Recent content by doctorb

Well NOW I think the tank is finally cycled. I was away for a few days, and when I checked today I have 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite and 20 ppm nitrate. So now I guess its time to remove the shrimp and do a big PWC. The water has been murky for awhile (from an algae bloom I guess), so should I...

Ok thanks guys, I'll keep waiting. Everyone I know is making fun of me for having an empty tank for so long :D

I have been cycling my 35G tank for approximately 7 weeks now with raw shrimp. For the last little while I have had zero ammonia, despite adding 3 shrimp to the tank. When I first started the cycle, I had 2 shrimp in, and had to remove one of them as the ammonia was off the charts. This leads...

Well I reached a milestone, there is now water in the tank! Everything seems to be working ok. The water is 56F right now, so I guess I'll find out if that heater is any good :D . Thanks everyone for the help so far. I was looking at some rock at the LFS today, but its really expensive. I...

I finally got around to buying all the stuff I need. The only thing I couldn't find unfortunately was pure ammonia. So instead I bought some raw shrimp. I was wondering how many shrimp I need to put in for a 35 gallon tank. I bought 2 jumbo shrimp, so Im not sure if I need them both in there...

Thats the sort of look I was going for, with a black background. I did wonder if the color of the fish would stand out enough against it though.

Well I think I found a stand HERE. It's $100 but its the only one I could find where I live, and I think it looks pretty good. I was wondering about gravel though. The fish store said you need a pound/gallon. Is that about right? And does this stuff look ok?

Thanks for all the tips guys, I have lots to look into now. The first order of business has to be a stand though, for some reason I didn't even think of that :). Is 36"x12" a fairly standard tank size? Im wondering if it is going to be easy to find a stand at any of the pet shops around here.

Thanks for the info! I will order one of those test kits. I was also wondering if there was a good resource online for the basics of aquarium care. I have been reading some of the stickies on things like the nitrogen cycle, but I think I need to start a little more basic. For instance I wouldn't...

I was recently given a tank by somebody who never got around to using it herself, and am trying to get it started up. I have been reading forums like this for the last few weeks though, and have quickly become overwhelmed. This hobby is a lot more indepth than I first gave it credit. I thought...