New to the Forums...

[Jaehem]

Hey everyone, new to the aquarium world and would just like to introduce myself. My name is Jae and I'm a 27 year old female from the east coast. I am always interested in learning so most of my posts will probably be questions until I get the hang of things. I bought a 36 Gallon Bow-front tank kit from the Pet Store. The glass is decent quality but everything else is cheap. I upgraded the filter so far to a MarineLand Penguin Pro 275 Power Filter (Thinking about getting the MarineLand Magnum Canister Filter so would appreciate any advice as far as filtration goes.) Currently have no fish but working on getting around to that within the next week or so. Anyway thanks for reading, again all advice and professional opinions are welcome.

J.

 

[itiwhetu]

Welcome. Start with reading articles on cycling aquariums, heaps of people here to give advice. My number one piece of advice is Live Plants lots of Live Plants.

 

[Jaehem]

Welcome. Start with reading articles on cycling aquariums, heaps of people here to give advice. My number one piece of advice is Live Plants lots of Live Plants.

Thanks for the advice. I know I want to do live plants for sure. Will plants be okay in a sand substrate; does that matter?

 

[itiwhetu]

Thanks for the advice. I know I want to do live plants for sure. Will plants be okay in a sand substrate; does that matter?

They will be fine. I don't personally like sand, I prefer fine gravel that is natural and neutral in composition, this gravel will allow water to circulate through it and will also leech just enough minerals to sustain your plants.

 

[ClownLurch]

Welcome.
A lot of people on here recommend a dark substrate whether sand or gravel as it seems to make the fish less stressed......they also recommend sand and not gravel for Corys......you may not know what Corys are yet but you will as they’re just about the cutest most amusing fish around.....but they need to kept in groups of 6+ for their own peace of mind.......and in soft-medium water, not liquid rock like the stuff from my taps....see how it all connects? No? You will don’t worry.
This lot on here will look after you and your fish. Remember no one on here is trying to sell you anything unlike the people in your local fish store (LFS). So treat everything a salesperson tells you with scepticism and check it elsewhere. That’s rule 1.

Rule 2 is know you’re parameters: water hardness, water PH, water KH, tank capacity, tank length etc. Your water suppliers website should have the water details. You need them before you can decide which fish can live their best lives under your care.
Rule 3 is understand the tank cycling process. Fish in? Fish out? Silent cycling? Most on here don’t recommend fish in for obvious reasons. Id recommend silent cycling as it’s simple, it must be even I can do it. Most seem to do fish out cycling though it seems far too much like hard work in comparison with silent to me.

Once you know rule 2 you can start selecting which fish you’re going to keep. THATS the best pre occupied tank part.
The best science led website for researching which fish you may want to keep seems to be seriouslyfish.com. If it had been around 25yrs ago I don’t think I’d have dropped out of fishkeeping for so long.
Simply enter a fish you like the look of into SFs search bar then click on it when it appears. Most of the info needed to decide if it suits you and your tank size, water parameters, tank mates, water temp etc will appear.
Once you’ve figured out a tank mate combi you like the look of then ask about em on here as not all fish get along with others. They’re good here. They’ll see you right.

Breakfast is served...see you around. Oh and have fun doing all the above.

 

[Jaehem]

Than

Welcome.
A lot of people on here recommend a dark substrate whether sand or gravel as it seems to make the fish less stressed......they also recommend sand and not gravel for Corys......you may not know what Corys are yet but you will as they’re just about the cutest most amusing fish around.....but they need to kept in groups of 6+ for their own peace of mind.......and in soft-medium water, not liquid rock like the stuff from my taps....see how it all connects? No? You will don’t worry.
This lot on here will look after you and your fish. Remember no one on here is trying to sell you anything unlike the people in your local fish store (LFS). So treat everything a salesperson tells you with scepticism and check it elsewhere. That’s rule 1.

Rule 2 is know you’re parameters: water hardness, water PH, water KH, tank capacity, tank length etc. Your water suppliers website should have the water details. You need them before you can decide which fish can live their best lives under your care.
Rule 2 is understand the tank cycling process. Fish in? Fish out? Silent cycling? Most on here don’t recommend fish in for obvious reasons. Id recommend silent cycling as it’s simple, it must be even I can do it. Most seem to do fish out cycling though it seems far too much like hard work in comparison with silent to me.

Once you know rule 2 you can start selecting which fish you’re going to keep. THATS the best pre occupied tank part.
The best science led website for researching which fish you may want to keep seems to be seriouslyfish.com. If it had been around 25yrs ago I don’t think I’d have dropped out of fishkeeping for so long.
Simply enter a fish you like the look of into SFs search bar then click on it when it appears. Most of the info needed to decide if it suits you and your tank size, water parameters, tank mates, water temp etc will appear.
Once you’ve figured out a tank mate combi you like the look of then ask about em on here as not all fish get along with others. They’re good here. They’ll see you right.

Breakfast is served...see you around. Oh and have fun doing all the above.

First I want to thank you for your response. You took some time with that information and I’m grateful. I will not be buying fish until I know all of the above and probably more. I have black sand already in my tank, or finely ground gravel perhaps... (unsure lol) I’ll check with my water company as well. I never thought to do that.
Thanks again for your reply.
J.

 

[itiwhetu]

This is how I cycle a tank. I make sure I have a neutral natural base I fill the tank and plant it to about 30-50% of its volume. Lighting 10 hours per day, filters on, heat on. Wait 10 days or until the plants start growing. Add fish slowly 3 at a time over the next few weeks. Always check your pH slightly acidic water is best. There are lots of ways of cycling a tank this is just how I do it.

 

[ClownLurch]

This is how I cycle a tank. I make sure I have a neutral natural base I fill the tank and plant it to about 30-50% of its volume. Lighting 10 hours per day, filters on, heat on. Wait 10 days or until the plants start growing. Add fish slowly 3 at a time over the next few weeks. Always check your pH slightly acidic water is best. There are lots of ways of cycling a tank this is just how I do it.

Gets the thumbs up from me.
The worrying, problems, head scratching, questions, cross examinations, regrets etc that appear on the cycling threads seem so unnecessary.
Just throw everything in but fish, snails and shrimps. Turn everything on. Take a photo. Go to the pub. Compare with photo in two weeks time. If plants have grown then sober up and add fish. Sorted.

 

[itiwhetu]

Gets the thumbs up from me.
The worrying, problems, head scratching, questions, cross examinations, regrets etc that appear on the cycling threads seem so unnecessary.
Just throw everything in but fish, snails and shrimps. Turn everything on. Take a photo. Go to the pub. Compare with photo in two weeks time. If plants have grown then sober up and add fish. Sorted.

Simple as that, love the beer at the pub, prefer a dark.

 

[ClownLurch]

Actually started a silent cycle this afternoon that I’ve been putting off, probably spurred on by this thread. Twas supposed to be done on NYD but no ones in a rush anywhere in the world are they?
Semi silent actually as the sand, some plants and sponge filter were still wet from my now broken down QT tank. Threw in some of the last of pets at homes pre brexit imported tropica plant stock and were off n running.
It’s gonna be a 10G/40L Heterandria Formosa species tank. Problem is they’re currently in the 30G/120L with 12 WCMMs 3 Guppy’s, 9 Medakas and about 10 RCS due to a Covid related stocking/planning cock up.
It’ll be a full days work getting them out of there and it’s not something I’m looking forward too either. I just hope I don’t need to remove to many plants to allow me to get at them.
I think I’ll leave it a couple of weeks. No hurry is there?

 

[Retired Viking]

If you are thinking about doing a silent/planted cycle you should have plenty of fast growing floating plants that will absorb the ammonia and other fish waste. I only do silent/planted cycles on my tanks. It is a natural safe way of getting your tank ready for fish. Plants like frogbite and salinia are great floating plants. Hornwort, moneywort, pennywort, water sprite are some good choices that you can let float or plant in the gravel or sand. They absorb what they need from the water.

 

[mcordelia]

just a note, folks aren't kidding when they say 50% of the tank should be plants. I am attempting a silent cycle at the moment, and come to find my city uses chloramine so I'm inadvertently adding ammonia every time I do a water change, and It's not going so hot. Probably going to be in the market for some hornwort and frogbit soon too, since apparently my "beginner plants" aren't cutting it. but, as @ClownLurch says, no rush is there?

 

[Jaehem]

Update : I bought two plants for my tank so far. Echinodorus Bleheri and Eqeira Densa.
Still no fish picked out for this tank; but I have a Glow Barb in there until I can move him back into his small tank.
(The heater broke and had to order a replacement.)

I added some air stones and decor as well. Is there such a thing as too many airstones? lol. Hoping to get fish in there this month.

 

[Metalman]

Hi jaehem and welcome, I cannot see your pdf for some reason and from first post I’d really like to see your bow fronted tank if you could post a pic?

 

[Jaehem]

Hi jaehem and welcome, I cannot see your pdf for some reason and from first post I’d really like to see your bow fronted tank if you could post a pic?

I apologize about that. Still learning the website. Please let me know if there are any issues with this one.

Thanks