The 55 is running...

[sunsplash76]

Hello All~ Well I put the 55 together tonight and it looks really pretty. I have a few beefs though; for 1; the hoods it came with have no openings in the back, so how the **** do I fit the filter on it & the air pump tubes and stuuf? Do I cut the plastic off or what? I have one hood on and the other off in order to have the filter on and the other things. Why in the **** don't they cut holes in the back? That is the most irritating! Second I got two thermometers with it; they are strips; do they go in the tank or on the outside? Those are the only troublesome issues I have. I bought 6 feeder comets and stuck them in there. The pet store guy said to have these comets live there for a week to 2 weeks to create bacteria and cycle the tank or something, before adding the expensive african cichlids. So I have ugly, stupid comets swimming around for now. I took a pic of it, but no laughing o.k. It is a very crude start i know. I need a background and deco and more plants and stuff. I mean it, no laughing. This is gonna be challenging, but i love fishies!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~Melissa~

[fishfreek]

Looks good. Dont worry your tank looks great. I think I see a fish in there. Makes the tank look huge with just one or two small fishies.

Ok. Now to your questions or BEEFS as you put it.

Your hood looks like a standard 1 lamp all in one hood. If so then there should be a little door on the front, clear plastic where the light sits and then the back should have areas that look like " U " groves. Theis is where you can cut the back to fit around your equipment like heaters, filters, airlines etc.

The strips go on the outside of the glass. I would put them on opposing sides of the tank. I prefer the sides vs the front so that your not always looking that this black strip. I suggest putting them toward the front on the sides since your heater will be on the back.

I suggest putting your heater in a high flow area of the tank. Also you might get better performance out of the heater if its tilted on an angle vs vertical. As you know heat rises and so does warm water. The thermostat is in the top portion of the heater so as the heater warms the water it creates a current upward and this warmer water then flows over the thermostat and could cause it to cycle on/off alot more. If the heater is at an angle or horozonal then as the water heats up and rises its not passing direcly over the thermostat. Thus the temp in the tank might be more stable.

• Hey comets need love too.

[Fishgirl]

"Hey comets need love too." That's funny Fishfreek.

Melissa congrats on your lovely tank. I really like the black and your wall-o-bubbles! I wanted to do that in my freshwater tank at work, but hadn't got to it yet.

Fishfreek is the man. He gave some good advice for ya. I concure with him. Cycling is good for a tank so you are doing the right thing there. You can always give those comets back to the store (maybe get some credit for them) and get what you want. Don't add to much too fast when you are ready. I cycled my saltwater with blue damsels (simaliar fish in purpose to your comets) and some people give them back to the store but I kept my little guys. I figured they needed a home too. Up to you though.

About the cutting on the back of the tank. I have had to do that before. What I did was take a knife in those grooves that are cut and when down both sides of what I section I wanted out then bent it and it popped right out. Yeah you get kinda jipped having to do that yourself.

Good luck though and would love to see pics of the tank's progression.

Are you going to do live plants? I love live plants in a freshwater.

Take care,
Gina

[fishfreek]

Oh, fishgirls comment about the wall of bubbles reminded me I did not metion this earlier.

Do you have a check valve on your air lines? If not then I suggest going and getting two (one for each bubble wand). THis will prevent water from possibly syphoning back down the air tubing and then out of the air pump. I see your air pump on the hood right now. If you keep it above water level then you dont need one but if you put the air pump below water level then its worth the few $ to get them.

If you dont have one get an ammonia test kit. Check for ammonia every few days. If you start seeing ammonia then watch that it does not get to high. I dont really advocate using fish to cycle but since there in the tank you should take as much percaution as possible to keepem alive.

If ammoina levels get above .5 (i think from my freshwater days) then start performing some water changes and you can also get a prodcut that is supposed to convert toxic ammoniia to ammonium and that is non toxic. Ammonium (sp?) will still show up on test kits but will not be toxic.

Thanks fishgirl for the comments. Your to kind.

[sunsplash76]

Aaron & Gina~ Thanks so much for the advice! I am really excited about the tank, and it is so refreshing to hear from people who are just as interested. The tank is getting better, and I have added a few more things. I will attach a new pic I took a few minutes ago. I will get those valves you spoke of for the pump, because I do have it below water now. I need those test kits, I am planning on getting them next trip to the store. I added a new treatment to the water called "stress zyme" It has bacteria in it for new tanks. You add two tsp's for the first two weeks, to help create a better environment for new tanks. Those comets are in hog heaven right now; they are livin it up! It needs deco bad, but I'm getting things little by little. More good news, it appears the ICK is gone from the fish in my 10 gallon, so tomorrow they get out of the unfiltered green slime they currently live in, and will get at least 50% new water. They look healthier, and that makes me happy. Having clear water and the filter put back in will make me happy. I looked at the african cichlids again today, I'm just counting the days till I get my first one! My neighbor upstairs has a new saltwater tank, that I helped put together. So, Gina I know about the damsels you speak of; that is what she has right now. She is also waiting her time, building bacteria just as I am. I also got the hoods figured out this morning! I cut them carefully with a pocket knife, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I was happy to have functional hoods, it looked so much better! Aaron, if you don't use fish to create a new tank environment, what do you use? hhhmmmm. ~Melissa~

[fishfreek]

WOW What a difference a day makes huh

That tank looks 10 X better today with the backgrop and the two hoods and the face plate back on the electrical outlet. hehe (didnt thing I would notice that part did ya )

Anyway. The stress zyme should be benifical in establishing a bactera bed in your filter and in your gravel. To answer your question about how to prepair your tank with out fish you can look at this article I wrote.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=101

Its over in the saltwater area but it holds true in freshwater aswell. But what your doing is good. Hopefully the stress zyme will catch on real good and you wont have to large of an ammonia spike.

Another method you can use to cycle or prepair your tank if its new is to get a few cups of gravel from an established tank. Put this gravel in a bowl of some kind and place it in your tank. The established bactera in the bowl will quickly multiply and take hold in your gravel bed. Then after a week or so you can remove the old gravel and return it if you want.

My neighbor upstairs has a new saltwater tank, that I helped put together

Tell her about us PLEASE!!

Having a neighbor starting out with saltwater will allow you to kind of experence both.

Good news on the 10 gal fishies. I am sure they will apprecate clear water also. Do you treat your water with a decloronator? Is the water on the base well water or city/base supplied.

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

looking good! when you get your test kit, i would also get tests for nitrite as well as ammonia....2 little comets in that huge tank are gonna take awhile to cycle, no way it will cycle in 2 weeks unless you use a jumpstart, and even then i would doubt it-- i haven't used that packaged stuff, but have seen a lot of folks question it's worth---if you aren't familiar with cycling, i would suggest reading up now, before you buy the africans..important for knowing how and what to clean in the tank also...it may become important in the future of the tank as well--some meds kill off your bacterial population and it's almost starting from square one again, and with a tank of fish it would be easy for them to die off during the recycling --even if it cycles with the 2 comets, you won't be able to immediately fill it up with africans....
oh, and for not using fish, it's called fishless cycling--do a search on google, it's a pretty neat process! best wishes, looks like you are off to a great start!

[fishfreek]

Actually there are 6 comets in there. How would that change your suggestions, crazy?

[sunsplash76]

Thank-you everyone for all your wonderful advice! Lol@fishfreek, yes I had damaged the electrical outlet plate while vacuuming not long ago and had to get to the store and replace it. You probably thought we were ghetto huh, lol. We live in gov't housing, so we get what we get and work with it. Last night, OMG OMG OMG the building was on fire! There was 9 million firetrucks and ambulances right out my back door a few hundred feet away. The news crew was there and saw my building on the 10:00 o'clock news in the background. Right in the middle of that apt building looks like a charcoal briquette! Yikes! anyways back to fish. I did a count in the tank, and actually there are 7 comets! I'm going to put more stresszyme in in 7 days. I really don't think I could wait longer than 2 weeks for my africans, but if the time isn't right I will suffer I want my fish to be happy and healthy. I saw this powder in the store that if added puts the PH of the tank to a perfect 7.0, thinking of getting it, or reading up on it somewhere. Temp in the 55 is this: 80 blue, 82 green, 84 brown? Does that mean it's between 82-84 degrees? That's my guess. As for the water supply, we are hooked up to the city resevoir. I do indeed dechlorinate the tap water. I used aqua safe. I want to get all these kits n stuff, but it takes alot of money to keep up with the start process. The tank and other stuff is probably close to 500$ already. I don't mind though, fishkeeping is worth it. Window to another world, I love it. My husband is an E-6 in the army, up for E-7 right now, he also put in a packet to become an officer; we won't find out till years end on that one, but we do alright with money;promotion would be nice. (More spoiled fish ) I start a job at the grocery store tonight stocking the shelves, so we are getting there. Thanks for all your advice! I like this site!
~Melissa~

[reefrunner69]

I saw this powder in the store that if added puts the PH of the tank to a perfect 7.0

African cichlids will appreciate a higher ph than 7.0. They are from the rift lakes, the one with the lowest ph is still above 8.0, and Lake Victoria is over 9.0 in places....You really should pick the fish you like, prefferrably from the same rift lake (most likley your looking at Malawi's), and gear your tank condition as well as decorations towards that. As far as decos go, instead of buying high priced aquarium decos, you might consider buying slate and making a rocky structure (with lots of caves) for them, they will be most at ease in that type of environment...