Hello!

[DreaminginBlue]

Hello! I am new to this site and to the wonderful hobby of fish keeping. I just set up a 26 gallon bow-front tank today, and I am cycling it. (Photo attached, I apologize if it is blurry!) I hope to plant it and put guppies, corydoras catfish, and shrimp in it. I have some cool rocks and gravel in it currently, but have to go buy some wood and plants.

Does anyone have any tips on cycling? I'm a little overwhelmed and I've been doing my research, but there are just so many sites and resources and I don't know where to begin.

Thanks!

~DreaminginBlue

 

[Hoobfoob]

Congrats on your new tank! Those rocks look so nice! I love the formation they make.

Here is a guide to fishless cycling. It's a wealth of information and helped me a lot when I started!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/the-almost-complete-guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling/

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Thank you so much! I was hoping to create some nice hiding places for my shrimp and corydoras catfish.

I'll look into the fishless cycling and give it a try.

~DreaminginBlue

 

[Mr. Aquaforce]

Thank you so much! I was hoping to create some nice hiding places for my shrimp and corydoras catfish.

I'll look into the fishless cycling and give it a try.

~DreaminginBlue

You can make caves out of pvc or rocks using aquairum silicone if youre into diy projects otherwise you can find a huge assortment in amazon / get plants as well as they provide good hiding spots.

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Okay, thank you for the tips! I'll look into those.

 

[DreaminginBlue]

Day Two!!

I went to the LFS with my mom, intending to get plants and wood. She ended up getting talked into fish-in cycling, though I wanted to do fishless cycling, so we brought four candy cane tetras and two red platies home. All is well, but I'm a little nervous about how to manage my tank when it's cycling....

 

[Delapool]

Hi, welcome - did you grab a vial/solution test kit like API freshwater master test kit? You will need that for either method. Just in case, don't get the cardboard strips as they under read.