Hey guys, I'm new here and just purchased today a new 55 gallon tank with a penguin 350 with the dual wheels. i'm letting my tank get set in for about a week then going check the water before i put fish in. i've bought a stress liquid thingy (lol) and another water conditioner thing (dont have the names right now). just wondering if any of you have any advice on new tank setup tricks and techniques. i put a couple of air stones under the gravel and have them running a "bubble curtain" so to speak. i've had smaller aquariums in the past but nothing of this size. its a little daunitng although everything i've heard says this should be easier to maintain. i bought 60 lbs of gravel that look like creek stones for the bottom. i bought from petsmart and basically made my own kit so to speak. the pre made stuff wasnt too impressive. anyways, thanks for any help provided, i'm looking forward to picking up alot here! :hi:
Hi, New Tank
- Thread starter Cobra302
- Start date
Welcome to AC!!! Before you do anything with your tank please read this article about cycling your tank and understanding the nitrogen cycle!!! http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64301 You can also search the boards for info on cycling. There is sooooo much info on this website, it's GREAT!!! :dance2:
the cycle will give you time to carefully plan your fish
what ideas did you have for it (contents wize)
what ideas did you have for it (contents wize)
i've actually started reading the articles and may attempt it. the guy at petsmart actually suggested that i buy api stress zyme. i bought this, it says to use it on the first, 7th, and 14th days to help build up the bacteria needed. anyone heard of this stuff?
as far as fish, i'm not real sure yet. any suggestions? i thought about buying oscars (probably very newbish of me lol) but my wife suggested getting a white one and a normal one. i'm really wanting some decent sized fish, maybe just a few instead of a bunch of little ones. i'd also like to get something rare so to speak.
as far as fish, i'm not real sure yet. any suggestions? i thought about buying oscars (probably very newbish of me lol) but my wife suggested getting a white one and a normal one. i'm really wanting some decent sized fish, maybe just a few instead of a bunch of little ones. i'd also like to get something rare so to speak.
I'm not sure but the stress zyme might be if your doing a fishy cycle and even at that I might have my doubts about how good it works.
I recently bought a tank from Petsmart too
. Reading up on a fishless cycle is really worth it. I mean when you are done cycling then the water is completely safe for your fish (I mean a full-bioload, not just a couple at a time). The hardest part is patiently waiting it out. I'm 1.5 weeks into a fishless cycle right now and I'm already on the second stage so its coming along really well . Do you have a test kit? That will be really important regardless of doing fishy or fishless.
I'm not sure about Oscars and what size tank they need. I know they need a big tank but not sure how big. I know they are pretty messy though so you would need a really good filter.
Some Pleco's get to be pretty big too. Just have to keep in mind the adult sizes of your fish.
I recently bought a tank from Petsmart too
. Reading up on a fishless cycle is really worth it. I mean when you are done cycling then the water is completely safe for your fish (I mean a full-bioload, not just a couple at a time). The hardest part is patiently waiting it out. I'm 1.5 weeks into a fishless cycle right now and I'm already on the second stage so its coming along really well . Do you have a test kit? That will be really important regardless of doing fishy or fishless.I'm not sure about Oscars and what size tank they need. I know they need a big tank but not sure how big. I know they are pretty messy though so you would need a really good filter.
Some Pleco's get to be pretty big too. Just have to keep in mind the adult sizes of your fish.
Also there are some nice cichlids that get pretty big too. Making a 55g a cichlid tank would be reall neat!
Hmm I saw in another forum that Oscars will need 75g or greater. So only get them if you plan on upgrading. I really do think cichlids would be nice though... I mean its not as common to see people with cichlid tanks except maybe in forums like this. Or at least I don't see many cichlid tanks among my friends 
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Oscars get huge. You would need to upgrade the tank if you want 2 of them. Oscars also make a mess of the tank. I had one a long time ago and the bigger it got, the messier it was. I finally had to trade it in to my LFS after it started pulling my plants up. They will also eat any other fish in the tank as long as it can fit in its mouth.
You might want to look into angel fish or bala sharks. They are both beautiful fish, get somewhat large in size, and hang around the middle of the tank so they are easy to watch.
Also, do you plan on making this a planted tank? :shark:
You might want to look into angel fish or bala sharks. They are both beautiful fish, get somewhat large in size, and hang around the middle of the tank so they are easy to watch.
Also, do you plan on making this a planted tank? :shark:
thanks for all the advice, seems like the oscars are quite the mess! lol. i'm not real sure about adding plants, seems like a neat thing to do, i just dont really know what type of plant to use or anything about it. i may have to do a little homework here and check into it. i've had angels and bala sharks before and liked them a lot. i also thought about getting an irridescent shark (sp?) they look kinda like catfish, so i figured they'd be pretty good at picking up leftovers.