14 gallon planted tank journal.

[Obsessed with fish]

As a lot of you know I am starting a 14 gallon planted tank, it will have the following fish im getting tomorrow:

5 cory catfish.

1 dwarf goumari.

8 neon tetras.

1 guppy. (I need to have it in tank)


Here's a photo of my now empty tank that will be full tomorrow:

I will post photos of the full tank tomorrow. I will also give updates of the 5ank every once in a while.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

You should read and fully understand the cycle process before venturing into getting fish....and please do not buy them all at once as it will cause premature death by ammonia poisoning....

Read this well, ask questions if you do not understand any of it.......and you need to be alot more patient too, its not an overnight type of thing, it takes weeks for an aquarium to become truly habitable and safe for fish when starting from scratch.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Just to reinforce what @wasmewasntit is saying.

If you set this up and put all them fish in it straight away you WILL kill them. Any that manage to survive will be seriously damaged.

If you are going for a planted tank get your plants set up and growing first. Then cycle your tank and only then should you be thinking about adding fish.

Edit: Also in my experience them neons will probably shred the guppy as they tend to not be able to resist nipping long fins.

Edit 2: As @wasmewasntit says below. We don't want to put you off and its great that you are excited for this. However anyone that has been in the hobby awhile has seen this story a hundred times.

People get excited and/or impatient and try and rush to get the fish in as fast as possible. then a week or so later their fish start getting ill, acting odd and dying. Then they are stuck with weeks of sick/dying fish while they try and fix all the problems in their tank.

At best you are going to kill a bunch of fish, cause yourself a lot of upset and stress and then be right back at the start again having to do it the right way. At worst you will be doing all of that but then be so upset/fed up with it that you will just stop and not bother again.

Even in my everyday life I have had the same conversation with a lot of people. They wanted to keep fish, they got a tank, didn't know about cycling and just ended up with a bunch of dead fish and then gave up.

Look through the welcome threads on here. The majority of people posting in there have come to this forum because they have just set up a new tank, stuck fish in and are now having issues.

Same goes for the Fish emergencies section. 90% of the issues people have are due to not having properly cycled their tanks.

 

[Animallover😍]

Just to reinforce what @wasmewasntit is saying.

If you set this up and put all them fish in it straight away you WILL kill them. Any that manage to survive will be seriously damaged.

If you are going for a planted tank get your plants set up and growing first. Then cycle your tank and only then should you be thinking about adding fish.

agree. please do not get your fish yet. It's best to get the substrate in and get everything set up and cycled before getting your fish.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

It's really obvious how keen and excited you are about the aquarium, but please do not run before you can walk cos you'll be absolutely devastated when it all goes wrong.....and we are not just saying it to upset or annoy you....your fish will definitely suffer badly if you rush at it

None of us here want you to experience an aquarium full of dead or dying fish just cos you got ahead of yourself and went too fast. It's absolutely horrible seeing new fishkeepers dealing with this....so please for the sake of your fish to be and your own sanity, go slow, cycle the aquarium correctly....patience is key.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

What! I thought that was only for Saltwater tanks! Are there any really really really really really really quick ways of cycling.

 

[Animallover😍]

What! I thought that was only for Saltwater tanks! Are there any really really really really really really quick ways of cycling.

Nope. most cycles take a lot of patience.
Here are some ways of cycling
Fishless Cycle: done with ammonia or ammonium chloride.
Silent Cycle: a LOT of plants
Fish-in-cycle: the worst way to cycle a tank, can be detrimental to the fishes health.
I'm not the best person to ask for this, other members with more experience can help.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

What! I thought that was only for Saltwater tanks! Are there any really really really really really really quick ways of cycling.

No. Nothing in fishkeeping should be done quickly.

Read the information on the link you was given above, this is the way it needs to be done. If you don't understand or need help definitely ask, we would much rather answer 100 questions about cycling your tank then 100 questions about how to stop your fish dying.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Nope. most cycles take a lot of patience.
Here are some ways of cycling
Fishless Cycle: done with ammonia or ammonium chloride.
Silent Cycle: a LOT of plants
Fish-in-cycle: the worst way to cycle a tank, can be detrimental to the fishes health.
I'm not the best person to ask for this, other members with more experience can help.

I'm going to jump in here and say that the only suitable method to cycle a tank for someone with no experience is the fishless cycle.

The other two ways need a lot of knowledge, experience and work to not screw it up. If you attempt these you will definitely damage or kill your fish at this stage.

 

[ClownLurch]

What are the tanks dimensions?

 

[Deleted member 149562]

What! I thought that was only for Saltwater tanks! Are there any really really really really really really quick ways of cycling.

Not sure where you got that from but sadly you are very much mistaken

And as others rightfully stated...there is nothing quick about preparing an aquarium for fish and adding what you are listing all in one go will result in their deaths, even after the cycling process has been completed in a couple months time.

You really really really need to read the link on cycling, absorb it, ask question when you are unsure.....do not rush it cos rushing it WILL kill the fish within days.

Sorry that its not what you expected but that is why we all agree that fishkeeping is not as easy as it sounds or as easy as the people at the till in the petshop (many of whom have never owned a fish) tell you when you are spending hundreds on equipment and fish.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Is there any type of water that I can use? How do you do a In-fish-cycle. The in fish cycle sounds the best to me.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Is there any type of water that I can use? How do you do a In-fish-cycle. The in fish cycle sounds the best to me.

Cycling with a fish will take significantly longer than a fishless cycle and often kills the fish if you do not follow instructions to the letter....

Fishless can often take around 6 to 8 weeks average, sometimes less, sometimes longer

Fish in can often take 10 to 14 weeks average, sometimes less but more often longer

An aquarium as small as yours that will spike ammonia easily....especially if you are impatient...will possibly take several months to get right cos you will lose patience and crash it.

 

[Animallover😍]

Is there any type of water that I can use? How do you do a In-fish-cycle. The in fish cycle sounds the best to me.

You add fish, check the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate daily. However this is the worst way possible to cycle a tank, the fish can die or get sick easily, this is the most risky way to cycle a tank, especially for beginners like you and me.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Is there any type of water that I can use? How do you do a In-fish-cycle. The in fish cycle sounds the best to me.

I STRONGLY recommend that you do not go this route. You are basically purposefully harming an animal for the sake of being impatient.

Think I'm going to duck out of this thread from this point on.