Newbie questions :-\

[WilliS]

Hello all, im interested in fish keeping and have just a few questions. By the way, wonderful forums .

I just recently bought an 80 gallon bow front tank with a fluval 404 canister filter. i havent gotten it yet (ordered), but im prepairing for its arrival. (i cant wait!!!)

i want to keep discus fish, not necessarily a species tank, but i love the look of some of them, so would like maybe 4 or 5. if anyone has any experience with discus fish, i have another question: how hard are they to breed? they have quite a nice price tag on them and if they are easy to breed, i would certainly give it a shot.

for the look of the tank, i would like black gravel or sand. is sand ok for most freshwater fish? or should i just stick to gravel? (which would discus fish prefer?)

also, ive seen many tanks with a purplish glow to them and would like mine to look like that. is this safe for the fish? and my hood only comes with a 2 bulb fixture, would replacing one of them with the bulb which gives the purple glow be ok? or should i just add another fixture with a purple light.

ive been hearing about many cycling methods... the question i have though, is how long do these methods take? i would like to be able to keep fish without killing them . and how do i know if the cycle is done?


sorry for all the questions.. but my tank is coming thursday, ive never kept fish before, and im very excited to have an aquarium that will be a breathtaking part of my living room like many of you have already achieved many times over

 

[webmoose]

congrats on the tank.

Discus are great fish and they require a tank that can stay balanced and clean.

Sand is ok for freshwater fish but you want to make sure you stir it often so to prevent toxic pockets.

Many people that own discus don't have a substrate so they can keep their tank really clean.

Cycling always feels like a long process especially in a new tank you want up and running. You should read about the fishless cycle. You add ammonia daily until you cycle.

Welcome and happy fish keeping..

You know your tank has cycled by testing the water and watching the levels of Ammonia/nitrites/nitrates

when you have had an ammonia and nitrite spike and they test at zero again you've cycled...

You might not want to start with discus as your first tank..

 

[WilliS]

yea, i dont plan on getting discus until i get the hang of keeping $3 fish

the guy who sold me the tank recommended a bottle of some sort of cycle product that you put in once a day while you have your first fish in the tank...im not sure what its for, its still with the filter/heater and such at the store waiting for me to pick them all up at once.

so should i go with buying some cheap fish and using this bottle of stuff to help the cycle process? or should i use a fishless cycle? i just want to get up and running with some pretty fish

 

[Endgame319]

The "cycle" stuff doesn't work. Try either a fishless cycle (reccomended), or the old-fashion way, with hardy fish. I'm sure BrianNY can help you out with discus.

 

[Fishalicious]

I recommend before you do ANYTHING you buy a book. A good book on aquarium keeping and do plenty of research on the nitrogen cycle as it is a very important (and often overlooked) part of keeping a very healthy tank.

While you're reading that book, you can start off with simpler fish but I would not recommend getting the Discus until you have read a good book on them, too.

Your best bet is to read books, not research on the net and go by what other people say (NO offense to the people on this forum, most of you are very educated and know what you're doing, but sometimes it's a little hard to get your point clear on a forum).

Before you do anything, avoid making mistakes by educating yourself so much that it is completely clear to you on what you will be doing. You'll be much better off that way and will thank yourself (and perhaps me) in the end.

Best of Luck! (Discus are beautiful)
~Dan

 

[aquahungerforce]

If you are interested in Discus, a wonderful book is "Discus Fish, A Complete Pet Owners Manual" by Barrons. It is a great reference that will explain all the requirements of discus and let you decide wether you want to put the time and effort into a discus tank. You can get it on Amazon for $7.95. Good luck!
Discus are beautiful fish, and well worth the effort!

 

[WilliS]

thanks for all the information guys, i know this kind of stuff gets old fast when you have hundreds of new people asking about the same stuff, but sometimes i rather have a helpful persons advice over someone whos trying to make a dollar off me

so, last question for me for a while

ive seen many tanks with a purplish glow to them and would like mine to look like that. is this safe for the fish? and my hood only comes with a 2 bulb fixture, would replacing one of them with the bulb which gives the purple glow be ok? or should i just add another fixture with a purple light.