Many questions!

From what I've learned here on AC, sand subtrate can give a cloudy look for while until things settle. Rule of thumb is to wash and rinse the sand thoroughly and just when you think you've rinsed it enough....keep rinsing it. As far as the fish-in cycle, you must keep tabs on ammonia levels through frequent testing and partial water changes. I'm sure others will chime in with more advice. Good luck.
Andy

Mogymog said:

Ok, first I have 20L, not watered, or cycled or nothing yet. Gonna use sand substrate, so any advice or things I should do with that are welcome. Not sure if I'm gonna use real plants or not..

Sand can be harder to vacuum, and is not the best substrate for plants. If you decide to do plants I would recommend a substrate like eco complete

Gonna do a fish-in cycle, with some guppies I'm gonna get from a friend as well as some water and some gravel from the tank. Anything else I should know for doing a fish cycle?

I would STRONGLY recommend a FISHLESS cycle! These are very easy to do and you can find instructions by searching the forums.

I think thats all for the moment. Dont need to worry about what fish to put it in till its, later on.. But any general info wanna throw, go ahead..

I'm not really a beginer, I just haven't cycled a tank in a long while, nor one of this size, as big as this, so yeah.. Hi! =P

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I can't wait to see it when you get it set up!!! And :welcome:to the forums!

Advice on fish-in cycle... Don't.

If you do, make sure to keep a liquid reagent test kit busy testing for nitrite and ammonia daily. You need to do whatever water changes are needed to maintain both below .25. It's alot more work than just going fishless.


:welcome: to AC!

Mogymog said:

well I dont know... to me seems easier to do a water change everyday, feed fish, look at test strips.. then to remember to add ammonia once a week, and all that.

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Aside from opinions on which is easier - I think fishless cycles are much better for the fish too... JMO

Mogymog said:

well I dont know... to me seems easier to do a water change everyday, feed fish, look at test strips.. then to remember to add ammonia once a week, and all that.

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You could just chuck a raw shrimp from the grocery store into the tank and wait. It's a lot less messy if you tie it off in a nylon stocking first. Then all you have to do is sit back and wait for the tank to finish cycling. When the tank cycles, do a massive water change and it's ready for fish.

If it's in the budget, I'd suggest picking up a test kit that uses liquid reagents like the API FW Master Kit. It's a bit more work to run the tests, but the results are MUCH more accurate than test strips. This is especially important if you choose to do a cycle with fish.

Good luck!

I will second (third or fourth?) the fishless cycle. The shrimp will do the trick. Why run the risk of killing your fish?

Anyway, have fun, and don't rush it.

Mogymog said:

Ok, first I have 20L, not watered, or cycled or nothing yet. Gonna use sand substrate, so any advice or things I should do with that are welcome. Not sure if I'm gonna use real plants or not..

Gonna do a fish-in cycle, with some guppies I'm gonna get from a friend as well as some water and some gravel from the tank. Anything else I should know for doing a fish cycle?

I think thats all for the moment. Dont need to worry about what fish to put it in till its, later on.. But any general info wanna throw, go ahead..

I'm not really a beginer, I just haven't cycled a tank in a long while, nor one of this size, as big as this, so yeah.. Hi! =P

Click to expand...

Adding dirty water from another tank won't do anthing for your cycle as bacteria don't live in the water column, is it possible to get some used filter media from your freind to speed up the cycle. I agree with everyone else about doing a fishless cycle, it's a lot less work in the long run.

Mogymog said:

Ok, first I have 20L, not watered, or cycled or nothing yet. Gonna use sand substrate, so any advice or things I should do with that are welcome. Not sure if I'm gonna use real plants or not..

Gonna do a fish-in cycle, with some guppies I'm gonna get from a friend as well as some water and some gravel from the tank. Anything else I should know for doing a fish cycle?

I think thats all for the moment. Dont need to worry about what fish to put it in till its, later on.. But any general info wanna throw, go ahead..

I'm not really a beginer, I just haven't cycled a tank in a long while, nor one of this size, as big as this, so yeah.. Hi! =P

Click to expand...

sand substrate from what i hear is rather cumbersome to deal with. something like eco-complete for a substrate would be ideal for a planted tank but it is rather pricey. then you have flourite substrate which is good but expensive as well...then there are various other options just search teh forums for substrate and then start reading a lot.

non planted tank....just get cheap black gravel it will save you mad loot!

regarding the cycling i am not going to tell you to do a fish in or fishless or amonia or anyhting like that at all, just some advice.

fish in cycle is also going to require an aprox 25% or more daily water change so you dont kill your fish...that is 5 gallons+ per day, every day, and more trouble than it is really worth IMO. also if you have to pay for your water, city water or whatever, that is 150 extra gallons/month plus the cost of water conditioner, etc...

I will tell you this: obtain established (aka dirty) filter media from your friend...his old cartridge or whatever, and place that in your filter for about a week or two. that will have your tank cycled in a very short time.

also, test strips are relatively inaccurate but can give you a good ballpark number on how your parameters are. From my experience they give a significantly lower reading.

my GF uses test strips on a bi-weekly basis and then i use my liquid test kit once every month and a half or so and our readings are significantly different.