Some basic q's

[hamburgler]

So all day long at work i answer questions and inform people about fish. But the thing is i've never set up a tank before until now oddly enough. Its going to be a 10g community tank for a dorm room.
Anyways...
For cycling...i may not have access to used filter media but i have heard of the substrate in panty hose method. I was just wondering how well this works. Do i put it in the filter box, in the tank, or both (i can get as much as i need really)? The filter is a penguin 100.
I would need to transport the substrate about an hour....but i could keep it in a fish bag with plenty of water...what are my chances there?

And lastly...i chose the caribsea moon sand. How do i rinse sand? As i hear it is necessary to get rid of much of the cloudiness. I'm just wondering the best method?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Nokinja]

I ended up getting into fishkeeping because I was hired, without experience, to work the fishroom of a petstore.

The more I learned, the more I hated working there because I could see how they didn't truly care about the fish. It pushed me to make our offerings better and to educate customers.

I got fired because I told a woman not to buy Cichlids to add with her tetras and the boss heard me.

You can put the substrate right on the bottom of the tank, but it won't make a huge difference unless you have a lot of it. In the filter would be best as it will get a lot of water flowing over it.

Good luck with the tank. You've chosen an amazing forum with many, many educated people. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Welcome to the forum![/i]

 

[Lonewolfblue]

As for the substrate in pantyhose, works well. Might want to get 2, 1 for in the filter and 1 for on the bottom of the tank. As long as the gravel stays wet, and isn't too much of a temp fluctuation, the bacteria will hold the trip pretty well.

As for moon sand, just put in a bucket with a hose in it, and keep swishing the sand around til the water becomes clear. May take a while. And even after rinsing, the tank will still become a little cloudy, but will settle fairly quickly.

 

[hamburgler]

Thanks a lot.

So while cycling with the substrate/pantyhose....i will do one in tank and one in filter. If that isnt sufficient i could even add another in the tank. So the way i take it is that i just have it set up with the pantyhose until the tank is cycled, then put in the regular cartridges? Or do i put both in at once?

 

[rich311k]

Put in both you want to seed the new filter.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Need to use both if possible. And if it doesn't fit, then stick the cartrige under the pantyhose in the bottom of the tank. How are you going to cycle, fishless or with fish? With this setup in a small tank, you could start with a couple fish, and probably won't even see a spike. Then just add 2 fish a week if you have no ammonia readings, after the first fish have been in the tank for a week. The key is going slow, and let the bacteria catch up to your bioload.

Now if you go fishless, then you need an ammonia source. Just make sure it's straight ammonia, with no detergents, additives, perfumes, etc.