Just starting out, need some advise

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tsgadam

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Apr 19, 2004
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Hi everyone,

Just to let you know, I'm completely new to this, but I've read loads as I've always been interested in Marine fish, anyway!...

My girlfriend got me a tank last weekend :dance: (UK 13.5G, 18US - which measurement does everyone refer to?) and here's what I've done so far...

Chucked in a good layer of black gravel for the subtrate, organised all the ornaments and fake plants. Also bought some more stuff for it today and put them in (2 rocks, couple of good looking fake plants and some bog wood)

Bog wood is currently soaking in a bucket... how long should I leave this soaking?


Last Monday I hastily added some of the Cycle product that came with the starting kit and some fish flakes and recommended in the book (but I say hastily because I then realised I didn't have any testing kits, call it a starting kit without testing kits! :thud: )
Anyway, to my point.
I've now got a decent testing kit and I tested the water on Friday and today and got the following results:
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
pH 6.8

Now, as it's been under a week and I personally don't think the tank has cycled.
What do you guys think?

I've read about cycling the tank should take weeks, not days and I'm thinking of chucking in some raw fish.

Also, after chatting to a guy at the LFS (who seemed very knowledgable, he was chatting about his 5 tanks), I explained to him that I've got an RO unit which I've used to fill the tank and he recommended a product called RO Right which should add the correct minerals back into the water.
What do you think and have ou got any more comments about using an RO unit as the water source

Well I think that's about it for now...

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me

Regards

Adam
 
Your bog wood could take a few months to sink try boiling it in a large pot on the stove to speed up the process.
 
I definitely don't think the tank is cycled. Try this link to learn about cycling--the info will help you down the line to understand what's going on in your tank:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64301

If you don't have any live plants, cycling with pure ammonia might be a better method than adding raw fish--it's cheaper and gives you a more precise measurement for adding ammonia to the tank, plus the ammonia is available immediately instead of waiting for it to break down...
 
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using raw fish and the like is going to pollute your water. if you're going to "cycle" without fish, read these links:

http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modul...ons&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=2&page=1

http://www.aquasource.org/CMS/modul...ons&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=3&page=1

you're correct, your tank has not cycled ... you're looking at weeks not days.

in general, read these links so you understand the cycle.

http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/start_up/start_up4.html

http://www.pubnix.net/~spond/filter/nitrogen.html

http://fish.orbust.net/cycling.html

you don't need RO water and in fact, pure RO water is an unsatisfactory environment for biological life. save your money and alot of heartache, and just use your tap water unless there's something wrong with it. it you drink it, so can your fish.
 
Guys n gals,

thanks for the advise and the link to the Cycling info... I tried digging through the sticky thread before but the links didn't work

Well after reading the links, I've realised I've not been cycling that tank at all.

What I put in was the bacteria 'Cylce' product, bot any ammonia.

So now I'm off to find some pure ammonia and start my cycle properly.

Thanks again guys

Adam
 
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