New To Aquariums

[yardicus]

Hi all

Just thought I'd say hello, I'm Yard from Belfast in Northern Ireland, I've been reading this forum for a few days now and it seems like a great place for valuable information.

I bought myself an aquarium on the 1st of September 46"x12"x15" roughly 114L or 30UKGal and have been gradually setting it up with a 200w heater, a fluval 205 external filter (420Lph), some sand fertiliser, some nice black 1-2mm gravel and 11 plants.

I decided to go with the fishless cycle and after a few days of gathering information and letting the tank settle I started.

I had a little trouble at first (I thought) with far too much ammonia, I'd added about 11ml of homebases household ammonia and my API master test reading was way off the scale over 8ppm. So I drained the tank by about 50% and refilled then I repeated this until I got a reading of about 1ppm ammonia 7 sep.

Results

Tank at a constant 31ºc or 88ºF
Date------Ammonia Added---Ammonia Reading---NitrIte ppm---NitrAte ppm
07 sep---2ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
08 sep---0ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
09 sep---0ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
10 sep---0ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
11 sep---1ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
12 sep---1ml-------------------2ppm-------------------0.25ppm-------0ppm
13 sep---2ml-------------------2ppm-------------------0.50ppm-------0ppm
14 sep---2ml-------------------3ppm-------------------1ppm-----------0ppm
15 sep---2ml-------------------5ppm-------------------3ppm-----------0ppm
16 sep---2ml-------------------5ppm-------------------4ppm-----------0ppm
17 sep---0ml-------------------6ppm-------------------5ppm-----------5ppm

Today I have my first nitrAte reading

My local shops are
Exotic Aquatics
Grosvenor Tropicals

Any advice guys?

 

[GRJ]

Looks like you got it all sorted mate! Nice tank and welcome to the forum. Your fishlesscycle seems to be going well. You will see a drop in your ammonia and a rise in your nitrite, then your nitrate will rise and nitrite will drop. When your ammonia and nitrite both read '0', you will have to do a large, 80-90% water change around 12 hours before stocking with fish! Well done and good luck. You have done the right thing joining a forum to get advice. You have researched everything by the looks aof it anyway. GRJ

 

[drewry]

Hi all

Just thought I'd say hello, I'm Yard from Belfast in Northern Ireland, I've been reading this forum for a few days now and it seems like a great place for valuable information.

I bought myself an aquarium on the 1st of September 46"x12"x15" roughly 114L or 30UKGal and have been gradually setting it up with a 200w heater, a fluval 205 external filter (420Lph), some sand fertiliser, some nice black 1-2mm gravel and 11 plants.

I decided to go with the fishless cycle and after a few days of gathering information and letting the tank settle I started.

I had a little trouble at first (I thought) with far too much ammonia, I'd added about 11ml of homebases household ammonia and my API master test reading was way off the scale over 8ppm. So I drained the tank by about 50% and refilled then I repeated this until I got a reading of about 1ppm ammonia 7 sep.

Results

hi iv never cycled my tanks that way iv just added filter start

Tank at a constant 31ºc or 88ºF
Date------Ammonia Added---Ammonia Reading---NitrIte ppm---NitrAte ppm
07 sep---2ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
08 sep---0ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
09 sep---0ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
10 sep---0ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
11 sep---1ml-------------------1ppm-------------------0ppm-----------0ppm
12 sep---1ml-------------------2ppm-------------------0.25ppm-------0ppm
13 sep---2ml-------------------2ppm-------------------0.50ppm-------0ppm
14 sep---2ml-------------------3ppm-------------------1ppm-----------0ppm
15 sep---2ml-------------------5ppm-------------------3ppm-----------0ppm
16 sep---2ml-------------------5ppm-------------------4ppm-----------0ppm
17 sep---0ml-------------------6ppm-------------------5ppm-----------5ppm

Today I have my first nitrAte reading

My local shops are
Exotic Aquatics
Grosvenor Tropicals

Any advice guys?

hi im not very good with the chemical side of things i just added filter start to my tanks with 1 fish to cycal it and regular water changes when amonia and nitrates wer to high
are you keeping tropical or marine cos i think ure temp is to high for tropical 28 oc 82of is about right dont know what it is 4 marine

 

[yardicus]

Tank at a constant 31ºc or 88ºF

are you keeping tropical or marine cos i think ure temp is to high for tropical 28 oc 82of is about right dont know what it is 4 marine

The temp is at 31ºc or 88ºF for the cycle only (apparently the bacteria love it), I plan on tropical fish.

 

[GRJ]

As long as you remember to take the temp down to around 25 degrees when your cycle has completed, you are doing well. IMOA those filter start products are a waste of money, as i used some of those and they did nothing for my cycle. You dont need to worry about water changes as you are fishless cycling, if you had fish in the tank you would be doing very frequent water changes to reduce ammonia and nitrIte as this harms the fish. When you have completed your cycle and added your fish, i would still keep a eye on your water parameters, i test mine weekly, daily on new tanks. If you can get someone to donate some of their mature media from a filter, that would speed your cycle up too. I have the Fluval 205 filter and its a good one, works for my community tank a treat. Any idea on what sort of fish you want? GRJ

 

[yardicus]

Any idea on what sort of fish you want? GRJ

I was thinking about tiger barbs, khuli loach, dwarf gourami and neon / penguim / cardinal tetra.

 

[GRJ]

I would be carefull with the tiger barbs, they can be very aggressive and nip fins and need to be kept in groups of at least 6! Not everyone has problems with them, but its just something to be aware of. The best advice would be to get fish that suit your water, as in PH, KH, GH, rather than just fish you like. Do some research int the fish, there are some great websites that will tell you what is compatible with what, here's a link http/www.thinkfish.co.uk/index.html , it is a good site that has loads of info on different types of fish, or just read through some old threads on here, you will get the idea. khuli loaches should also be kept in groups of around 6, they only get to about 3", they are a fairly calm fish that likes plenty of hiding places. Hope that has helped. GRJ

 

[yardicus]

The best advice would be to get fish that suit your water, Hope that has helped. GRJ

Thanks for the advice GRJ it's much appreciated, your right about the fish, I'm only really interested in the Tiger Barbs because the move about a lot and both my local shops have them. Most of the other fish they stock I like are unsuitable for my small tank i.e. the denisonii barbs and the tinfoil’s, also the cichlids get too big as well.

I liked the Khuli loaches as well for something on the bottom of the tank as most others also get too large for a 30G tank.

The other fish I mentioned I thought would just add a little more colour, is was concerned the tigers and dwarf Gouramis wouldn't get along but according to this chart they should do fine.

So if I decide on the Tiger Barbs 7 or 8.

can anyone recommend some other fish to accompany them?
some colourful, some bottom for a 30UKG tank.

My PH seems to be around 6.8 as well.

 

[GRJ]

Maybe some red tail sharks? They only grow to about 4.5" and look quite nice. They would look nice with the barbs! Even a group of zebra danios would probably be ok. I think they key is to keep a minimum of 6-8 barbs to lessen the aggression. GRJ

 

[yardicus]

Maybe some red tail sharks? They only grow to about 4.5" and look quite nice. They would look nice with the barbs! Even a group of zebra danios would probably be ok. I think they key is to keep a minimum of 6-8 barbs to lessen the aggression. GRJ

Red Tail sharks was another fish I liked but according to this website 50G is a minimum. This website also recommends 200L minimum.

 

[JamieBailie]

Hi there, Everythings going well I'm from Ards, Only a few miles from you.

I only found out about Exotic Aquatics last month! They are the best shop about (For fish, They dont have much on display) I went up last week and they now have tanks the whole way round the fish room which is pretty cool.

 

[GRJ]

I think the main rule is, if you keep the correct amount of barbs, ie minimum 6-8, you should be able to keep fish that aren't slow moving or long finned. I didnt realise your tank was only 30Gal, my bad! So, its 1" of fish per Gallon recommended to stock a tank, so 8 tiger barbs would give you 24" of fish, there isnt really a lot more you could have as you only have 6" of fish to play around with. Have you considered a species tank? That is just Tiger barbs? With the right background and lighting, you would have a nice display of fish! GRJ

 

[Shafteh]

Hi there, Everythings going well I'm from Ards, Only a few miles from you.

I only found out about Exotic Aquatics last month! They are the best shop about (For fish, They dont have much on display) I went up last week and they now have tanks the whole way round the fish room which is pretty cool.

I'm from Glengormley.. and found this cracking wee shop in Glengormley, although its not the easiest to find, but has a very good selection of fish, and the guy who owns the place has helped me with some advice on fish and my cycles and stuff..




Grovsner Tropicals is also a class place for fish.. although all the marine fish make me feel like my tropical fish are no longer as class as i think they are when im at home looking at them!

 

[vinylman]

Any idea on what sort of fish you want? GRJ

I was thinking about tiger barbs, khuli loach, dwarf gourami and neon / penguim / cardinal tetra.

To be honest, I'd keep away from Dwarf Gouramis; they're susceptible to a fatal iridovirus for which there's no cure. Have you thought about Honey Gouramis?. Use the time while you're cycling to read and read and read. There are literally dozens of compatible fish and you could always go for something out of the ordinary, but still suitable for a community tank. You've started off the right way, it makes everything else so much easier. BTW, you've room for lots more plants!!.

 

[yardicus]

Hi there, Everythings going well I'm from Ards, Only a few miles from you.
I only found out about Exotic Aquatics last month! They are the best shop about

Yeah your just down the road a bit, I live within walking distance of Exotic Aquatics, their marine fish are wonderful.