Advice On My New Setup Please!

[Cloudy]

I'm looking for a little advice & reassurance mostly.

So my tank has been cycling for 7 days now, I took a water sample into my local fish store today & was told it wasnt quite safe enough yet but should be ready in the next few days. She showed me the colour of the water sample after adding the drops & a colour chart, she told me it needs to show up more 'yellow' against the chart, my sample was just slightly darker but almost there.

My tank setup: (See attached picture)
Aqua 320 28L tank
Underground Filtration
Heater (currently 28C)
Fake plants
Gravel
Few ornaments

I have a few questions:
Do I need to add an Airstone for more movement?
Is my temp (28c) safe?
What is the best fish to start my tank off with & how many?
How long can I keep my light on everyday?

Sorry for all the questions, I haven't done fish keeping for 4 years & I've only just re-taken up the hobby & want to get everything right so myself, my wife & mainly my daughter can enjoy it!

Thank you for anyone who takes the time to respond to me
-
Shane

 

[weezebegs]

Tank looks good, and your daughter will love it, I am new too, so no advice from me, I'll leave it to the pro's but we started off 4 Danios's and 2 red tail guppies and 2 yellow tailed ones and the kids love them.

 

[Curiosity101]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It's odd that the worker told you that your tank wasn't ready as your tank stats should be perfect because there is nothing in it aside from water! Lol.

I suggest you read the threads listed in my signature. Firstly the one about cycling, and secondly/thirdly the ones about fishless and fish in cycling.

Please read all of these before even considering buying fish.

As a short overview cycling is the process of growing two types of bacteria in your tank (they grow in the filter). And these two types of bacteria turn the ammonia your fish make (which is toxic to fish and is what gives the green colour to the test the shop worker did) into nitrites (also toxic) and then into nitrates (which we remove with a weekly water change cause they're not toxic it lowish levels but do need to be lowered every now and then).

For the bacteria to grow you need an ammonia source, most shops don't give you any of this information but do sell you fish (an ammonia source). However due to them not giving you the proper info often the fish end up in a high ammonia environment which can very easily burn their gills and kill them.

I completely advocate a fishless cycle myself (using a non living ammonia source such as bottled ammonia), as a fish in cycle (using the fish as the ammonia source) requires many many more water changes to keep the fish safe.

 

[fishkeeper35]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It's odd that the worker told you that your tank wasn't ready as your tank stats should be perfect because there is nothing in it aside from water! Lol.

I suggest you read the threads listed in my signature. Firstly the one about cycling, and secondly/thirdly the ones about fishless and fish in cycling.

Please read all of these before even considering buying fish.

As a short overview cycling is the process of growing two types of bacteria in your tank (they grow in the filter). And these two types of bacteria turn the ammonia your fish make (which is toxic to fish and is what gives the green colour to the test the shop worker did) into nitrites (also toxic) and then into nitrates (which we remove with a weekly water change cause they're not toxic it lowish levels but do need to be lowered every now and then).

For the bacteria to grow you need an ammonia source, most shops don't give you any of this information but do sell you fish (an ammonia source). However due to them not giving you the proper info often the fish end up in a high ammonia environment which can very easily burn their gills and kill them.

I completely advocate a fishless cycle myself (using a non living ammonia source such as bottled ammonia), as a fish in cycle (using the fish as the ammonia source) requires many many more water changes to keep the fish safe.

+1

 

[Skins]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

It's odd that the worker told you that your tank wasn't ready as your tank stats should be perfect because there is nothing in it aside from water! Lol.

I suggest you read the threads listed in my signature. Firstly the one about cycling, and secondly/thirdly the ones about fishless and fish in cycling.

Please read all of these before even considering buying fish.

As a short overview cycling is the process of growing two types of bacteria in your tank (they grow in the filter). And these two types of bacteria turn the ammonia your fish make (which is toxic to fish and is what gives the green colour to the test the shop worker did) into nitrites (also toxic) and then into nitrates (which we remove with a weekly water change cause they're not toxic it lowish levels but do need to be lowered every now and then).

For the bacteria to grow you need an ammonia source, most shops don't give you any of this information but do sell you fish (an ammonia source). However due to them not giving you the proper info often the fish end up in a high ammonia environment which can very easily burn their gills and kill them.

I completely advocate a fishless cycle myself (using a non living ammonia source such as bottled ammonia), as a fish in cycle (using the fish as the ammonia source) requires many many more water changes to keep the fish safe.

+2