My First Tank

[Richrox75]

Hi all,

Thought I would share my experience of setting up my first tank. Would also appreciate and gratefully receive any advice and guidance.

First off, what inspired me to take up fish keeping? I Wanted a focal point for my front room, also the Feng Shui element of bringing calm to a room is very true.

At first I looked at the Biorb, but chose a Aqua One Mode 600 65ltr tank when I saw them in the flesh. Was well advised by my local Aquatic centre.

Set it up on Friday with Bactinettes supplement. Added sand and 5 various plants and a wood piece with plants growing from. All looked good and I left it the 2/3 days to cycle as advised.

Collected my first residents today. As the tank was so new I chose Leopard Danios as these were deemed to be the most hardy of fish. Have introduced 3 to the tanks. They have been flying round the tank. I have been surprised by how active they are!

Really enjoying my first steps into keeping fish. Will update the post as I expand the community. Any advice on what to, and what not to add to the tank appreciated.


Rich

 

[willroo]

Hi all,

Thought I would share my experience of setting up my first tank. Would also appreciate and gratefully receive any advice and guidance.

First off, what inspired me to take up fish keeping? I Wanted a focal point for my front room, also the Feng Shui element of bringing calm to a room is very true.

At first I looked at the Biorb, but chose a Aqua One Mode 600 65ltr tank when I saw them in the flesh. Was well advised by my local Aquatic centre.

Set it up on Friday with Bactinettes supplement. Added sand and 5 various plants and a wood piece with plants growing from. All looked good and I left it the 2/3 days to cycle as advised.

Collected my first residents today. As the tank was so new I chose Leopard Danios as these were deemed to be the most hardy of fish. Have introduced 3 to the tanks. They have been flying round the tank. I have been surprised by how active they are!

Really enjoying my first steps into keeping fish. Will update the post as I expand the community. Any advice on what to, and what not to add to the tank appreciated.


Rich


Hello Rich.
Just like me you was told to leave tank for a few days before adding fish.
I did the same then found this forum. The feeling on here is do a fishless cycle(which i would have done if i'd have known)
But don't worry.
Keep your eye on the water stats, I recomend getting an API test kit, and do water changes every couple of days to keep the fish from dying.
I did this, after getting advise off this forum, and didn't lose any fish.

GOOD LUCK

if you need to know anything just post it you will get good advise

Will

 

[HODDY]

yes it was a little early to add fish but danios are hardy and if you do the water changes every 2 days they should be fine.Leave buying fish for a few weeks until the water stats are stable

 

[Richrox75]

yes it was a little early to add fish but danios are hardy and if you do the water changes every 2 days they should be fine.Leave buying fish for a few weeks until the water stats are stable

My Ammonia and NItrite levels were 0.1 and Nitrate around 30/35. So was advised I could add the hardiest of fish, hence the choice of Danios.

Have heard differing advice on water change, some say, leave while for an initial period...........

 

[Michigander]

yes it was a little early to add fish but danios are hardy and if you do the water changes every 2 days they should be fine.Leave buying fish for a few weeks until the water stats are stable

My Ammonia and NItrite levels were 0.1 and Nitrate around 30/35. So was advised I could add the hardiest of fish, hence the choice of Danios.

Have heard differing advice on water change, some say, leave while for an initial period...........

I understand you confussion!!! I set up my first tank 8 weeks ago and was overwhelmed by the contridicting advice. I read all the forums; everthing from cycling with 'feeder throw-away' fish to cycling with fish food to getting dirty aquarium rock from an established tank. Bottom line, the tank needs to establish beneficial bacteria to provide a healthy water for tropical fish to survive. This beneficial bacteria will break down the waste elimiated by the fish poop (amonia) to safe levels (OK - I am an engineer and scientist by trade so I might break down advice to basic elements).

Basically what I learned, if your aquarium came with a packet of 'benefical bacteria starter' and you followed the directions supplied by the manufaturer, you will be 'good to go' after carefully following the manufacturers instructions. These manufacturer's spend hundreds of thousands of hours and literally millions of dollars researching how to best set up a tank and provide you with the results of their research, which they include in their setup instructions. They consider such things as the thinkness of the glass and polymers of the tank vs. oxgen penetration. HOWVER - each manufacturer's instructions may differ depending on their specific product and the items they provide in their kits such as filters, heaters, etc.

Wrap up, it you follow the manufacturers' instructions, you will be able to add fish after the recommended period. You still need to test for your water levels since water purity - no matter how many decontaniment chemicals you apply- vary depending on where you live. If you are getting good readings, add your fish, but only a third at a time to make sure your amonia levels don't spike.

I hope this helps. By the way, the fish in my new tank are healthy, happy and endless hours of enjoyment!

 

[vinylman]

Bacteria starters are not worth a penny; the only thing they are intended to do is to get you to part with your money. It is impossible to cycle a tank in 2/3 days. Don't believe everything manufacturers and LFS staff tell you. There's no substitute for researching before you start.

 

[Richrox75]

2 days since introducing the Leopard Danios, so it's time for their first feed.

Is there a best time to feed them? or is it a case of keeping it consistant?



Thanks


Rich

 

[dwarfgourami]

Bacteria starters are not worth a penny; the only thing they are intended to do is to get you to part with your money. It is impossible to cycle a tank in 2/3 days. Don't believe everything manufacturers and LFS staff tell you. There's no substitute for researching before you start.

But I thought bactinettes were the British counterpart to Biospira. In which case they do do something to cycle the tank- by adding live bacteria. If you can keep bacteria alive, you can cycle a tank in 5 minutes- that's what we all do when we clone a new tank from one of our existing tanks. SO the question would be if the Bactinettes contained living bacteria (I believe they are meant to) and if these bacteria had been treated in such a way as still to be alive when they reached the tank.

It seems to me, Richrox, that you have gone gone about stocking your tank in a very cautious way anyway, and it will probably be fine. Just keep an eye on water stats (test daily) and be prepared to do partial water changes (using dechlorinated water) if ammonia or nitrites rise above o.5 ppm. Good luck with the danios, lovely little fish. Once the tank is fully cycled, in a month or two, you will want to double the number as they are happier in bigger groups.

Michigander, the fact that manufacturers have spent millions on developing (and advertising) their products is no guarantee that they work. As in any other part of commercial life, the market is full of products that do not work, or work a little but rather less than the adverts suggest- and a few products that do work. The best idea you will get not from listening to the manufacturers or the salespeople at the lfs, but by checking out independent consumer test and research in places like Practical Fishkeeping Magazine. These guys are not trying to sell you anything, they genuinely want to know what works and why.

 

[OohFeeshy]

But I thought bactinettes were the British counterpart to Biospira.

Indeed- refridgerated and all that malerkey as opposed to sat on a shelf for six months and still claiming to work for FW and SW...

 

[dwarfgourami]

But I thought bactinettes were the British counterpart to Biospira.

Indeed- refridgerated and all that malerkey as opposed to sat on a shelf for six months and still claiming to work for FW and SW...

And do we know which is the case here? That's maybe the first question we should ask of the OP.

 

[OohFeeshy]

But I thought bactinettes were the British counterpart to Biospira.

Indeed- refridgerated and all that malerkey as opposed to sat on a shelf for six months and still claiming to work for FW and SW...

And do we know which is the case here? That's maybe the first question we should ask of the OP.

Noo, I meant Bactinettes was refrigereated whereas the more... functionally challenged products sit on a shelf for months and still claim to work for fw and sw.

 

[Richrox75]

I'm going to do daily water changes of 10-15% as suggested on a few forums.

Do I add the dechlorinator to the new tap water, applying the relevant amount to that volume. Then add it to the tank.

Or

Do I replace the water and add the relevant amount of dechlorintor to the total volulme of the tank?


I'm guessing the first one, but wanted to check first!



Rich

 

[loachman]

I'm going to do daily water changes of 10-15% as suggested on a few forums.

Do I add the dechlorinator to the new tap water, applying the relevant amount to that volume. Then add it to the tank.

Or

Do I replace the water and add the relevant amount of dechlorintor to the total volulme of the tank?


I'm guessing the first one, but wanted to check first!



Rich

You are correct.

You decholorinate the water you add. Only it will have chlorine in it.

The total volume in the tank is irrelevant to the dechlorinator, only the amount of "new" water matters.

 

[Richrox75]

I'm going to do daily water changes of 10-15% as suggested on a few forums.

Do I add the dechlorinator to the new tap water, applying the relevant amount to that volume. Then add it to the tank.

Or

Do I replace the water and add the relevant amount of dechlorintor to the total volulme of the tank?


I'm guessing the first one, but wanted to check first!



Rich

You are correct.

You decholorinate the water you add. Only it will have chlorine in it.

The total volume in the tank is irrelevant to the dechlorinator, only the amount of "new" water matters.

Thanks Loachman, much appreciated