Lots Of Newb Questions, First Tank.

[mfacek]

Here are some questions I have, I'm buying this tank, My tank

1. I want a freshwater community of fish, is this a good tank size?

2. Has anyone had any bad expierences with this website or tank brand?

3. It has a built in filter, will I need to buy any filter media or will this filter be any good?

4. what's the difference between gravel and substrate? Will I need both?

5. Will I need any other equipment not listed as being sold ( I know I need a thermometer, gravel, decorations, plants.)

6. Are live plants better then fake plants, do I need live plants?

7. Should I fishless cycle or hardy fish cycle ( please don't tell me how to do them, I know what to do.)

8. I'm thinking of maybe keeping piranhas, is 55 gallons enough for 5 red bellies (they are legal in my state and I've read up on how to keep them.)

9. Do I need some sort of hose to perfrom water changes

10. Does a gravel vacuum actaully vacuum up gravel then u like wash it off or does it just vacuum ddirt and stuff, will I need to do it to substrate too?

11. What are some good hardy beginning fish that are fun looking and interesting ( I like thought of a school of maybe 6 or 7 zebra danios)

12. As another cycle option, should I get some bio-spira and how long does it take to work.

13. Is buying fish from online sites safe? ( some good sites would be appreciated)

14. What is a good invertibrate for a community tank of this size

15. I like the idea of some bogwood in my tank, will it discolor the water a lot or will it be alright.

16. When is says a fish should be kept in a school, how many fish would that be, 3-4, 5-6?

17. Also what is a really intersting looking fish as the center peice of the aqaurium, that aren't extremely hard to take care of and aren't to aggressive as this is a communtiy tank.

Thanks for your help! Feel free to pick and choose any questions you want to answer, also if you have any advice I didn't ask about it would be appreciated.

 

[Annagh]

Hi Mfacek,

As a newby I'm not able to answer for most of your questions but I can say that when I've needed help or suggestions this website has been quick and worthwhile. One of my questions caused a discussion and it was great to see what a number of other people thought. I was able to make up my own mind on what to do. So, as a newby I can throughly recommend this site. Good luck with the rest of your questions and your tank.

Cheers,
Annagh

 

[*Fishkies*]

1. That would be a very nice choice for a freshwater tank. It will give you plenty of options when you choose fish!!

2. I personally love the Marineland Bio-Wheel Filters, I really enjoy their products!

3. I am not quite sure as to what you mean by built-in filter, so I cannot answer that at the moment. But as with any filter you will need to buy some sort of media.

4. Gravel is more just stones. Substrate would be more of a bottom for live plants and possibly contain special substrate.

5. yes a thermometer, a heater, areation for the tank, dechlorinater, fish nets, plants....(there may be more, I can't remember at this moment) Oh and buckets for water changes, these help to have around! And maybe a few towels cause water may spill sometimes, and you may want fishy only designated towels.

6.Live plants or fake plants. The choice is yours. One is not always more important then another.

7. I did a Hardy fishy cycle with zebra danios and used A.C.T. by Mardel. It really worked well for getting the cycle going. That is my own opinion though. Other people on here may tell you to do a fishless cycle though.

8. Not sure about that. You would have to research their potential size.

9. Yes, the hose would be called a siphon, this will help with water changes.

10. A vaccum vac will take all the extra food and fish poo out of the stones, this will help reduce your ammonia build-up.

11. Zebra danios are the most hardy that I know of. Also guppies, but they breed easily so be careful with them!

12. I used A.C.T. by Mardel to help cycle my tank, it works very quickly and is a great product!

13. I have never had experince with buying fish online. But be careful with as with shipping any fish there are dangers to the fishes health.

14. I have African Dwarf Frogs, also maybe shrimp. It depends what type of fish you are putting in the tank.

15. You would need to prepare the wood to be put in the tank so that it does not discolor your tank. Here is a LINK check this out, it tells you all types of things about wood.

16. Schools should usually consist of about 5 at the least.

17. Gouramis are neat fish. Also any tetras are usually quite colorful. Mollies are nice and bright too!

Best of Luck with your new fishy experiences!!

 

[Jozlyn]

Firstly Welcome You will learn a lot from the people on this site.

I can't remember if the tank your getting has a heater or not, but you'll need one of those too.

Frankly there's no such thing as a "hardy" fish that you can cycle your tank with, please do a fishless cycle, it's quicker and easier than having to do big daily water changes!

Products sold by LFS's to cycle tanks with very rarely work, don't waste your money.

IMO live plants are always preferable to fake, they look nicer and can provide an additional food source for your fish (depending on what you get). But you should get fertiliser as well and purchase plants that suit your lighting. There's plenty of pinned info' on live plants in the "Planted" forum.

A liquid based master test kit is an absolute must, and at a minimum should have tests for Amonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and Ph, Gh & Kh are also handy to know but not essential. Whether you choose to a fishless or with fish cycle, you will need to test your tank daily to ensure that your levels are ok.

Ensure you have water dechlorinator/conditioner to treat your water with.

A gravel vac will slightly lift the uppermost layer of the gravel off the bottom of the tank (if you have a gravel substrate) and suck up the left over food and fish waste. If you raise the vac' a little higher the gravel will drop back out again.

Technically if you buy a filter, the media should come with it, I would be surprised if it didn't, but I'm not familiar with the tank you want to get, so you should check to make sure it is included.

Bog wood may discolour your tank as tanins leach out. Depending on the size of it you can boil it and change the water in the pot and keep boiling again until the water is clear, or if it's to big for a pot, use a larege bucket or the bath and hot water, this will do the same thing, just takes a bit longer.

make sure you do plenty of research on fish before you get them! Rainbow fish are lovely.

 

[loachman]

Here are some questions I have, I'm buying this tank, My tank

1. I want a freshwater community of fish, is this a good tank size?

Good tank. I personally like the 75 gals better, but 55 is still a very good size.

4. what's the difference between gravel and substrate? Will I need both?

Same thing. You'll need gravel or sand for the bottom of the tank.

5. Will I need any other equipment not listed as being sold ( I know I need a thermometer, gravel, decorations, plants.)

You'll probably need dechlorinator. It says a "sample pack" so who knows how much that is.
Also, some sort of siphon/hose for water changes
water test kit for ammonia, pH, nitrIte, and nitrAte. liquid kits are best.

6. Are live plants better then fake plants, do I need live plants?

Live, healthy plants provide additional benefits by removing nitrAtes and other fish wastes from the water. They also supply some oxygen. Some good starter plants are java ferns and elodea/anacharis. They're not needed though.

7. Should I fishless cycle or hardy fish cycle ( please don't tell me how to do them, I know what to do.)

fishless is better

 

[loachman]

9. more than likely, i doubt it comes with the setup.

10. With gravel, you push the end of the "gravel vac" into the gravel and lift it up, letting it suck up the garbage. The gravel will fall back down and shouldn't go thru the hose. Water and "garbage" will be removed. You should probably do this with about 25% of the water once a week.

if you have a sand substrate, you hover the hose above the sand and pull off the lighter "garbage"

11. zebra danios are good. platies, swordtails, tetras, rasboras are also generally considered fine for beginners.

14. depends completely on the other fish in the tank.

15. soak it in a bucket for as long as needed. It depends on the type of wood.

16. depends on the fish, usually 5 is minimum (as a general rule of thumb). More is better.

17. I've become partial to rainbowfish. They're generally fine with anything over about an inch in length.

 

[mfacek]

Thanks a lot guys, this all helps. Also will I be able to keep any larger fish in this tank (like maybe 7-12 inches?)

 

[mommyof2bettas]

1. Great size... nice and big!

2. never tried it

3. You'll always have to buy filter media.

4. Substrate is sand or gravel, or any other bottom material.

5. that's right, substrate, decor, plants, thermometer, dechlorinator (comes with sample pack but you should buy a big bottle), fish of course!

6. You don't need them, but imo they are better.

7. fishless cycle has many less deathss,so I suggest that.

8. have no clue, sorry

9.You'll need a gravel vac

10. gravel vacs vaccum the dirt, they will do it with most substrates (unless they are too big to fit under, but that will probably not happen.

11. Many, many fish, it's all up to you.

12. dunno, sorry, but fishless cycling imo is your best option in cycling.

13. Yep, depending where you're locate, aquabid.com is great!

14. dwarf frogs are great, clawed frogs but might be agressive and eat anything that fits in its mouth, shrimps, but watch out for big fish.

15. not sure again, sorry

16. Usually 5+,8 being great especially for agressive shoalers, corys however, like being in shoals but 3+ is ok.

17. once again, lots of choices, it's all up to you.