Greetings!

[appleblossom]

finding ammonia in the uk is a mission. It is found on the rare occasion that you can find some in small independent hardware stores usually, its is used as a household cleaner. If you are not sure, you can ring the manufacturer to check that it contains only ammonia and water, and no other ingredients.

the easiest option would be if you knew someone who has an established tank??? You could run your filter in their tank for 2 weeks to build up your bacteria without hurting any fish whilst you decorate your tank and leave the water to settle, then after 2 weeks put the filter in your tank and add fish!

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Well, heres what I have done.

First off, we made the approved base unit and sited it, placed a 4way plug extension nearby and made sure there was a high shelf for the airpump to sit on.

Then we placed the tank on the stand, perfect fit (as you would hope seeing as they are made for each other ), and I spent a few minutes cleaning the insides of the glass of dust and debris.

Next we washed the gravel, which was mega-dusty, and started to pour it in. I have very limited decorations right now, and no live plants... so I planted the fake ones

Once all the gravel was in I put the polyester pad in the fluval foam canister thing (its a fluval 4+) and suckered that in, placed my high quality sand-fall castle decoration in the tank with air tube attached, and stuck the heater in too.

Was it right to put the polyester pad in? The filter came with a polyester one and a carbon one...

Then we filled. Theres no hose or anything so many trips with a bucket were in order (my back hurts now... ).

The filter is running, the heater is on, the thermometer is in place and the air pump works a charm! We added 50ml of the water treatment (it said 10mil per 35 litres, its a 170ish litre tank... i came up with 48ml... right?) and 50ml of the "bacterial supplement" thing that came with the tank. After this I dropped in a few flakes of food, which I reckon should create some ammonia as it decomposes? Sound right?

The filter makes lots of bubbles right now, which is noisy... should it do that?

So, anyway! Please point out anything ive done wrong or shouldnt have done at all!

I'll get some pictures tomorrow, but its not very exciting yet

Oh, and the tank came with a "Green X Phosphate Remover" dealy... wassat?

Thanks for reading!

 

[ajhainey]

Sounds ok to me...Did you make sure to leave loops in the power cables? If you have a separate air pump you can turn off the filter bubbles (I agree they make it a bit noisy and also my fish hated them and they messed up the tank decs) by taking out the little black bit on the top of the output pipe and filling the hole that leaves with the little plastic 'plug' attached to the output pipe...

I also find the filter is quieter on a middle power setting than at its lowest setting...

The greenX thing is to remove phosphates if you start to get an algae prob. while cycling (as you have no real plants to use up the phosphates)

aj xx

 

[Helium_Junkie]

Yep there are loops in the cables and the air pump is up high
Thanks for the tip about the air bubbles, I will try that after work

What about the cycling method I'm using, i.e. fish food to create ammonia... am I doing that right?

 

[Moving Shadow]

Nice one on the new tank.
When I started mine I cycled it for 6 weeks.... fishless. The longer the better. I know it's a long time and many would say why wait that long, but it will lead to you not needing to add all those chemicals that your LPS have pobably told you you need.

Had my fish for ages and NO problems with any. Just dechlorinate the tank and get going!!!! Oh and if you leave the heater on while you cycle it will happen a little faster.
Good Luck!

 

[skipper]

Hey

Sounds like you're doing a top job in researching all this properly and wanting to make a good go of it.
I agree with all the advice given by everyone before... and I dunno if you have already got a test kit but if not you probably want to invest in one... a master kit is about £19.99 and has tests for the important stuff like Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia etc. For the first month or so I tested my tank water regularly every few days to monitor the cycle.

As for starting the cycle with ammonia - lots of people on this forum recommend fishless cycling and the use of ammonia. I'll probably get shot down in flames for saying this but I didn't and have managed pretty well doing the following and like you I did loads of reading, asked loads of questions first.

V Briefly - I set my tank up, added the Stress Zyme bacteria stuff to kick-start the filter, added a few bits of fish food here and there and left it for over 2 wks (adding more bacteria after week 1 ansd 2). I added 3 platys (1m 2f) after about 2 1/2 wks and then monitored the water closely - testing pretty much every night for Ammonia/ Nitrite. I did regular (de-chlorinated) water changes each time the Ammonia/ Nitrite got a bit high. After about 5/ 6 weeks, when the tank levels were pretty settled, I started adding my fish in stages (reading up on species first). I'd add only a couple of fish at a time every two weeks (so not to overload the filter). I now test my tank water weekely and change maybe 10-20% of the water each week if necessary.

Hope that helps - it's just my experience. I reckon if you are patient and read carefully/ take advice then the cycling can be a good process where you learn a great deal abou this hobby...

Good luck

Skipper

 

[Helium_Junkie]

I bought a master test kit when I got the tank, it doesnt include hardness test, how important is this?

I will be patient, think I will add a few plants over the next few weeks, then start with fish after a month to 6 weeks... If I can decide on the fish

Thanks very much for everyones help so far, further discussion will be in the flora/fauna thread in this forum

You have all been really helpful so far, I'm glad I found these forums!