Goods for the new setup arrived

[Reese299]

Today I received my 3 bags of Flourite from www.drsfostersmith.com and I picked up my sand at the hardware store the other day (pool sand)! It's been suggested to not have them together, but I'm doing it anyway :-|...

Next step is to clean out the tank from its previous disaster (my daughters goldfish from the fair that died a few weeks ago). Once that's cleaned, time to wash the Flourite (i know - wash it good ), then lay it out in the tank and add the sand over top, fill it, heat it to 76-78 degrees and plant it! After that (and next paycheck) get the fish! I'm hoping to have some fish in it by the 19th/20th of January.

Next post should have some pics... Hoping the canister filter and other accessories arrive tomorrow!

 

[Zagz]

Congrats on the new supplies. It is exciting to get things to start a tank. Looking forward to seeing pics as you progress.

 

[7Enigma]

I think it will look alright (substrate). My PFS has many different shades of brown/tan and as it ages it tends to darken a bit at the surface (due to bacteria and other algae/microbes growing on it). At the beginning it might look not so great if mixed by rearranging a plant (or from a fish), but over time it should even out pretty well I'd imagine.

Please make sure you cycle your tank before the new fish are introduced. Unless you are heavily planted and supplimenting with CO2/ferts, its unlikely you will silent cycle (no ammonia/nitrIte detected). I recommend for most people to fishless cycle WITHOUT plants to avoid algae problems (see the articles section).

Make sure you REALLY wash the pool filter sand. Depending on the source and how it was stored it can be VERY VERY dirty. Mine still clouded my tank after a good 20min wash and to this day I regret not spending an extra 20minutes really getting it cleaned. Don't make the same mistake I did; start out with a small amount of sand in a bucket, clean it well, then move to the next batch. I tried to clean all of my sand at once in a 5gallon bucket (for a 20 gallon tank), and so didn't really have enough space to get a good cleaning. Best way I could think of to quickly clean the amount of substrate you have would be to buy a cheap kiddi-pool (those ugly plastic pools). It has a lot of surface area so you could spread the sand/flourite out nice and thin, hose it down, and then dump it out. Do that a couple times and you should be all set (then do it twice more for good measure! ).

If you haven't let your filter dry out its possible there is still bacteria living. You can put the filter in/connected to a bucket and dose some ammonia or fish food to grow the bacteria out of the tank so you cycle quicker. Then when you get the new canister filter, hook that up as well to start seeding the bacteria in it. When you set up the tank use BOTH filters until you are sure you can remove the old one without causing a minicycle.

Goodluck, and post those pics!

 

[Reese299]

I wish I would have read this before ... I cleaned up the filter first thing with hot water and a tooth brush and cleaned out the tank with water and a scraper for a hour...

I've got the flourite washed and in place in the tank and holh schnikies was it dirty - I had to laugh becasue the package says you can wash it if you want to, but it's not needed... Yeah right... I have an entire plastic bag full of silt/sand that was washed out from it. I'llhave details in my post with piuctures - hopefully tomorrow...

I was not going to even wash the sand until your post! Some one read they bought playground sand and filled upi the tank 20%, drained it, filled it, drained it and it was good to go... Due to your post, I'll definately wash it. The bag does say standard quality sand...

I'm curious to know more about cycling the tank... Are there chemicals I can get to start it off right? My plan was to fill it, plant it and let it run with the canister filer (which did NOT come to day :censor: ) for about 5 days, then get a few fish...I have some "Stress Coat" that "removes chlorine and neutralizes chloramines" to condition the tap water and also some "Stress Zyme" that "Contains dual action live bacteria <that> speeds development of the biological filter <and> helps keep aquariums clean and naturally balanced". Think that will work to get it started for a a 5 day head start before the fish but with low-light plants and no CO2?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The only product that works is Bio Spira. You add it at the same time you add the fish.

 

[7Enigma]

I'm curious to know more about cycling the tank... Are there chemicals I can get to start it off right? My plan was to fill it, plant it and let it run with the canister filer (which did NOT come to day :censor: ) for about 5 days, then get a few fish...I have some "Stress Coat" that "removes chlorine and neutralizes chloramines" to condition the tap water and also some "Stress Zyme" that "Contains dual action live bacteria <that> speeds development of the biological filter <and> helps keep aquariums clean and naturally balanced". Think that will work to get it started for a a 5 day head start before the fish but with low-light plants and no CO2?

Read through the fishless cycling article in the Articles section of this site. Bottom line there is no replacement for active alive bacteria. Best more surefire way of getting this is used filter media from an already established tank. That can really cut down on the cycle time.

As for the 5 days with low-light plants, not a chance. Unless you have a forest of plants and only add 1 or 2 fish I don't see ammonia or nitrIte levels staying below dangerous.