Still learning. Still asking.

45lbs of gravel will work - 15lbs per square foot of footprint is enough to slope the gravel from ~1" - 3" front to back.

If you don't already have one, you'll need a thermometer - this is something many people (myself included - forgot to get one for the new tank) often forget to buy. You'll also want a net.

You can mix hot and cold from the tap, no problem. I use a Python - I just adjust the water temperature to approximately that of the tank, add dechlor to the tank and pour the water in. My fish don't seem to mind

I've never used Bio-Spira, but I've heard great things about it here. Other 'cycling' products don't work and aren't worth the money, but apparantly B-S is a miracle in a bottle

stuff

You need nets, new bucket, thermometer, heater, fish tank, hood or cover, filter, dechlorinater, gravel vac. You will eventualy want a hose to refill tank with adapters to sink faucet you can make one of clear vinyl tubing of any lenght and hose menders (coil carefully as it kinks) or buy an RV potable water safe hose from Walmart if the length is correct. You may want to use an RV water filter also from Walmart to filter tap water.

You need assorted towels, one for the floor, two smaller ones for your hands, gravel, decorations, background for the tank, refills of filter material perhaps, depending on the filter. Possibly air pump and airstone with tubing and checkvalve, depending on the filter used.

You need test kits -- Aquarium Pharmacutical Master kit is OK. Tetra is too. You want to know ammonia, nitrite, pH, nitrate. In Houston, your KH is near 8 and your GH is near 9. Call your water district for a full water report for your files.

You need a notebook to keep all records in, weekly water tests and so on, until things are stable. Record everything until you know what is important, you will forget when you bought fish, how you treated illnesses, what led up to a problem.

I think Bio-spira is well worth it if you can find it. If you get a filter that has a biowheel you can trade me for a used one and be fully cycled right away instead. Do not use ammonia with BioSpira, just follow the directions, it works best that way.

I keep vinegar in a small bottle to clean glass with, also assorted filter cleaning brushes, straight razor, algae sponge with or without handle. I use pickleing salt occasionally in the tanks.

You need a GFI outlet or plug-in GFI ($9) or use a GFI protected power strip from Walmart ($11). The power strip is nice to have.

You might want a plastic set of drawers to hold all this junk, or store it in a pair of buckets.

join the Houston Aquarium Society

I run a hose to the tank and mix water that way, adding dechlorinator just as the first water gets to the tank. Just be sure the tap temp is stable, as the pipes usually run through the attic here, the temp may swing wildly for the first ten minutes or even more, so keep your hand in the stream to know if it changes. I have a spare heater suction cup set that I've attached to the hose with twisties so it stays in the tank -- you only let that hose slip out of the tank one time as it is refilling before you make sure it does not happen again!

bio spira my experience

i ordered this a month ago
i had a tank with ten neons in and then found this forum. my neons got ich and with the ich and the cycling process they all died, i felt terrible.
i treated the tank for ich and did frequent large waterchanges to keep ammonia as low as possible, but still they died.

so after reading all the threads, i wanted bio spira, but i am in uk, so had to have it shipped here.
i ordered enough to treat mine and my sons tank twice over, as i was worried that some of the bacteria may die off on the trip, as it needs to maintain a stable cold temperature.

i had decided it was bio spira or fishless, so i had been feeding my tank with fish food as an ammonia source.
so when i received my order i added a full dose and waited 24 hours i then tested the water and the ammonia and nitrites had disappeared.

so i went shopping for my fish and bought them home 37 fish total and added the fish and another full dose of bio spira as apparently you can not overdose on it
i was pretty nervous as if the biospira was not as good as claimed then they would be in danger of stress related problems.

i noticed the next day i had ich on the platies that i had bought so i took them back and found three babies afterwards.

i continued daily testing and got a bit panicky when i noticed a reading of 0.25 nitrites and was all set to waterchange but the advice is to not change water for a week to ten days to allow proper colonisation of the bacteria.

i asked here and was advised to change it if it went over 0.5 it didnt,it lasted a few days at 0.25 and then disappeared again

ich did infect the tank again and i have treated that and it is ich free again and i lost two neons in all but i feel that was due to the ich

IME it worked and i would highly recommend using it

and my water parameters have remained good except high nitrates in my tap water that get lower in the tank

sorry for the long post but i thought a full account is better than yes its great use it.

All the above comments are good suggestions. Some are costly and may be replaced by cheaper stuff and a little elbow grease.

To cycle your tank fast, use Bio-Spira... lucky you, you can have that product locally. Gravel is an essential as bacteria will grow in it. Speaking of bacteria, you may ask a friend that has a cycled tank or your local fish store to give you a couple of handfull of gravel from their tank. The bacteria will quickly multiply and spread in your aquarium thus speading the process.

Depending on the type of filter you will use, if you can add an Ammonia remover pouch in it ( zeolite ), it will greatly help reduce the amount of ammonia in your tank. DO NOT USE ANY SALT WITH A ZEOLITE POUCH... salt will reactivate the zeolite and relase the ammonia back in the tank. Furthermore, while your tank is cycling, do some water changes every other day, say 10 to 20% of the total volume. This will help too. Check the Ammonia and Nitrite levels everyday.... ONCE a day is enough.

Get fish in there now. Buy 2 $0.59 goldie and shove it in there. Why 2 ? Because goldies like company and buying only one would make it unhappy and lonely. It will help. As ammonia will disappear, Nitrites will appear and peak. It's important to do frequent water changes at that time. Daily water changes will help ( 10 to 20% ). Keep checking your chemicals with the test.

I do my water changes with tap water that I set at the right temp with a cooking digital thermometer. I use a gallon size empty source water container to fill the tank with. A regular clear plastic tube is used to remove the water ( syphon )... Use your vaccum tube !

To get your tank fully cycled, expect 4 to 6 weeks if you can not get any gravel from an already cycled tank. If you can get some, it will go much faster.

As for the goldie.... if it's not what you want for your tank, say you want tropical fish in there, just return it to the store, they will take the little critter back with a smile.

Oh.... go easy on the food. Uneaten food produces ammonia. So, feed the goldie with sinking pellets, the amount he can eat in about 2 to 3 minutes. You can feed him twice a day if you want... but a goldie can go without food for 2 weeks. So, better off feeding him less than overfeeding him.

Goldies like 73°F temp but can easily accomodate with 76°F. Set your heater at 76°F as it will speed up the bacterial growth in your tank.

Good luck !

Sponge Bob

go with the bio spira as that will ease frustration as you can get a full fish load

then you have only to work out what fish you want

making sure they are compatible with your tank size and each other

do you want peaceful community or not (children may not like seeing their favourite fish being eaten or nipped at )

if you go that way there is a really good website that gives quite good compatible fish for the tank.

www.elmersaquarium.com

click on freshwater then on elmers freshwater aquarium handbook

i then posted the list for my chosen tank here so the experts could give me their opinions on suitability.only two fish on list were advised against so i took my list to the shop with me

IMO and IME i would REALLY advise against fishy cycling as whatever fish you use will be harmed by the cycling process.and kids would hate watching fishies getting sick.

hope this helps

juliette