Wanna help walk me through starting up a tank?

[Nigel227]

I have a 30 gal tank in my apartment that I am trying to get started up. I have some general background knowledge of how to maintain a tank but starting it up is something I've never done before.

My goal is to get a stable freshwater environment with some little, colorful, schooling fish and maybe a few others (depending on recommendations from y'all). Cycling is still kind of a mystery to me but from reading a few posts I'm assuming the fish-less approach is easiest. This is where I feel like I will need the most help. I bought a 150 Watt Aquarium Heater made by Top Fin so I can have fish more accustomed to warmer water.

Cleaning and maintenance are easy for me (I do this as a job at an aquarium). My tank came with a bunch of stuff including:

gravel washer and hose
two fake plants and a coral tunnel decoration
substrate (small stones and pebbles. brown/natural looking not colorful/fake)
food
filter (hangs over the back) and some floss for the filter
some water treatment supplies. haven't gone through them yet to see brands
Pump for an airstone

I have just bought some supplies myself:

scrub brush
2 nets
150 Watt heater
air stone and hose

I guess my question is, what do I do next? I have pictures, just gotta figure out how to post them (sorry, new to site also)

Thanks

 

[eco23]

Welcome to the site . It seems like you've got a good background to set up a healthy aquarium. This would be a great time to look a bit deeper into cycling your tank and getting everything set to go. Check out the guide in my signature, which personally, would be my next step

 

[Nigel227]

Tank is up and running now. I have it filled with water, filter is running, air stone blowin, and the heater on 79 F. Dechlorinating next, then ammonia which I got at Ace Hardware.

About how much ammonia will it take to get me to 4ppm?

 

[eco23]

Tank is up and running now. I have it filled with water, filter is running, air stone blowin, and the heater on 79 F. Dechlorinating next, then ammonia which I got at Ace Hardware.

About how much ammonia will it take to get me to 4ppm?

Good for you, you're off to a great start

The Ace Brand is some potent stuff. Just add a little (maybe half a capful?), let it circulate, test and add more if necessary. If you overdose, you can just do a water change to bring it down.

Try to find some healthy seeding material from an established tank...it will help your cycle tremendously.

Feel free to ask questions, we're happy to help

 

[zparticle]

About how much ammonia will it take to get me to 4ppm?

Using the Ace ammonia when I started my 20g tank I put in 20 ml having no idea how much to use. It took me several massive water changes to get it down to 4ppm.

 

[librarygirl]

Congrats on your new tank, it looks great! And good for you for researching first before just adding fish!

I'm using the ACE brand on my 20 gal, be careful, it's potent stuff and I think a whole capful would be too much. I use a turkey baster to add my drops and only about 9 drops gets me to 3 PPM on the API kit. Being conservative is better add a few drops at a time and then test after a half hour or so, repeat until you get to about 4 PPM and count your drops as you go so you know how many you need. Good luck!