Restarting an Aquarium

[Zenscout]

I got an Eclipse aquarium a couple of years ago and had awful luck keeping my fish alive and happy. I tested water regularly, kept things as clean as possible, etc. and still had dead fish on my hands. For the last 6 months, the aquarium has been sitting, sadly, empty of fish. Today, I drained the water and rinsed it out as I am ready to begin again.

So, should I invest in a new Biowheel? Would the beneficial bacteria that had been living on it still be active?

I also made the discovery today, through reading stuff online, that my aquarium was probably much to cold for the tropical fish I was trying to keep. It has no heater. So, what fish are happy in cool water? OR should I invest in a heater and if so any recommendations as to the type/brand?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Blinky]

You can find small (~6") 25W and 50W heaters at many aquarium stores - a heater will be beneficial even if you choose to keep coldwater fish, since at a any setting, high or low, the built-in thermostat prevents temperature swings.

If the aquarium has been running empty, you'll need to cycle it again to rebuild the population of nitrifying bacteria. I recommend a fishless cycle - using ammonia or decomposing meat/fish/fish food (which produce ammonia) to feed the bacteria. There's loads of information on AC about fishless cycling.

Sorry you had a bad first run, I hope this time around is better. Ask loads of questions - it's what we're all here for

 

[anonapersona]

Keep that biowheel

The bacteria may revive, I used an old biowheel in a tank with added ammonia and it semed to cycle very fast.

 

[Zenscout]

So it won't hurt to leave the old Biowheel in there?

 

[Kasakato]

Is it dry or wet?

 

[Zenscout]

Hmmm...it was wet and running until a couple of hours ago when I cleaned the aquarium out entirely. Oops?