Set Up

[Greg13]

Er ok,
first off i just bought a starter kit its a 58 litre tank heater and filter gravel (not nearly enough!) and lighting.
ok so first off i read all the books that came with it, did the rinsing of the gravel/rocks and live plants put in the heater and internal filter filled it up with water and turned it all on. The plants i put in are:
2x Hygrophila corymbosa
1x Echinodorus

here comes Q1, i took the plants out of the pots and took out the green stuff the roots were coverd in(not sure what that was ) i then put them into the gravel, did i need to buy sand or soil to go at the bottom of the gravel? or is there another way?

As soon as the filter/light/heater was running i added Stress Zyme (biological filtration booster) and then added(yes oi know it was the wrong order and get the feeling i was ment ot do the stress zyme maybe a day later) Stress coat (tap water conditioner)
Q2 Will this make a massive difference? i think i should add the zyme again tomo??

I then added a few flakes of fish food, i was told to do this by my LFS(see i have been reading the forums!) im not sure if this is to create amonia in the tank? the LFS said ading the treatments and leaving the tank for a week would be fine, mmm im guessing not after reading these forums.

Will the food create the amonia to start the cycle(with the aid of some of the bacteria on the roots of the plants) or do i need to buy some amonia on monday when i buy the water testing kit?

one last one, my filter takes water from near the bottom of my tank and the water then re enters the tank still under the surface, altho this creates water movement it doesnt break the water on the top, will i need to buy something additional to aireate the water, or will the plants be ok?

ok i think thats all, im sorry if i have looked over the answers on the forums but i have looked over them for around two hours taking in bits of knoledge, but as im sure you can understand a newbie brain can only take so much in a single day!

Thanks in advance people!
Greg.

 

[karen84]

Hi aqua dude

First of all all you have to do with the plants is put them in the gravel make sure their coverd well with the gravel. are you going to cycle with fish or no fish?

 

[mark.w.jones]

Adding flakes will create ammonia but it's a bit hit and miss and not accurate at all + makes tank very messy. Read this post on fishless cycling and follow the add and wait method. It's dead easy and has been used by tons of people on this forum:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...3861&hl=methods

If youre in the UK Homebase do household ammonia with their other house / cleaning stuff, so do Boots. You also need a dropper to add it. Most fish meds come with one or ask at local fish store to get one + a good liquid test kit which measures ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. The ones on card strips arent anywhere near as good

As long as your gravel is quite fine 3mm or less then the plants will do great. The real plant growing fanatics out there use soils and all sorts. You just need a liquid feed for them. Again LFS will have this. My only advice on planting that's worked well for me is to plant on around 50% of your gravel. Heavily planting out competes algae which will otherwise cover eveything in green slime and hairy stuff.

Chemicals which "make bacteria grow quicker" are all rubbish and just after your money. Dont waste it. Invest in a £2 bottle of ammonia hydroxide. Guaranteed results

Airstones / bubble bars look good and create movement on surface to increase oxygen content of water. Maybe worth considering.

Hope thats helpful

 

[Greg13]

yeah brill really helpful! cant wait ot get this cycling over and done with! i couldnt put the fish through the amonia cycle tho, not after reading these forums!. I wonder how many fish this forum alone has saved? jus wondering!

thanks btw
Greg.