Newbie questions

[GMS]

Hi.
Not kept fish for some years now and about to start. I have a 125 litre tank and an used external filter (not sure on volume but will check). A couple of questions if I may?

- should I setup the tank using the old filter without washing the filter medium or would the bacteria b
- should I cycle using a couple of fish or fish less?
- would the tank support cichlids?
- do the large external filter mean I can use more fish?
- can I start the cycle without gravel etc as I don’t have that yet? Ie would it be useful getting water in and moving through the filter early?

thanks so much

steve

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Using established filter media would be great to help with cycling. Make sure the media doesn't dry out and if you want to give it a quick rinse off make sure you do it in tank water and not tap water which might have chlorine.

If you have established filter media you should be bringing over beneficial bacteria in which case I'd be fine adding some fish. I'd just keep a relatively small bioload until the tank is fully established and there are no unpredictable spikes or surprises.

I do not have personal experience with cichlids but I think that size would be a minimum tank size for them depending on how many and how large the specific variety of cichlid will get.

The filter will be rated for a certain tank size. That will give you an idea of the load you can handle. If you understock you might be able to go with a filter rated for the tank size but with a full load or slightly overstocked you'd want a filter rated for a bigger tank.

You can certainly start a tank without substrate. i've seen established bare bottom tanks before. I think it may be personal preference.

 

[raylove]

I would just add that when you use the established filter media you must add at least some fish straight away otherwise the bacteria in the media will die off as they need the fish waste for food. Won't cause any harm as such, it just means your tank will revert to un-cycled.