new tank help

[jackfrost]

hey guys,

I'm new here, and was just checking out all the threads already here. so, i thought i'd just ask to get my questions answered.

I got a 75 gallon aquarium with stand for $50. that included a Magnum 350, two Bio wheels, all the hoses, fittings, two heaters, two power heads, etc.. so, I couldn't pass it up. trouble is, I know nothing about fish. I've kind of waded through advice from friends and websites, and now I've got it all set up. (see attached photo)

so, now I think I'm ready to put fish in it, but I'm having trouble deciding. I thought I would start cheap (in case they all die), but you need to get compatible fish, etc, that I'm not sure about. I'd like to have some that school, and a couple larger ones. can anyone make any recommendations?

what do you guys mean by cycling?

one other question. the thermometer seems to stay about 74*, and both of my heaters are unplugged. while this will seem to satisfy most fish, I'm worried if it gets hotter, there will be no way to cool it down.

and please lend advice if I've overlooked something.


thanks!

 

[Aquarius0015]

Cycling is *very* important, read the "stickies" at the top of the forum, especially the archived help sticky.

That is an awesome deal for the tank. Even if I found such a great deal myself, I would have to pass it up because of space limitations. The roommate does not want me to have anything over 10 gallons and my parents do not agree that my sister's room should be converted to a fish room. I still think she could do just fine in the closet though. Weird people, my family. We have 25 acres for horses, but one fish room is "obsessive?"

 

[Prometheus]

Great deal on your setup!

I just did a copy paste of the same question I answered from another thread:
------
Water changes will start after your start-up fish are in. What to expect. Ammonia will spike. Do water changes to keep it within acceptable levels ( below 2ppm. at 2ppm fish are in big trouble) Next the nitrites will spike and ammonia will drop... (thats good things are working) do water changes to keep nitrites at or below .5 ppm (above .5ppm fish are in trouble at 1.0 they start to die quickly). Next the water changes will be alot easier since you'll only have to do them to remove nitrates. Which should be kept below 40 ppm ( Preferably below 20ppm, but durring the inital cycle I find my tanks nitrites rise quickly)...

Just bear in mind that all this work is temp. and the daily testing turns into weekly testing soon enuff...

Cleaning the tank. I vacumm the gravel with a $5.00 vacumm hose thing. The 'vacumming' of the gravel draws out the water, and I kill 2 birds with one stone... I just vacumm until I reach my desired water removal level.
----------

Tank temp: Unless you use the heaters, the tank will mimic your room temp. I take it your thermostat is set to 74 degrees? Most tropical fish enjoy a temp anywhere between 72 and 82 degrees. The key is to keep it constant, the 'median' temp for all my fish is 78 degrees, so thats where I keep it. And since the warmest I like my ac/heat to be set on is 74 degrees, I need a heater year round. (actually I use two, I prefer redundancy).

I lost power for a day in Florida, and the inside air temp was 92 degrees... I got home from work and the heat darn near knocked me down...

I lost quite a few fish that day. Since then I keep two frozen bottles of water in the freezer at all times, if it comes to that again, I'll drop one in wait and drop another in... in the hopes that it will atleast somewhat lower my tank temp should something like that happen again.

Check out the thread started by anne l. '10 gallon tank questions' or something like that, it's still at the top of the page and 3 pages long. Most of the info in that thread pertains to any size tank.

Since you saved a butt load of $$$ on the tank, I would suggest just buying a proper dose of 'bio-spira' to put in your tank and add about 10 inches worth of fish at the same time.

That way you can skip the cycle completely... Be forewarned, bio-spira is awesome but it's 20 bucks for the 3oz (largest) packet they sell... I think one 3oz packet would do you ok thought...

 

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by Aquarius0015
The roommate does not want me to have anything over 10 gallons

Find a new roommate!

Fish are much better roommates IMO.

 

[jackfrost]

Originally posted by Prometheus
Since you saved a butt load of $$$ on the tank, I would suggest just buying a proper dose of 'bio-spira' to put in your tank and add about 10 inches worth of fish at the same time.

so you're saying I wouldn't need to cycle if i just bought this Bio-Spira stuff?

what kind of fish would you recommend I start with?

 

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by jackfrost


so you're saying I wouldn't need to cycle if i just bought this Bio-Spira stuff?

what kind of fish would you recommend I start with?

The cycle would still take place, just overnite... and save alot of the hassels, it would allow you to add a light load of fish to the tank right away (I'd say about 10 1inch fish or 5 2inch fish, then the next week add a few more within 4-6 weeks you could be fully stocked, vs. just getting started...

For fish, I donno... it depends on what you like as far as community, agressive ect. ect.

Name off some of your favorite fish, and we can come up with some appropriate tank mates...

All of the fish in my tank specs work well together, and make an active colorful display... Might give you a starting point...

Look on the main page of www.aquariacentral.com for pics and appropriate tank mates, find a fish or two you really like, then we'll be able to find other tank mates for it.

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Aquarius0015,

I have had to put all three of my fish tanks (5, 20, and 33 gallons) in my bedroom, cus my parents 'will not have' a fish tank anywhere else in thier house. BAH!

Oh well! I get all my fishies to myself and no one else!





Jackfrost,

You got a nice deal on a tank set up, and the tank itself looks really good. Maybe you should add some decorations to the tank, like rocks and driftwood, before you add the fish (just to not stress them out by arranging things). I think one large neat looking peice of wood in the center would look good, and bring the wood finish of the rest of the tank into the picture quite nicely. You can buy wood from a pet store, make sure you soak it in a bucket of water for a week or so because tannin will most likely leach out and dye your water a rusty color. If you have carbon in your filter the carbon should get rid of it though.

Add some rocks, and if you want to try live plants by all means do so, it makes the tank look really good. Fake plants will suffice if you don't want to care for the live plants, but i think some green would be nice.

Check out some aquascaping websites on tips of how to arrange the tank to make it look pleasing (to you and the fish!).

As for fish, its really up to you! Just check to make sure they are compatible and will not outgrow your tank.

Good luck!

 

[sumoschro]

i dont think i saw the heater question answered anywhere else in this thread, so i will answer it. There is a dial on the heater that allows you to set it to keep a certain temperature. Some show what temp it will keep it at on the dial, others will not, and you will have to tweak it to get it right, but after that it should keep the temperature right at or around the temp you want it.

 

[jackfrost]

Prometheus:

i would like to have some fish that school, maybe Neon Tetras. and then a sort of variety of other things. the frogs and the newts look interesting. I guess I'm mainly looking for a website somewhere where I can cross-reference fish to make sure they won't eat each other. I read somewhere where you want to have fish at each "strata"? like bottom, middle and top; but this seems like really expert fishkeeping.

LuvMyKribs:

thats pretty much what I was thinking. but I'd like to start small and add decorations as I go along. but mostly natural stuff. no neon shipwrecks. :sick:

sumoschro:

the problem is that the heaters are not plugged in, and the tank only comes down to 74. not a problem now, but could be in the summer.

 

[Aquarius0015]

the frogs and the newts look interesting

You might be able to do a few of the African frogs (there are two types, one clawed and one not I think), but a newt would probably be out of the question in a tropical community tanks. Most newts need temperatures below 70*F, which would require a chiller in your case.

I have no personal experience, but I had a friend who went through a lot of newts because of information from the oh-so-knowledgeable Petsmart folk. After she did a little online research, she found http://www.caudata.org/caudatecentral/. After reading the site she decided she really did not want a newt after all.