Hey everyone. I'm new to the hobby and comming from a rural area I have very limited choices in petstores. I went to one of the three local stores yesterday to shop for a tank and supplies, but several alarms were going off in my head when I was talking to the salesman. Here are some questions that have come to mind:
1) The store sells tanks seperately and in packaged deals. I am looking for a 20-30 gallon tank because I'm a nOOb at this whole thing. The stores 29 gallon package its somewhere arround $260. This includes a basic stand, glass tank, filter,heater, 4 bags of gravel, $20 in fake plants, the top and lights (its like a half plastic holder & half glass), a vacume thing, and maybe a testing kit i think. Does this sound reasonable?
2) I've read on here that the gravel at the bottom of the tank should be ~ 1 in? The I asked the salesman if the 4 bags would be enough to give me a good 1in of coverage and he said, "No, more like 1/4 in. Thats really all you need. Just enough to hold the plants down." Comments?
3) In his sales pitch he said that tank maitnence was only a montly thing. This seemed to be way off from what I've been hearing on here. The board makes it out to be more of a weekly if not daily schedule?
4)When he said that $20 of fake plants is included I asked if I could use that money for real plants instead and he told me that "You shouldn't use real plants from the start. Its better to cycle the tank first and then put them in." This seems to be contradictory to what I read in the plants forum. From what I've read it seems that cycling is made easier by having the plants in the tank. I'm not interested in any major highmaitnence planting schemes just some lowlight plants.
I have some other questions in mind but I'll wait to hear responces on this to see what my next questions will be. I know that my intentions with the tank will be a factor in the answers so here goes. All I'm planning on is a 20-30 gallon freshwater lowlight planted tank with some smaller colorful fish. All questions and comments are welcomed. Thanks everyone!
1) The store sells tanks seperately and in packaged deals. I am looking for a 20-30 gallon tank because I'm a nOOb at this whole thing. The stores 29 gallon package its somewhere arround $260. This includes a basic stand, glass tank, filter,heater, 4 bags of gravel, $20 in fake plants, the top and lights (its like a half plastic holder & half glass), a vacume thing, and maybe a testing kit i think. Does this sound reasonable?
2) I've read on here that the gravel at the bottom of the tank should be ~ 1 in? The I asked the salesman if the 4 bags would be enough to give me a good 1in of coverage and he said, "No, more like 1/4 in. Thats really all you need. Just enough to hold the plants down." Comments?
3) In his sales pitch he said that tank maitnence was only a montly thing. This seemed to be way off from what I've been hearing on here. The board makes it out to be more of a weekly if not daily schedule?
4)When he said that $20 of fake plants is included I asked if I could use that money for real plants instead and he told me that "You shouldn't use real plants from the start. Its better to cycle the tank first and then put them in." This seems to be contradictory to what I read in the plants forum. From what I've read it seems that cycling is made easier by having the plants in the tank. I'm not interested in any major highmaitnence planting schemes just some lowlight plants.
I have some other questions in mind but I'll wait to hear responces on this to see what my next questions will be. I know that my intentions with the tank will be a factor in the answers so here goes. All I'm planning on is a 20-30 gallon freshwater lowlight planted tank with some smaller colorful fish. All questions and comments are welcomed. Thanks everyone!
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