Some Questions On Setting Up My Tank :)

[Parasaurolophus]

So I got my elite 60 litre tank yesterday (alot smaller than I wanted but its best to start out small and get bigger) and was wondering how I should go about setting it up I washed some sand earlier as sand is going to be the substrate haven't put it in yet
and was wondering how much water conditioner I need for 10 litres of water (per bucket).
If I need any more advice I will post it in this thread, no doubt I will, thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

Hi there and Welcome to our Freshwater beginners section!

Sounds great, not too small, not too large! Its going to be a lot of fun.

Conditioner bottles always come with instructions on the amount per liter/gallon and it is different for all the different brands. While you are preparing the filter for your new tank ("cycling" the tank) you should look at these instructions and then dose the conditioner at 1.5x to 2x (but not more than 2x) the amount the instructions say. After the tank is 6 months old (ie. has reached its first step of real maturity) you can go down to what the instructions say. After a couple years when you need to buy more you can ask here to find out about more concentrated conditioners.

No matter what the bag says, you need to thoroughly rinse your substrate (gravel or sand) in fresh tap water until you've cleared as much "dust" as you can. You will need a gravel-cleaning-cylinder type siphon to maintain gravel or just a siphon tube to maintain sand.

The order of major steps coming up should be: Learn about filter media and make choices about potentially changing your media (probably swapping out black carbon for more ceramics or sponges.) This can be discussed with the members, they all know about it. Meanwhile, you need to be obtaining the most important piece of equipment for a beginner, a good liquid-reagent test kit. Most of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. A couple of childrens medicine syringes that have milliliter markings is helpful for ammonia dosing and test water. Next you need to start the search for the correct sort of household ammonia. This can sometimes be an adventure but lately most in the UK find it at Boots or Homebase and most in the USA find it at Ace Hardware.

While carrying out the above stuff you should be doing your "homework" reading in the Beginners Resource Center: Start with "The Nitrogen Cycle", "The Fishless Cycle" and "The Fish-In Cycle" and some of the tank startup articles like the one by Miss Wiggle.

When everything is gathered, you prepare your aquarium notebook for your fishless cycle log and post your fishless cycling thread here in our section and begin your daily log of "cycling." Cycling is the task of growing two specific species of autotrophic bacteria in your filter to create something called a working "biofilter." You need a working biofilter before you expose fish to the tank environment.

Creating the biofilter takes somewhere between 3 weeks and 9 weeks and although that seems long, its actually usually good timing for all the discussions you need to have with the members about the tricky art of creating a "stocking plan" where you add and delete and change your fish list until it seems as perfect as you can get it. There are lots of parameters that go into that and meanwhile you may need help on your cycling and will have other startup and beginners questions. It is also the time to use this forum to study up on the best maintenance skills as what you can learn here will make you be a skilled hobbyist some day.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Parasaurolophus]

Thanks this bottle came with the tank and it doesn't say anything on it about how much per litre its uhhh nutrafin aqua plus, I have done my homework for a couple of months on what sort of fish,cycling ect.
so I think I am prepared I have some ammonia,PH,gh ect. testing strips which also came with the tank I know they are supposed to be really bad but I will try them out.
so should I just add afew drops per 10 litres since theres no manual or instructions?

By the way I am planning on doing a fishless cycle ;D

also Can I use fish food as a source of ammonia?


thanks for your help =D

 

[waterdrop]

Paper strip testing is worse than bad, it leads you to make wrong decisions.

We don't recommend using fishfood as the ammonia source for a fishless cycle unless there are special circumstances. If its all possible for a beginner to obtain and use simple household ammonia, that is the better way to do a fishless cycle because the control over the process is so much better. The results are understandable.

Its important to know the concentrations necessary for a water conditioner, you can't just put some drops in and expect it to work properly. If the bottle did not come with instructions (how could this be possible?) then the instructions need to be found on the internet or via contact with the company.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Katch]

If you're in the UK Homebase do ammonia for about £1.50 that is perfect for cycling.

 

[njstockley]

if you peel back the labels on nutrafin bottles they have instructions printed there. look for the "peel here" tab on the front label, in the corner, and you should find them.

 

[Parasaurolophus]

ahhh thanks njstockley, found it no peel here tab though...
thanks everyone else to =)
I didn't manage to get any bottled ammonia, maidenhead aqautics didn't have any in stock un-fortunately.

Thats the tank so far ^
got the plants today, unsure of what type of moss it is I'm hopeing java moss since I heard its easier to grow.
I will try to get a better water tester then.

stocking plan is- 12 neon tetras, 5 schwartz cory and a master peice fish unsure of the master peice fish yet ideas always changeing I use aqua adviser by the way.

Though inside the bag there was a fry of some kind of fish I put it in but never saw it again
in the plant area in the shop there were swordtails,endlers and badis badis I think?
I think its a swordtail fry though, its all white, haven't seen it in the tank just in the bag.

 

[Parasaurolophus]

Umm some of the java leaves have snapped in half so do I take the whole leaf off or just the bit thats comeing off?

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, on a plant that's got plenty of other leaves I'd just trim that whole leaf at the base of the stem.

-really like- your plants!