Advice On New Aquarium

[welsh-wizard]

Really grateful for some advice on a few areas please. Just bought a coldwater aquarium, positioned and supported correctly, washed out and installed gravel and a couple of ornaments (rinsed thoroughly too).

I've filled the tank with water directly from the tap and added the necessary amount of water conditioner. I've fitted the filter as directed and now as far as I know the tank is ready for our first fish in around 7 days. The store I am buying from kindly provide a service to test the quality of the water on the day I go for my fish.

My queries are, I want the very best for my fish can anyone see anything that I have missed or may also be interested in? I saw a whole range of products at the shop that just seemed to make it complicated, weekly water conditioner, stress coat etc does anyone reccomend any of these ongoing ttreatments?

Lastly, my filter is fitted as standard with 2 foam pads but also provided with 2 additional filters, one polyester and one carbon. I've read about what these filters do but I'm not sure when they are to be used exactly? Are either necessary at the start of the aquarium settling, or wait to use them at times of heavy medication or maintenance?

Thanks in advance!

 

[aquila]

Really grateful for some advice on a few areas please. Just bought a coldwater aquarium, positioned and supported correctly, washed out and installed gravel and a couple of ornaments (rinsed thoroughly too).

I've filled the tank with water directly from the tap and added the necessary amount of water conditioner. I've fitted the filter as directed and now as far as I know the tank is ready for our first fish in around 7 days. The store I am buying from kindly provide a service to test the quality of the water on the day I go for my fish.

My queries are, I want the very best for my fish can anyone see anything that I have missed or may also be interested in? I saw a whole range of products at the shop that just seemed to make it complicated, weekly water conditioner, stress coat etc does anyone reccomend any of these ongoing ttreatments?

Lastly, my filter is fitted as standard with 2 foam pads but also provided with 2 additional filters, one polyester and one carbon. I've read about what these filters do but I'm not sure when they are to be used exactly? Are either necessary at the start of the aquarium settling, or wait to use them at times of heavy medication or maintenance?

Thanks in advance!

Your tank will not be ready for a fish in seven days. Take a look at the pinned topics on Fishless cycling to begin with, it's quite a comprehensive guide but obviously if you have any questions about the method then fire away. You will need to buy your own test kit as the ones they do in store are often useless - at the very least, get exact readings from them for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (get them to write the values down) rather than them saying 'your water is okay'. One of us on here will be able to give you more structured advice if we know these readings.

As for all those expensive treatments... they're pretty much all rubbish, the only things you need to be concerned with at the moment are a water testing kit and water conditioner for chlorine removal. Regular water changes provide the same thing as those fancy bottled things and they are practically free.

What size is the tank (in litres or gallons) and what fish are you planning to stock?

 

[black angel]

how many gallons does this tank hold? If less than 10 then i would say not enough for any type of goldfish. Mountain minnows are a good starter fish for smaller set ups.
No need to wait 7 days...start a fishless cycle with ammonia as explained in the pinned topic or see if the shop can give you some used filter media.