Im sorta a fish n00b

[GoatcheesePizza]

Hey people,

My name is Mike and Im a college student but still living at home. I have had a few fish tanks before but that was back a while. Since then I have now moved to Nebraska from Wisconsin and am wanting to start up my fish hobby again. What i am hoping to gain from joining this site was knowledge of different types of fish, creatures, plants and how big they get, how well they go together, etc... Like i said, I have had fish tanks before but this time I am wanting to start all over. By that I mean I want to experiment with new things and new set ups. I have a 10 gallon that Im in the process of setting up. All I have is the gravel and a clay pot. I also have 40 gallon out in the garage that I havent really touched since I moved. I dont have enough gravel for my 10 gallon yet so I am going to go to the store tomorrow and get more. then some decor and yadda yadda yadda. you guys know the process.

So thats a little bit about the fish part of my life.

 

[GoldfishNewbie]

Hey welcome to AA You picked a great site to join, everyone on here is super friendly and helpful.
Just to start off, do you know about cycling tanks? that's an important step most fish noobs dont know about (myself included, thankfully people are helping me learn about it though ) I don't have the link with me, but I'm sure someone will add it for you
anyways feel free to post any questions you have, you're sure to learn a lot

 

[fort384]

Welcome to AA!

 

[Homedog98]

Check out the link in my signature on fishless cycling. It's the first step.

 

[GoatcheesePizza]

Thanks for the invites guys! and yeah I already know bout fishless tank cycling. I was told when i first started out that a 10g needs about 24 hours to cycle completely through. Is that correct? Not saying it is but its always worked for me when i set up my tanks a while ago. (ive re-done my 10g a couple times so yeah...

 

[fort384]

Filling a tank up with water and letting it run is not the same thing as cycling, I am afraid. Homedog's link above will help you get a better understanding of what is the most important thing happening in an aquarium.

 

[Homedog98]

Umm... No... It's more like 2 weeks... And longer if you use that bacteria in a bottle. Pure ammonia, fish food, or a raw shrimp will speed things up.

 

[Dylan5359]

Good thing you came to AA first. I can't tell you how much people don't cycle tanks properly and the fish end up dieing. Home dog is correct but it does take longer sometimes. You got lucky with not cycling your old tank. With my first ten gallon I didn't cycle either but luckily I had very hardy fish, you probably had the same. (not saying it wasn't cruel what I did)