i want to get it right just how

[Guest_steve]

Hi my names steve from uk im 21 male and not working at the moment
as i dont work due to raod accedent i get rather board so as my brother got a 2 ft tank i want to have better so i bought myself a 4ft tank =48gallons uk water

now thing is im the kinda person who tries so hard ill do it wrong
now i followed many rules tips of setting up my aquarium (for tropical)
and it seems to be ok but AS THIS IS MY 1ST TANK @ 21 how do i know if its right or not i can only guess by looking

when i 1st put the water is kinda murcy (limescale hardwater area) and i couldnt get my filter to work for 1 day so it was getting worse suddenly i got a genius thought of sucking thru tube to start the water pumping out

now i left it 2 days it looks very clear (good sign i take it )
with the tank i have 2 logs that i was told r from the sea not in uk so there exllent to use

and a cpl of bricks well look like them but feel diffrent now its filtering away looking clean i also put water conditionare in as i was told will soften water

now i have my final problem which i could do with sum help my tank thermomiter seems to be saying tank is around 25c but i have no heater in at mo as i

er blue it up hehe told ya im bad i put 13wat fusein instead of 3 hehe man it scared me

can my water be 25 is that normal without heater as i see most fish r ok with 24-26
but says you will need a heater for this as im using 48 gallon tank

i have bought another that i will place in tomorrow and leave for a further 1 day b4 buying fish

also i dont have a air pump (i have a fluval 203 external filter which when pumping water back in creates bubbles oxygen i surpose is this enough

or do i need another air pump



so air pump do i need more heater 25 without normal or sould be colder

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Steve. Welcome to the forum. There are many wonderful friendly and helpful people here and I hope you register and stay with us.

Before I say more, let me caution you that you are not yet ready to put fish into your tank. Here is a link that will explain some things that you should understand and do first. http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=10099

This article was written by Alien Anna, one of the moderators here, so if you have questions about it she is here to answer them.

Fishkeeping is a really great hobby, but it takes a little patience. You have already spent much time and money to set up a fine tank. If you spend just a little more of both you will soon be on your way to success!

Good luck, Steve. I hope to talk to you again!

 

[Alien Anna]

This article was written by Alien Anna, one of the moderators here, so if you have questions about it she is here to answer them.

Hi Steve - welcome and don't worry. There are plenty of people here to hold your hand.

Just one little point - I'm not a moderator, just a regular know-it-all type fish-keeper. I'm quite new to the hobby myself but I'm a would-be writer so as I learn stuff, I like to pass it on.

After a while, you might like to start passing your knowledge on too - that's kind of the "charge" for help on this forum

 

[fish&chips]

thanks you 2 and suprisingly lol i have read aliens post

dont ask how pure luck that i click on a post my 1st 1 i may add and got that thread about er tank cycling very helpfull

thing is im not the most clever of people but like to try my hardest

and well as i read on thru peoples threads i cant beleave how much they actualy love there fish i thought i was a 1 off weirdo in love with tropical fishes

well im 21 and have a rep to keep cant be blubbling over dieing fish so thought it be best to give it sum time for tank to get clean and sort itself out

now to last bit i had it going 4 days and i have read that the tank should be filtering 4-7 days
but then read that that does nothing at all but clean my tank and make sure no cracks

if i buy the water testing kits as i dont have them yet wot should i cheek for
(amonia and stuff)but wot kits

then if they test ok should it be ok to get a cpl of small fish to start

my only other problem is im moving in 1 month and i can giv the cpl of fishes to my bro for his tank untill set up (but does that mean i need to cycle cheek the tank again for another week or is there a way of saving the water reusing
or not good idea

 

[Alien Anna]

now to last bit i had it going 4 days and i have read that the tank should be filtering 4-7 days
but then read that that does nothing at all but clean my tank and make sure no cracks

if i buy the water testing kits as i dont have them yet wot should i cheek for
(amonia and stuff)but wot kits

then if they test ok should it be ok to get a cpl of small fish to start

my only other problem is im moving in 1 month and i can giv the cpl of fishes to my bro for his tank untill set up (but does that mean i need to cycle cheek the tank again for another week or is there a way of saving the water reusing
or not good idea

Hi Steve,
you're certainly not unusual loving your fish

Running your tank for 4-7 days is an excellent idea as it would be a disaster if the tank did leak or something. But the next thing to do is cycle the tank. If you followed the links on my article on Fishless Cycling, you can read what to do.

Probably the easiest way to Fishless Cycle is to put a pinch of fish food in the tank every day and test for ammonia and nitrite (be careful of the spelling - this is nitrite with an 'i', also called NO2-, not nitrate, with an 'a' ). First of all you'll get a rise in ammonia levels, then that'll start to die off and you'll get a rise in nitrite. When both ammonia and nitrite are zero, your tank is cycled and you can add fish.

You don't need to re-cycle the tank when you move - you can keep the beneficial bacteria alive in your gravel and filter by bagging the filter insides and gravel in plastic bags (the sort you buy from the fish shop) with a bit of water and a couple of those oxygen tablets (which you can miss out if you're only moving down the road). Keep some of the water in large bottles (cleaned out milk bottles are a good idea - the big ones. Make sure you dechlorinate the water you clean them out with on the last rinse, however). The fish should also be bagged up in fish bags, 3/4 full of air, like the fish shop do, and then put in a dark coloured bag (the darkness keeps them calm).

When you get to your new home add the gravel and set up the filter. Then put the water you bought in and top up with dechlorinated water from your tap. Turn everything on. Then, when the temperature is right, add the fish, just as you did when you got them from the fish shop (put the fish bags in the tank for 20 minutes to get the temperatures equal and then release the fish into the tank).

It doesn't matter which tests you use but personally I find the Tetra tests very good. All you need is a test for ammonia and a test for nitrite. A test for pH is also very useful.