tank, and I do like the look of the clown-loaches however I hear they need a lot of space.

Would appreciate any tips and tricks/help that people can give... as I said, i'm new to this.

Thanks

 

[Colin_T]

if you stll have the bio-orb running you could transfer the filter from that into the new tank and you won't have to cycle the new tank before adding any fish.
Clown loaches are probably going to get too big for that tank. You could get some small ones once the tank was established but they would need a bigger aquarium later on.

 

[justjon]

thank's for the quick reply, the biorb filters are completely different and built into and made for that tank specifically, so I couldnt transfer it... but was the guy in the shop correct in saying I could transfer after running for about a week?

 

[Corleone]

No. You might want to review these threads on cycling, the pet stores usually give poor advice on the matter.


What's cycling? (If you cycled it like the fish store told you to, it's not cycled):
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...eady-have-fish/

Fishless cycling:
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...shless-Cycling/

Cycling in general (covers cycling with fish in the tank):
http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...esource-center/

 

[Davo86]

thank's for the quick reply, the biorb filters are completely different and built into and made for that tank specifically, so I couldnt transfer it... but was the guy in the shop correct in saying I could transfer after running for about a week?

leaving the tank a week won't cycle the tank, by adding your first fish and leaving them for six wekks it sounds like the LFS employee was telling you to use your curent fish to cycle the tank for you, which isn't ideal and IMO you are llikely to have at least one casualty (probably the plec)

As colin says by adding your current media to the new tank your new tank will be instantly cycled. I would personally just take the bottom pad out of the juwel black box and try and wedge in the biorb pad as best you can, this way when the filter is turned on the bacteria can be passed onto the pads further up the box, By doing this you can transfer your new fish straight over. (after about six weeks you can then remove the biorb pad and replace it with the new pad that was removed)

 

[Colin_T]

a new tank won't cycle in a week unless it has an established filter added to it. You could cut up the old filter material and place it on the new filter. That would help it establish quicker.

The shop's advice indicates a fish in cycle whereby you have fish in the tank while the filters develop. You can do that if you want but make sure you use cheap fish to cycle the tank. Don't put loaches or catfish in it until it is established (about 4 weeks) otherwise they will probably die.
Personally, I would try to get the old filter from the bio-orb into the new tank. Even if you can take part of it to add to the new tank it will help get things going a lot quicker.

edited to say
doh, beaten to it by Davo

 

[justjon]

Great reply's thanks guys!

So basically, (i'll probably be able to see it better tommorow when I actually have the filter). Just take the sponge (which is a circular one) from my biorb (it comes out just as the sponge) leave all the dirt (if any) on it etc.. and shove it straight into the new filter-system?

Then wait about 6 weeks, and put the replaced filter sponge that came with the new filter/pump/heater system in as new?

I would like to be able to get the fish in as quickly as possible, so that's a good idea.. i'm just very paranoid about killing them! - Obviously also, I would need to wait atleast a few hours for the heater to heat up the water... could I get the hot water direct from the hot tap to speed up the warming process aswell? Also, should I still use the treatments given in the water before putting the fish in?

I also have gravel for the new tank coming, do you need to was gravel down out of the packet?

also - tips on new fish after the initial 6 weeks (nice ones!) would be appreciated.

 

[Colin_T]

I would set the new tank up with the gravel, water, heater, etc and add some dechlorinator. Let it run for a day or so and this will get the temp correct and the chlorine out of the water. Then transfer the old bio-orb filter to the new tank and move the fish from the bio-orb into the new tank. Then keep the feeding down for a few weeks and hopefully the filter will establish quickly and you shouldn't have any ammonia or nitrite problems.

gravel should always be washed before it goes into a tank.

 

[justjon]

Thank's for the reply again.

As I said, completely new so all advice is appreciated.

I was given Aqua Plus which "Improves tap water quality by removing chlorine & chloramine" - "neutralises heavy metals" etc...

Was also given something called "Cycle" which apparently is a powerful biological supplement which rapidly matures new aquariums and filters and consumes anmonia... should I not use this one if i'm squashing my old filter into the new system to kick it into life? Also... just to comfirm, do I put the old filter sponge squeezed in WITH the new one or take the new on out completely until about 6 weeks.

- Edit

Also, would it be possible to get a "night light" system installed? I've seen one before and it lights up blue, looked very stunning.

 

[Colin_T]

Cycle does help get filters going a bit quicker. You can add that as well as adding the bio-orb filter. Then you shouldn't have any problems with the tank cycling again.
Leave the new filter complete and just add the bio-orb filter pad to the new filter. After 4-6 weeks you can take it out and move it back into the bio-orb tank if you plan on using the bio-orb again. If not then just leave it in the new tank.
Night lights are a blue light that is often used on marine tanks. They are available in standard sizes for fluorescent globes. You can also paint a normal light globe blue and it does a similar thing.

 

[justjon]

I see, so it looks like I will be up and running before the weekend which is great.

I will be selling the biorb due to lack of space in my current home.. when I get a bigger place i'd love to get a big tank.

So where the normal tube is in the tank at the moment, I can just replace that with a blue light and it'll do the same job? I was also told that lights do no have to be kept on during the day for fish, and it's really just a "design" option... which to me seemed a bit cruel?

 

[Colin_T]

the fish don't need lights on the tank but if you want to grow plants then you will need the ligths on for about 10 hours per day.
It's preferable not to have a blue light on all the time. A couple fo hours in the evening is sufficient. Some fish freak out if kept under straight blue lights all the time.
If the light unit has 2 globes then you can have one blue and one daylight globe. Then have the daylight one on during the day and the blue one on at night. Turn the blue one on about 5 minutes before you turn the daylight one off.
If the light unit only has one globe then I would go for a daylight globe and make up a blue light with a desk lamp and a blue globe.

 

[Essjay37 152]

If the Rekord filter is the same as the one in the Rio range, you'll find it has a black carbon sponge and a green nitrate one. You don't need either. Set it up as in the instructions, with the fine blue sponge at the bottom, the coarse blue one next, and then where they tell you to put the green and carbon sponges, put in the media from your bio orb filter. Finally, put the white pad on top. It'll make sense when you've got it in front of you. When I set up my Rio, I just chopped up the sponge from my old filter until it fit. Remember to keep the old filter wet while you're doing this, and be as quick as you can.

You'll have to keep the old media in there till the bacteria establish themselves in the new sponges - I'll let someone with a bit more experience tell you how long! Once the new media is established, you can replace the old one with a new sponge, or even a bag holding some ceramic media.

 

[justjon]

Could I perhaps get a new lid that would have 2 light fittings?

Details of my tank:

Volume: approx. 70 litres.

Light System with 1 x 15 W tube. Waterproof design developed by Juwel.

Heater 50w.

JUWEL Filter System: Compact. It features a soft flow filter with the largest volume of filter media for an aquarium of this size. Easy clean with the Juwel lift out bracket ensures minimum disruption when cleaning.

Colour:Black.

Size: 61 x 46 x 31 cm.

 

[Colin_T]

From recollection, that type of tank only has a hood that holds one light. You could always get a normal tank and buy a separate double light unit. Then you could have a couple of different globes in it.