Help with new 60 gallon, Media Fluval.. more..

A

Akysten

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May 28, 2006
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The focus will be on the fish in a community tank, with real plants added to complement.

The tank is a 60 gallon tall, and I have a Fluval 404 filter...
(though It's not in yet)

I was wondering what filter options are recommended(eventually) for optimum filtration... I know there is a sponge filter, Carbon, and ceramic rings... but if I understand, there are 4 chambers.. what do you put in this 4th chamber? What is Fiber filter option? Would you add more rings? maybe something to help with maintaining PH or hardness levels?

I'm thinking of putting down Bio-Complete substrate, and I may or may not top this with gravel(I would like advice on this).

I'm going to cylce the tank with a few fish, how many for a tank this size? Fishless cycling people, please do NOT respond, not ONE local aquarium store that I've spoken with recommends fishless cycling, I'm aware of the advantages, plese don't lecture me.

I've never had a tank larger than 12 gallons before, so this is a huge jump for me.. I want to do this RIGHT.

Thanks...
 
In my opinion i like to have the best biological filteration possible I would add more bio filteration ceramic or sponges etc. I would start with just a couple of small hearty fish 2 being the most you dont want to start with too many or things can get out of controll real fast. You can also put some gravel from and established tank in a mesh bag and add that to your tank to boost the cycle. anything from an established desease free tank will help boost the cycling process. I used some gravel and some other things from my other tanks when I got my 120 gallon and it was cycled in less than a week. As far as media I would go for biological media the more places for bacteria to grow the more efficient your filter will be.
 
Thanks,

The shop said to buy 5 giant dannios or 10 zebra danios and they would take back the survivors for credit towards other fish after the cycle. The question is now... 5 giants, or 10 zebras.... alone in a large tank. What would be more interesting? Generally, I do not like Dannios.
 
I dont know what pet store you are using but in my opinion they are very inexperienced and not very well trained. Buying fish to kill them is wrong. Add 2 or three then in a week add 2 more then 2-3 more in another week. Adding that many fish is going to really overload your filter all at once and may cause more stress to you than anything and may create desease in your tank etc. In my opinion store clerks are very misleading and dont care about the fish they sell. You can add that many fish just not all at once or they probabally will all die then you will have to start over.
 
I've used zebra danios on fish cycles..I started with 6 ..the zebra danios are very hardy and never seemed to be affected by ammonia, nitrites or nitrates.

as an experiment I cycled a 10 with 6 ..no problems..moved the 6 to my 55 and cycled my 55..no problems..moved them to my 75 ..added a seeded sponge to the sump..and no problems..except it took longer with the 75 as there were only the 6..the cycle got stuck ammonia dropped but nitrites were very slow to drop..I added stability from sea chem and within 3 days the nitrites cycled.
I expect the problem was a small bioload and a huge filter..the filter in my 75 will handle a much larger tank.
you can add 2-3 then wait week and add 2-3 more but in my experience...the cycle never really go going till the ammonia hit a high spike..with 6 danios that took 4 weeks for the ammonia to spike the about 2-3 weeks for the nitrites.
if you have bacteria from anexisting tank you can cut the time by about 1/3
 
Thanks, that's about what I expected. I'm going to need a larger bioload to cycle the 60. But I'm going to start with a smaller load and test. I'm also looking at a refrigerated biological product, I can't remember if it's Seachem or Marineland. It has an experation date(looks like a sports gel pack). It's kind of expensive, but it's supposedly bacteria. Does anyone know if this is a waste of money? I would need to buy several packs for a 60 gallon.

From what I'm told you add your fish, then add in this bacteria, and it should speed the cycle into the nitrate stage. Supposedly there is bacteria in the substrate I'm using, but I have doubts about how effective it will be.

I have a friend that I may be able to get some gravel/substrate from. I'll hit him up for it as well. It couldn't hurt.
 
What are the advantages to the fiberfill? Cleaner water? I've heard of using Pete to do something... change the hardness of the water? the PH?
Looking at your tank, I see you have a variety of lighting.

I have two dual t5 strips... 28w per bulb, 2 bulbs per unit.. it's about 112 watts. However, one is purple, one is white.. what are these?
 
Throw a piece of shrimp in the tank(as an amonia source), monitor your levels, put up with the smell if there is any, and within about a month you'll have a tank with a biofilter strong enough to handle even the most obnoxious of fish without any amonia or nitrite spikes. If you do this, you can add all your planned fish at once without any deaths related to water quality.

as for filter media, I say fill it up with cotton batting, this will provide all the biological and mechanical filtring you will need, and chemical filtration is rarely if ever needed.
 
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