few questions.

Well lets see since I do have a 55g (tank was a hand me down) I would go with a penguin 330 filter Heres the link for 24 bucks.

Also If your doing fake plants and the tank has a center support...I would do 2 24" flourescent hoods that should be sufficient lighting for the fish Heres a link at petco.com for a 48" hood for 67bucks Heres the link.

Also I would do an Ebo-jager heater they have 150w ones for 18bucks at drsfostersmith.com heres the link that should do you well
Also
 
Is it really necessary to have two dual filter filters on a 55-gallon?

I mean, I guess it's not because I've gone this far without it... Do you most of you keep live plants? (because I don't and thought that might be why extra filtration would be necessary)...

I would think it might help reduce needed water changes, although it's probably best to still change 25% once or twice a week even if you do have an extra filter.
 
That penguin 330 has a biowheel. Isnt that just for saltwater or am I losing my mind? How does a biowheel work and how do you take care of it?
 
Filter for a 55g: A Fluval 304 works wonderfully. Bought at www.bigalsonline.com you can save quite a few bucks. They're twice as expensive at my local fish stores than there. They provide mechanical, biological and the option of chemical filtration and are more easily adjusted. You can control the flow and the positioning of the intake and outtake tubes.

Heater: 150w - 250w will be just fine. Visatherme and Ebojaber make great heaters, but they can be a little pricey. I think I got my submersible, adjustable Visatherme for my 55g for 25$.

Cycling in a BRIEF nutshell: Fish poop. This turns into ammonia (the stuff you can clean with). Ammonia is very harmful to fish. Certain bacteria form in your filter when ammonia is present. They "eat" it and turn it into another chemical called Nitrite. Nitrite is also *very* harmful to fish. A second group of bacteria forms in your filter, along with the other bacteria and they convert nitrite to NitrAtes. These are much less harmful and are easily removed with a water change once the levels get past 20-40 parts per million. When you cycle a tank with fish, the fish are subjected to these levels of ammonia and nitrite and can kill them. To bypass harming the fish (and having to buy "hardy" cycling fish, only to return them later) you can bypass the fish and just make fish poop in the tank. How do you do this? You can add pure ammonia - afterall, that's what fish poop is. Once you have cycled the tank and the ammonia and nitrite are down to 0, you can add all of your fish:) But as OrionGirl said, check out all the threads in the Newbie Section:)

Your fish choices sound nice - not too sure about the shark though. Even the "peaceful" ones tend to cause a few problems.


Brett- No, you don't need two filters. There are instances where this can be helpful, though. IN the case of a filter problem, you have an extra cycled one on hand. If you need to start another tank or a hospital tank, you've got one on hand. However, to just run the fish tank, no, one adequate filter is enough.
 
Thanks Leopardess! Those seem to be good reasons anyway, but I have a spare 10 gallon I could use in emergency situations I suppose. I appreciate the response.
 
Okay. Yay! This is all starting to make sense.

I have decided to go with the Penguin 330 filter and that Ebojager heater at 150 Watts. I don't have a credit card (only 16) and I don't think my mom does either so I'll check out how much they are in the store I work at (PSP). Hopefully they are reasonable. I'll have to buy the supplies little by little because my mom doesnt want to help me pay for this. She just bought a new car. Darn her. LOL. So in a few months I'll have a tank! Yay!!

I'll read up on cycling a little more. I was told by someone I work with that basically you fill the tank and let the heater, pump and filter run for a few days to a week. Then bring in some water and test it. If everything is okay then I can add a FEW fish. True?
 
Good:) During the time when you are waiting to get your tank, it will give you an awesome opportunity to research even more. Trust me, it will come in handy LOL.

As far as what that person told you, no. Just running the tank with water in it will not provide any of the ammonia I told you about. Without ammonia, you won't have a cycle. Without a cycle, when you add your fish, they will probably all die:(. (I think he was heading you towards a fish-in cycle, as opposed to the fishless method. I strongly suggest you follow the fishless method using a bottle of ammonia. It is cheaper in the end, usually, and you won't hurt or lose any of the fish in the process!)

I'm not overly familiar with the Penguin filter, but I have questions as to whether or not one will be enough. I think it may be too small and that is why N8dogg has 2 on his tank...

Save up some money, also, for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate Kits. And a pH is also a great idea. All other kits can wait for now. If your store tests water for customers with the tubes and bottles, then you can have them test your water or do it yourself. I don't trust the test strips that you dip - and I don't think you should either. The downside to this is that you might have an emergeny when you're at home and the store is closed and you will not be able to test your water....and that is not a good thing!
 
Last edited:
So the Penguin 330 isn't a good choice. Maybe a bigger one? Do they make a bigger one?

So to add ammonia to a fishless cycle I just dump regular cleaner ammonia in the water? Or should I just do a fish cycle and buy a couple .99 cent leopard danios?

I got plently of time to decide on everything I guess. I'll keep researching.
 
I wouldn't buy any danios to cycle the tank. It is very harmful and uncomfortable for fish to undergo a cycling process - thats why fishless came about:)

Well, you don't just "dump" the ammonia in, you want to reach about 5 ppm (using your ammonia test kit), but I'm not going to elaborate any more since there are dozens upon dozens of threads about it in the Beginner Section already:)

EDIT:

Here, this is taken from: http://aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26051

Richer summed it up nicely.

Cycling with fish:
What does it involve? Sticking a few hardy fish into a tank, and letting the ammonia the fish naturally (and decaying fish food) produce start up the cycle.

Pros:
-You have fish in the tank right from the beginning.
-The tank will cycle successfully.

Cons:
-The fish have to swim in water containing detectable levels of ammonia/nitrite. This leads to the possibility that the fish may contract diseases, infections, etc. because their immune systems may take a hit from the ammonia/nitrite. Exposure to ammonia/nitrite may also reduce fish lifespan.
-The constant water changing that is necessary to reduce ammonia/nitrite levels to a less toxic level, so that your cycling fish can survive.
-The fish you use must be hardy fish so that they can survive the cycle. What will happen if those fish aren't part of your stocking plan? Will you return them? What if the fishstore will not accept them?
-Even a complete cycle isn't complete. Fish have to be introduced slowly to the tank. Introducing too many fish at once will upset the balance of the tank. Remember that the tank only has enough bacterial colonies to convert the waste of a few fish, not a full load of fish.

Fishless Cycle:
What does it involve? Buying ammonia from a store, adding this ammonia to a tank till you get an ammonia level of about 5ppm. The ammonia added will start the cycle.

Pros:
-Spares fish from swimming in water containing detectable levels of ammonia/nitrite. Which prevents any of the ammonia/nitrite related problems a fish may get.
-Cycling a tank on 5ppm of ammonia will give the aquarist a large margin of error for fish stocking. Unless a person really packs a tank, fish will never produce enough ammonia to get an ammonia reading of 5ppm. In turn, this allows the aquarist to fully stock a tank after a successful cycle.
-A few people have said that fishless cycling actually speed up how quickly a tank will cycle.
-Like a fish cycle, it will cycle a tank successfully.

Cons:
-One very large water change at the end of the cycle is needed, to remove the large levels of nitrates that are probably in the water. Still... not as bad as doing multiple water changes during a fish cycle.
-You will have to look at an empty tank for 2-3 weeks.


Seems to me that a fishless cycle is the clear winner. I probably missed some stuff, but that is the general gist of it.

HTH
-Richer

Here is yet another excellent thread on "How to do a fishless cycle." It's pretty detailed:

http://myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13406
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom