I've been away from the hobby for 13 years and am now able to begin again with a tropical freshwater community tank.
This will be my 'blog', with special mention to things changed for me within this hobby of ours.
When I closed down my last tank, my fish, (bless their little socks), were donated to a good fish shop, to live in a display tank.
The plants went to a compost heap.
Everything else, including rocks, gravel, tank and equipment, went into storage.
Whilst the gravel was rinsed, it wasn't sterilised, although everything else was.
My tank is 30" x 12" x 15.
Just prior to storing everything, a lot of my equipment had been upgraded, so starting anew meant that I didn't need to spend loads on a new pump, aerator of heator. I did, however, need new lighting.
I filled the tank up outside, just to check it hadn't acquired any leaks. It hadn't. It got emptied and located in its new home.
Setting the tank up, the gravel was only rinsed and I suspected that, having been left in aerobic conditions and un-frozen, there may well be an existing bacterial culture amongst the rounded gravel stones. Likewise, my filter sponges were not new.
My larger stones were added and the gravel used to create different layers.
I then filled two thirds of the tank with water, having treated this with Interpet Bioactive tapsafe plus.
The equipment was tested and worked and was switched on.
Juwel EcoFlow 1000 pump.
Eheim 400 Air Pump.
12" Interpet heater.
Heat set to 27 degrees C.
I then realised that all of my medications and test kits were all probably out of date, so off I pootled to stock up on Test Kits and bought some plants. Not a huge range to choose from, unfortunately, but sufficient for now.
Amazons Swords.
Alternanthera rosaefolia
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Java Moss
Java Fern.
Some of these were attached to pieces of my old bogwood, others were seperated from their respective bunches, into single plants and distributed around the tank.
Certainly, the general knowlwedge base about cycling seems to have finally reached the mainstream and potentially useful products are certainly more accessible than they used to be.
Happy days.
Lighting.
Prior to closing my last tank down, I'd acquired some LED tubes, to replace my fluorescent tube starter unit, which had finally bitten the dust after 7 years hard labour. Each of these tubes were bright enough, but each had its own plug and switch and I envisaged having to use a timer and a multisocket arrangement.
However, LEDs have certainly and significantly advanced over the last decade and so I did my research and treated myself to a Fluval Aquasky 2.0, with Bluetooth. This was set to the 'Plant Boost' pre-setting.
The tank was then left to run for 3 days, before I took my first chemistry class, using both liquid testing and test strips.
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0.5
pH 7.5
KH 40
GH 120
Ammonia 1.0
Looking like the organic matter in the gravel might be doing something useful.
I'd also discovered the 'friendly' bottled bacteria and thought I'd try the Microbe-Lift 'Special Blend' and Nite-Out II now adding these to the water, happy that they'd have some ammonia to munch on.
I'll now leave it a week...
), Burnaston Fisheries and a Wod of Water all within 5 miles, as well as various Pets at Home.
