Coyote251
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hello Everyone, I just wanted to make a quick post as I have just joined the forum. I am relatively new to keeping an aquarium. My 2yr old loved the fish in the pet store so we bought him a little beta tank. The beta lasted about 4 weeks and then had to make the short journey down the porcelin highway. I felt really bad about this so I started doing some research and found out that keeping those fish in that environment is pretty cruel. I wanted to get an aquarium that I would have a better chance of controlling the environment. Friends of ours had a little 5 gallon setup that they didn't want, so I set it up and cycled it. I added 6 Harrlequin Rasborras after a few weeks, and they are doing well. I did some more research after this and found out that this is also a hard tank to run, and I was having trouble keeping the gravel clean and not drain out to much water. I now clean the gravel weekly and have configured a plastic pop bottle into a filter I returned the filtered water to the tank and then change out about 20%. I don't know if this is right or wrong but my weekly water tests have all been good since and the fish seem to be thriving. After having success with this tank I wanted to upgrade so I went out last night and bought a 33gallon setup. I have planted some plants in the tank and am going to the beach tomorrow to look for some rock and wood this is where my questions start:
1) Can I boil the rocks and driftwood and add it to my tank? My only concern is the salt from the driftwood, chemicals are not a concern for me. Will any salt in the water affect the fish, or will the content be so low that it will cycle out in a few weeks?
2) How can I tell from water tests when the tank is ready for fish? I currently have the capability of checking for PH,NH3,NO2,NO3. Should I also be checking hardness of the water? How do you check for salinity if I put driftwood in the tank?
3) I would like to have a community with an assortment of sizes and colours with as many fish as I can safely put in this new aquarium. Can anybody make a stocking suggestion that will accomplish my goals. I would like to have as many different species as I can. I am also in no rush to get fish in the tank, I want to make sure that it is ready before I put anything in there.
Any help or suggestions that anybody has would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
1) Can I boil the rocks and driftwood and add it to my tank? My only concern is the salt from the driftwood, chemicals are not a concern for me. Will any salt in the water affect the fish, or will the content be so low that it will cycle out in a few weeks?
2) How can I tell from water tests when the tank is ready for fish? I currently have the capability of checking for PH,NH3,NO2,NO3. Should I also be checking hardness of the water? How do you check for salinity if I put driftwood in the tank?
3) I would like to have a community with an assortment of sizes and colours with as many fish as I can safely put in this new aquarium. Can anybody make a stocking suggestion that will accomplish my goals. I would like to have as many different species as I can. I am also in no rush to get fish in the tank, I want to make sure that it is ready before I put anything in there.
Any help or suggestions that anybody has would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers