New here, my startup..ideas?

[illuzion7]

Aloha everyone! Well I finally got around to doing it and got a tank. My roommate had a 220 gal saltwater and I swore never to do that, too much maintenance, so I bought a 55 gallon freshwater tank.

What I have:

Marineland C-220 Canister Pump
Aquasun LED HO 48" lighting system

So my theme is bright colors. I did buy a lot of the GloFish products and it may seem cliche but it works. The more I look at other tanks I am getting interested in real plants. I am just taking this a few steps at a time. So 3 days ago I got it all running and tested the water today and it is good to go. Is there any benefit in waiting?

To me it seems like I need to add things to get the bacteria right. I don't want to put plants in before fish, because there is no food for them to live by. I plan on adding about 10-15 tetras, and a few more brighter fish (once I do a little more research) when I do add fish. Any suggestions?

Oh, and my tank runs between 78-81 degrees, no heater or AC...I guess the benefit of living in Hawaii.

 

[wildroseofky]

First read this http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html It is best to cycle your tank without fish, A lot less worry. If you can get some filter media or substrate from a cycled tank that sill speed things up. You need an ammonia source to get the bacteria going. The article I linked explains everything. There are some really great articles on this site to help you. Plus, everyone on the forums are very helpful.

 

[illuzion7]

Thanks!

I actually ran into this last night as I was looking into other things. Very helpful, wish me luck!

 

[flitabout]

You actually want to add the plants before the fish and they do great in a tank that is fishless cycling. In fact if you plant heavy enough you can have what is called a silent cycle.

 

[Mattyfelts]

plants before fish, Look at german blue rams, golden rams, they are both beautiful and colourful. A betta would be pretty as well or gourami.

 

[Luananeko]

I agree with the previous poster, rams are lovely and full of personality. They are sensitive though, so I would add them last once the tank is established. They also need dither fish to help feel confident. Dwarf rainbowfish or cherry barbs make excellent dithers and are very colorful and active as well without taking up too much of your bioload space. Aqadvisor.com is a good starting point to figure out what sort of stock you want. It needs to be double checked by research and experience, but it's a far better rule of thumb than the extremely flawed one inch of fish per gallon blurb that you'll catch LFS employees repeating...

 

[Mattyfelts]

I agree with the previous poster, rams are lovely and full of personality. They are sensitive though, so I would add them last once the tank is established. They also need dither fish to help feel confident. Dwarf rainbowfish or cherry barbs make excellent dithers and are very colorful and active as well without taking up too much of your bioload space. Aqadvisor.com is a good starting point to figure out what sort of stock you want. It needs to be double checked by research and experience, but it's a far better rule of thumb than the extremely flawed one inch of fish per gallon blurb that you'll catch LFS employees repeating...

Funny you say that, I have 8 albino cherry barbs and a gbr haha!

 

[illuzion7]

One thing I noticed is to add ammonia, but it says get it up to 4ppm. Any recommendations on amount? tbsp, cup, gallon?

 

[jlk]

One thing I noticed is to add ammonia, but it says get it up to 4ppm. Any recommendations on amount? tbsp, cup, gallon?

Scroll down to the bottom of this handy calculator to get an exact dose. Any pharmacy will give you a 5 or 10 ml plastic syringe free for dosing. Or use a tsp (1tsp=5mls).

http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm

 

[illuzion7]

9 seems like a lot...but here is to hoping it works! Thanks everyone for the help! I didn't think it would be this complicated, but in the end it will be worth it. I finally found a place in Hawaii that has some good fish too. If I wanted to get them shipped you need a permit in Hawaii..crazy rules here and not easy to get things. Saltwater, sure...go snorkeling. Freshwater, wow..should have put more thought into that part..

 

[jlk]

What % is your ammonia? Did you change the default 'ppm' of 5 to 4ppm? I *think* it should be around for a 55g unless you have a low % of ammonia. Make sure you subtract any ammonia you may have in your tap from the total desired ppm (example, if you have 1ppm in your tap, subtract 1ppm from 4ppm and use 3ppm as your desired level).

Just to play it safe, add half the 9ml dose and wait about 15-20 minutes then test your ammonia level. It should read 2ppm. Then you can add the second half and you will be at 4ppm.

 

[jlk]

Sorry- I can not edit from the app but for a 55g, around 7mls is typical. For some unknown reason, my phone deleted the '7mls' part!

 

[illuzion7]

jlk, I am going to buy some this weekend and go from there..I still need to buy the master kit, because strips are crap. I will def. start low after the first test and go from there. Once again, thanks for the info. I also hope I can get some props from a friend to put in my tank to expedite the speed...keeping it in water of course, and using it to speed the process.

 

[jlk]

Sounds good! If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask!