samth3mancgp
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I am going to consider myself a newbie to keeping an aquarium even though I have had several tanks in the past. (30 gallon freshwater that housed a variety of things, and a 55 gallon that had 5 Red Belly Piranhas.)
When I had those tanks I did a fair amount of research, but I was not willing to put in the money necessary to do it right. At the time my money was focused more on buying microphones and recording studio gear and I wasn't even willing to pay the $25 for the proper API test kit. All of my tanks, filters, and other "gear" were found mostly for free on craigslist. My attempts at a proper nitrogen cycle were half-assed to say the least.
I recently graduated from college, will be starting a new job and moved to a new place that I will be for a while. I am looking to put together a new tank!
Here is a list of all that is left of my past aquariums:
- 1 AquaClear 50 filter (with only the coarse foam)
- 1 AquaClear 20 filter (new in box with all 3 pieces of filter media)
- 1 heater (well-used to the point that I don't even know the brand name or wattage..)
- 1 bubbler air pump with short hose
- A few small tank decorations and plastic plants
I plan to get a tank that is somewhere between 30-40 gallons, since it will allow for a wide variety of fish while still being manageable.
Now for the thread's original question: Can I start a fishless nitrogen cycle without having the actual fish tank I plan to use? Can I use a Rubbermaid bin or an empty 5 gallon paint bucket? Or any other large container that can hold water?
I ask this because I haven't decided what tank I am going to get but I already have the two filters and some decorations that I could use to seed a tank with. All I would really need is some dechlorinator, pure ammonia, and the proper test kit to get started while I decide on a tank and everything else to get back into this hobby and do it right!
When I had those tanks I did a fair amount of research, but I was not willing to put in the money necessary to do it right. At the time my money was focused more on buying microphones and recording studio gear and I wasn't even willing to pay the $25 for the proper API test kit. All of my tanks, filters, and other "gear" were found mostly for free on craigslist. My attempts at a proper nitrogen cycle were half-assed to say the least.
I recently graduated from college, will be starting a new job and moved to a new place that I will be for a while. I am looking to put together a new tank!
Here is a list of all that is left of my past aquariums:
- 1 AquaClear 50 filter (with only the coarse foam)
- 1 AquaClear 20 filter (new in box with all 3 pieces of filter media)
- 1 heater (well-used to the point that I don't even know the brand name or wattage..)
- 1 bubbler air pump with short hose
- A few small tank decorations and plastic plants
I plan to get a tank that is somewhere between 30-40 gallons, since it will allow for a wide variety of fish while still being manageable.
Now for the thread's original question: Can I start a fishless nitrogen cycle without having the actual fish tank I plan to use? Can I use a Rubbermaid bin or an empty 5 gallon paint bucket? Or any other large container that can hold water?
I ask this because I haven't decided what tank I am going to get but I already have the two filters and some decorations that I could use to seed a tank with. All I would really need is some dechlorinator, pure ammonia, and the proper test kit to get started while I decide on a tank and everything else to get back into this hobby and do it right!