New Tank Etc Questions

[wilo]

Right first things first i would like to say what a informative website this is i am so glad i found this place as the tank was for koi carp before they go in my pond but as i have seen here this is a nono so have decided to go down the tropical route.

i have just purchased a 3 foot 35 gallon tank with cabinet, with the following

200watt interpet delta therm heater
fluval 3 plus underwater filter
and a arcadia ultra seal light

first things first does this set up sound OK to you guys?

Next is i have a half log decoration and i have it covering but not touching anywhere the heater, is this a nono or is it OK?

Also i have lots of very small bubbles on the glass of the tank does this mean there is a problem, or if not how do i get rid of them?

I am planing on getting some plants this week what should i go for?

if you want to see pics let me know

 

[waterdrop]

You can search on things like "easy plant list" - I've seen a number of those from time to time.

Hardware looks good and for hiding the heater you will just have to see how it goes. You could use a couple of cheap thermometers on opposite ends of the tank if you wanted to see whether too little water flow around the heater was causing much of a problem - nice to have an extra thermometer around anyway.

If you are a beginner, this is probably not the biggest thing you should be focusing on at this point anyway. Again, we don't know your background in the hobby but if beginning, you'd do well to focus on understanding how a filter works and what roles the different media in your filter will play and whether they are exactly what you need.

Then, when you are satisfied with that you will need to be sure you understand the principles of fishless cycling - you are planning to fishless cycle, right? Have you found the right type of ammonia? What type of test kit do you have and what are your tap water parameters? All these things are very basic and are best addressed now, long before you consider what your eventual fish stocking list will be after your fishless cycling weeks.

Anyway, sounds like the beginnings of a nice setup and welcome to TFF!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rabbut]

Hi, and welcome to TFF

First off, congratulations for researching before getting fish Few people bother, so it is realy encuraging to see that some still do.

The heater needs good current flowing arround it, so obstructing water flow arround it in any way is a big nono. Restricting flow arround the element will lead to overheating, which will damage the unit if restriction is high, or make it stop heating before the whole tank is a the right temp. if flow isn't too poor. It is important not to cover it with anything other than a guard

The air bubbles are fine, they are formed when the water heats, and also when tap water conditioner acts on chlorine. Wipe your hand over them, and they will disperse, or just simply wait and they'll go by themselves

Plants realy depend on lighting. I am not formiliar with your unit, but know the manufacturer well. Arcadia do some real nice light units.
Vallis, anubias and cript species do realy well in low light, and don't need CO2, so are a great group of plants for a beginer.

Take a look at the fishless cycling link at the top of this sub-forum if you haven't already, to get to know the next steap. LFS's often advise you to add fish to cycle the tank, but this is unethical and often leads to unnessisary deaths of the fish involved

All the best
Rabbut

 

[wilo]

cheers for the reply's
i am going to do a fishless cycle and am going to start as soon as i can get my hands on some ammonia and a testing kit.

Which testing kit would you guys recommend?

Also i seen the post of mature media and seen someone in my area, should i just pm the person and how much is a good price to pay?

Thank you again

 

[pastabake]

You'll find that water hardness also plays a crucial role in what plants you can have. Its really worth taking the extra effort to source plants suitable to your lighting and water parameters as if you don't what will happen is they will slowly rot releasing organics into the water and creating an algae problem in the process.

 

[wilo]

any one in the UK know where i can get 100% ammonia from?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

try boots for ammonia

regarding buying mature media, what most people will ask for is for you to buy the replacement media or give them the money to buy it. so pm them and ask what you can have. then when they say what sort of media they're giving you, google it and you'll find somehwre selling it and therefore a price for the replacement. then you can work out a reasonable agreement between yourselves. that's just what i do though, other people may choose to charge more which is their perogative

 

[kewskills]

any one in the UK know where i can get 100% ammonia from?

i don't think you can get 100% ammonia in the uk, you can get ammonia that is diluted with water from places like Homebase, they are cleaning products, that's what alot of people use for their fishless cycle. I can't remember the name of the product though.

 

[wilo]

any one in the UK know where i can get 100% ammonia from?

i don't think you can get 100% ammonia in the uk, you can get ammonia that is diluted with water from places like Homebase, they are cleaning products, that's what alot of people use for their fishless cycle. I can't remember the name of the product though.

cheers so beacuse i will be using less than 100% ammonia do i need to put more in than the caluclator is telling me to?

Cheers

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, virtually all the discussions about ammonia here in TFF are about plain clear ammonia sold in large plastic bottles in stores where people usually buy them for cleaning. They are almost always really just 5% or 10% or so ammonia and the rest is water. In the RDD fishless cycling article it goes over how to test your particular ammonia to come up with the right amount to add to get to the desired parts per million solution in your tank water.