Opinions on new tank...newbie heheh

[jimmyz]

Ok so my fish keeping experience is limited to a 10gal tank I had as a kid which was way overstocked and fiddled with way too much. Hence they all died very quickly.

Now I'm taking another stab at it and want to do everything correctly. I've done a bunch of reading on this forum and I think I'm getting the hang of what the good and bad things are to do. I went out tonight and purchased a 29 Gal tank along with a 150W heater and an Aquaclear 500 filter. I also picked up a strip based test kit that tests just about everything (Mardel Master Test Kit), along with some Marineland BIO-SAFE tap water detoxifier, and some Proquatics bacteria starter.

I've got it all put together with the gravel washed and such, and I tested the water before doing anything to it. The results were as follows:

Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Hardness: 120
Buffering: 180
Ph: 7.6
Ammonia: 0.1 (Hard to tell)

Does this all look in line so far? I don't see why there would be some ammonia in here, but am I correct in assuming that it should go away as I start to add the bacteria starter?

Anyway, I've added enough BIO-SAFE to treat the water in the tank, and I'm letting it get up to temp now overnight. I was planning on letting the BIO-SAFE do it's thing for a day or two, and then adding an appropriate amount of the bacteria starter once the cholorine is supposedly gone (Is there a way to check chlorine levels?). My confusion is that the bacteria started would die quickly without ammonia to feed on. Should I buy a bottle of ammonia and add small amounts daily to feed the bacteria? If so, how much do I add?

Also, I bought the AC500 filter because everyone mentions it has room to add bio media. What's the best way to go about doing that? Just buy some bio balls and plop them on top of the sponge?

Anyway, enough questions for now, here are a few pics. There's no plants and rocks yet since I was going to wait a few days on those. There's also a lot of bubbles on the glass which seem to be at the level of each bucket of water I added. I'm assuming thy will go away with time.

http://www.data-recon.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_IMG_1506.jpg

http://www.data-recon.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_IMG_1507.jpg

[lostris]

Nice tank, my advice to you, and i'm no expert, but its seems that patience is the trick. I wish I had pace for a tank like that.So many fish,so little space....:p

[TKOS]

Looks good so far. The chlorine remover works almost instantly so no need to wait for days to get it to work. The bacteria starters are generally no good and contain very little live bacteria. Excpet for thenewer product called biospira which comes refrigerated.

I suggest you read the stickies in the newbie forum about fishless cycling. This will allow the fish to come into a fully cycled and ready environment. Otherwise fishy cycling should be done with only a few fish at a time and lots of water chnages. It tends to be more work and can possibly kill many fish if care is not taken.

One thing I would suggest is that since the tank is viewable and open on both sides some sort of decoration should be used. Fish can often get freaked out and it they have no place to hide they tend to get crazed. Live plants would be nice or else there are really nice fake silk plants or even some nice rocks arranged in the centre of the tank.

[tomm10]

Showing that small an amount of ammonia is not unusual straight from the tap. Some elements of your tap water may test positive for ammonia even if its not exactly the same ammonia your fish will produce. Once your tank is cycled it will be able to keep that number at zero.

Be prepared that the Proquatics bacteria starter you bought will likely do nothing. Look around here and you'll find that VERY few people put any faith in a "bacteria starter" product other than Bio-Spira. A few people report success with other products but no enough to convince me. Bio-Spira can be found at LFSs onlt, not big box stores and its added to the tankwhen you add your fish. Do a search for it on this forum and you'll find TONS of info.

You should also do a search for fishless cycling and see if that fits you. This will answer your questions about adding ammonia. Remember that fishless cycling is a commitment of a month or more to a tank without fish.

The bubbles will go away in a day or two. They're just gas bubbles.

Good luck!

Tom

[lostris]

I always did fish cylcling,and never had problems, I use black mollies mostly, and never added chemicals, the way I see it, if u start using chemicals right from the beginning, you'll have to solve every problem with them while there r a lot of available options to choose from.

[jimmyz]

Wow thanks for the responses guys. As for the decorations, when I bought the tank they were closing so I was in a bit of a rush. I went back today and picked up the extra stuff I needed. Since I don't know of any place around here that carries BioSpira, I picked up 6 Zebra Danios and introduced them to the tank about 24 hours after adding a dose of the bacteria starter I have. I'll keep a close eye on the water quality and change it as necessary while it cycles.

Here's a new pic with the decorations:

http://www.data-recon.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_IMG_1513.jpg

[jimmyz]

Also a quick FYI on the test kit I bought. It was marked as $22.95 in the store, but I went back today and had Petsmart match the $7.99 price they have it listed as on their page. They match anything from their page if you have a printout with no questions asked.

So two good in store deals they matched for me:

AC500 : ~$31
Master Test Kit: ~$7.99

[tomm10]

Originally posted by jimmyz
Also a quick FYI on the test kit I bought. It was marked as $22.95 in the store, but I went back today and had Petsmart match the $7.99 price they have it listed as on their page. They match anything from their page if you have a printout with no questions asked.

So two good in store deals they matched for me:

AC500 : ~$31
Master Test Kit: ~$7.99

That is VERY good to know. I'll be using that from now on!

Remember, you really can't do too many water changes during a cycle. If you have to change 30% of the water every day to keep the levels of ammonia and nitrite down, do it. Just make sure you try to match the pH and temp of the water your changing as close as you can.

Tom