Hello again,
Newbie here that could use some advice. I posted my whole fish saga over in the introductions forum, so I won't go into it all again here. Suffice it to say, I am 2 days into a fish in cycle with a betta and 2 green lantern patys.
1) I've got a test kit on order, every shop in my area seems to be out, but I need advice on a vacuum. I'm using sand instead of gravel, as I just like the look better and thought it would be less likely to collect gunk, but now I'm not so sure.
2) Is it safe to use the castle from my old tank in the new one. I've not done so because of the algae growth, but if there is a way to get rid of the algae w/o soap, I'd like to try.
3) I'd eventually like to add some live plants, but am not sure the type of sand I have. It's just the cheep stuff from from petco. I've browsed through the planted tank forum, but truthfully, it's all Greek to me. The light on my hood is a florescent tube if that helps at all.
4) The test kit won't be here for about a week, is there something I should be doing to keep the water healthy for the fish until I can be sure of levels?
I know I'm asking a lot of basic questions here, but I just want to make sure I provide a safe and happy home for the fish currently under my care, and hopefully add a few more in time.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you give!
Newbie here that could use some advice. I posted my whole fish saga over in the introductions forum, so I won't go into it all again here. Suffice it to say, I am 2 days into a fish in cycle with a betta and 2 green lantern patys.
1) I've got a test kit on order, every shop in my area seems to be out, but I need advice on a vacuum. I'm using sand instead of gravel, as I just like the look better and thought it would be less likely to collect gunk, but now I'm not so sure.
2) Is it safe to use the castle from my old tank in the new one. I've not done so because of the algae growth, but if there is a way to get rid of the algae w/o soap, I'd like to try.
3) I'd eventually like to add some live plants, but am not sure the type of sand I have. It's just the cheep stuff from from petco. I've browsed through the planted tank forum, but truthfully, it's all Greek to me. The light on my hood is a florescent tube if that helps at all.
4) The test kit won't be here for about a week, is there something I should be doing to keep the water healthy for the fish until I can be sure of levels?
I know I'm asking a lot of basic questions here, but I just want to make sure I provide a safe and happy home for the fish currently under my care, and hopefully add a few more in time.
Thanks in advance for any guidance you give!