After waiting for close to a year, I am finally able to start my tank, and I'm so excited! I have been reading these forums for a number of months, and I have finally settled into my new apartment where I will stay for at least three years.
A friend gave me a tank and extras as follows:
30 gallon long
lid and light
air filter
whisper filter
heater
thermometer
gravel, which was still wet when I broke it out and placed it in the tank
some decorations
I filled the tank to 85% capacity about 24 hours ago, and wasn't able to plug anything in until I bought an extension, which I now have. The water in that time clouded up a bit, but appears to be clearing since I have been running the filters.
I bought the testing kits and today the results are:
pH = 7.4
NH3 = 0.025
NO-2 = <0.3 mg/L
I have added no ammonia to cycle the tank and don't know if I should do that. I also am clueless about whether or not I should buy the bio spira which the dealer recommended. He said that doing it "old school" was a waste of time. Most people here seem to think that "old school" is by far superior, but I don't know the thinking behind any of this. If anyone reads this, I would love your opinion.
For now, I will keep testing. If there are no changes over the next few days, I will add a bit of ammonia to see if my tank has the ability to handle it.
I can't wait to get my first dwarf powder blue gourami in there! Anyone have good mates for him? My son wants some sort of "shark." I like angels, fan tail guppies (which I know will be too irresistible for most fish, so no go with them, right?), and other pretty colorful fish. I would love ideas. Thanks.
A friend gave me a tank and extras as follows:
30 gallon long
lid and light
air filter
whisper filter
heater
thermometer
gravel, which was still wet when I broke it out and placed it in the tank
some decorations
I filled the tank to 85% capacity about 24 hours ago, and wasn't able to plug anything in until I bought an extension, which I now have. The water in that time clouded up a bit, but appears to be clearing since I have been running the filters.
I bought the testing kits and today the results are:
pH = 7.4
NH3 = 0.025
NO-2 = <0.3 mg/L
I have added no ammonia to cycle the tank and don't know if I should do that. I also am clueless about whether or not I should buy the bio spira which the dealer recommended. He said that doing it "old school" was a waste of time. Most people here seem to think that "old school" is by far superior, but I don't know the thinking behind any of this. If anyone reads this, I would love your opinion.
For now, I will keep testing. If there are no changes over the next few days, I will add a bit of ammonia to see if my tank has the ability to handle it.
I can't wait to get my first dwarf powder blue gourami in there! Anyone have good mates for him? My son wants some sort of "shark." I like angels, fan tail guppies (which I know will be too irresistible for most fish, so no go with them, right?), and other pretty colorful fish. I would love ideas. Thanks.