Yet another newbie introduction

[mindtonic]

Ive been lurking here for a couple of weeks now, and I've poured over the stickies in this forum with a fine toothed comb. I've learned more from reading this board than I have reading any number of beginner books that I have picked up--especially about the fishless cycle and general tank chemistry.

That said, I still have a few questions before I start filling my tank.

My neighbor recently gave me a seventy five gallon tank that one of his former tennants left behind after they moved out. Unfortunately, the tank sat in the apartment for nearly six months with water, and dead fish still inside it, so it was in need of a major cleaning. I used some vinegar, a dust cloth, and a lot of elbow greaase to take care of this. It also came with two Tetra pf500 filters--one of which is not functioning (I hear it running but the impeller doesn't spin), a heavily damaged undergravel filter (which is now in the local landfill), hood, light (twin 40 watt bulbs), oak stand and cannopy. I didn't feel comfortable using the gravel that was inside the extreamly dirty tank so I discarded that too.

Now for my questions:

I'd like to do a planmted tank. I know that 80 watts of light for approximately 65+ gallons falls short of the prefered watt/gallon ratio, so should I just start the tank without the plants and add them later, once I can afford to buck up for a better light system or will I be ok starting out with some plants that don't require a whole lot of light?

The literature for the filters claim that one will successfully handle up to 90 gallons. I know that there is no such thing as too much filtration, but will one really be enough until after the hollidays when cash will be a little more available? In the long term, will I be better off buying a whole new filter or would a replacement impeller be advisable? Both of the filters I have now have built in heating elements, but should I have another external heater as a back up?

Once the tank is up and running, fully cycled, and stocked, when I do my water changes, is it best to dechlorinate the new water before I add it to the tank or treat it after the tank is refilled?

Thanks again for offering us newbs such a great tool to avoid the many pitfalls of fish keeping! :bowing:

 

[Jay]

Lots to think about

Hi and welcome!!

You are going to get lots of advice on how to proceed and it will probably take you a while to sort thru it. Take your time; this is a hobby that requires patience and thinking things through after research. I don’t have much time right now to be one of the folks who will answer all of your questions but…I started out the same way (to plant or not to plant immediately) I would suggest that the most important thing to do first is settle on a good plant substrate. Do some research on your own, but I think you will find that Fluorite or something very similar will be best done now while you are waiting to spend bucks on more adequate lighting etc. This will allow you to get your tank up and cycled and a few fish collected, before you spend the big bucks. Example: the last time I bought Fluorite it was $1.00 a pound and I used about 100 pounds for a 75-gallon tank, but it really is great for my plants!

 

[happychem]

Greetings, you've come to the right place!

First of all, allow me to convey my deep jealousy at your score!

Make sure that the tank is thoroughly cleaned. I know that you posted that you did a lot of work cleaning it, but this is one of those situations when you cannot be too careful, so I thought it deserved repeating. Vinegar was the right choice, I've read that Oxyclean is also good, but I've no experience with it myself.

Before you get going spend a lot of time, and I mean a lot, reading (which you've done ) and looking at pictures to get a really good idea of exactly what you want from your tank, the extra couple of months you spend planning will save you tons of time and money down the road, I promise.

I started with a fish only 10g. When I upgraded to the 33g (see sig.) I spent a good 6 ot 7 months planning what I wanted, what would be required to achieve this goal and saving money for the cost.

My advice would be to start unplanted, but like Jay suggests, lay down a good plant substrate: Fluorite, Profile, Turface, Eco-complete are all good choices. It is much easier to set up a planted tank from the get go then a non-planted (IMO), but there's a lot to learn about fish keeping in general and planting adds just one more level of intricacy.

After you lay down your substrate, get another filter. There's a poll thread on HOB filters that can help you make an educated decision about what filter to buy. FYI, biowheels are bad for planted tanks with CO2 injection.

Now it's time to start cycling. You've read all about fishless cycling, now it's time to give it a whirl. Depending on your water conditions (pH, GH/KH, namely) and your bacteria source this can take you from a few weeks to a few months. Don't despair and if you feel something is amis, just ask the knowledgeable folks around here, at the very least you'll get some encouragement to stick with it.

While your tank is cycling is an excellent time to plan it out. Draw a 'floor' plan of the aquascape so that you can have the little castle in just the right spot and tour your lfs' and check out the fish you may like. Bring pen and paper to write down names so that you can come home and do some research on the fish. I suggest rainbowfish for your tank, but that's just 'cause I think that that's what I'd do with a 75g tank.

Finally, have fun! If you're not enjoying yourself (or at least getting some zen-like relaxation from it) what's the point?

 

[Signus]

WOW! Despite the horrible mess left behind, I'm really quite jealous!

You might want to consider aquascaping your tank with various rocks and driftwood. If you've gone over the posts here, then you surely must have heard of Takashi Amano. Here's his site: http://www.zen-it.com/nico/aqua/amano/

It's rather inspiring.

Since you hear the motor running, but the did impeller not I would suggest extracting the impeller (they are held in place magnetically) and cleaning out the well and impeller itself. If that does not fix it after all of the rotting fish gunk floated around the tank, then I'm not sure what else would.

The built in heaters should work just fine, especially since you have two of them. Are they at least half of the wattage needed to heat the tank alone? It might be a good idea to consider a heater when you do get fish, but don't worry about it now.

Adding plants later might save you a lot of headaches. You could add them b4 fish, however, to help with cycling the tank. Definitely try the fishless cycling. I wish I did. It takes longer, but you can immediately stock the tank with whatever type of fish you want without worrying about overloading the biology of the tank. Don't take this as me saying to go buy 90 fish and sick them into the tank right after it's done, but that you will not have to worry about loosing the amount of fish that the tank can handle due to ammonia or nitrite spikes.

 

[Megatron]

Well im not that familar with the tetra filters most HOB filter impellers can be buggy. try to see if you can flick the impeller with a chopstick or pen it should kick start. At my work I have at least 10 people a week with the exact same problem 9 times out of 10 giving it a flick will get it to work. And yes I also am extremly jealous of your score; as Im going to buy a new 75 very soon myself I would like one droped in my lap like you had!