Newbie Needs Reality Check - Buying First Tank (Acrylic)

Sorry :(, I had the same problem with ordering a tank from petco.com, I had to talk to the manager at a local Petco a couple times but eventually they got it in. I told the manager about it in person, she got it all straightened out for me.
 
Good news! The tank arrives Tuesday! I'll be in New Orleans until Thursday though.

I made a decision about stocking the tank, once it's cycled (I bought the 2 bacteria liquid.. but cannot find pure no-additive ammonia yet).


Drum roll please......


I decided to make it a guppy tank! I have been researching them like crazy, and have a friend who used to really be into them. I think they are one of the prettiest fish, and are good for beginners.




I know the downsides of guppies:
  1. Many other fish pick on them, so will be limitted on other fish
  2. They like a little salt some other fish don't (my friend says they'll do OK with no salt though)
  3. They easily over-populate (saw some funny YouTube videos on this). Still researching how to best control it (assuming my fish live).
I will research bottom dwellers more down the line. But to me, guppies seem to have so much variety I am fine with almost all guppies.

I'll try to post a photo once I get things set up. And yes, I decided to stick with the blue jean gravel. I bought a hang-on-tank filter rated for 30-60 gallons, so as long as it fits in the acrylic slots I should be OK. If not, I bought it locally in case a return is needed. It holds two carbon filters (one on each side) so I think I'll replace them on an alternating schedule.

One thing that really bothered me about the acrylic tank was the lack of information on them when I researched it... so I plan to post a lot of photos showing opening sizes, etc.
 
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Try Ace Hardware if there is one near you.

Ace Hardware sells a 10% ammonia solution with no harmful additives.

EDIT: The ammonia is called "Ace janitorial strength" or something like that.
 
Yes, Ace Hardware is where I found mine. By they way, Guppys should be fine without salt unless your water is really really soft. You could easily have some Cory Cats, as well as a pair of Honey Gourami (or something similar). Unless you have a lot of fry hiding spots, your tank shouldn't overpopulate with this setup.
 
The aquarium came when I was on my business trip! I got home last night at 12:30 AM but was so excited I literally stayed up most of the night starting to set it up.

I'll post pictures later.

The acrylic sure does look a lot nicer than glass tank. The back slot was just the right size for the 30-60 gallon hang-on-back filter I bought (but I did have to cut the water intake tube, which was hitting the bottom).

One corner is 3/16" higher that the opposite corner, so I think that is pretty close to level. Sound close enough? The two corners are 38" apart. The paperwork that came with it had a lot of warnings, but none said the tank had to be level (like the glass aquarium's did).

As far as the ammonia, Google says there is an Ace Hardware is 8 miles away.. I'll call first.

My water looks a bit blue... I hope it isn't because I didn't rinse the last 5 pound bag of gravel enough...
 
cant wait to see the pics of the long awaited tank
 
One thing that really bugged me was the lack of pictures... didn't even know the size of the openings, light length, etc. So here they are:

 
I was surprised.. the light fixture just slides along the top anywhere you want it. It's kindof nice actually... assume that's where I'll feed the fish.
 
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