Getting started as a newbie

[GoldsGuy]

The hill is actually around the castle! You don't see half of the decoration (castle) it is around 16 inches tall! There is vino grass, some java ferns, but the majority of what you see is creeping beleheri. And it is attached to the rocks! It grows in a very similar way to English ivy. Just sticks to everything. That came from a friends tank! There are probably 30 rocks of different shapes and sizes pre covered in plant. And that did not even put a dent in all the ones in his tank. (he literally has the largest tank I have ever seen in a home.) oh but the rocks are placed in a way that there are several tunnels/caves for the inhabitants to hide and play in.

Wow. That sounds really cool. Try to take other pics. Sounds really awesome for your fish. Congrats man.

 

[Benmstar]

Wow. That sounds really cool. Try to take other pics. Sounds really awesome for your fish. Congrats man.

Thanks I go a little over board when I start a project lol!

 

[Benmstar]

I can't say from experience as I've never used them (this review on Amazon isn't great but that's just one person lol). I've always used the Aqueon adjustable heaters and find they work well.

What temp should I am for with guppies?

 

[tamtam]

What temp should I am for with guppies?

I know this isn't directed to me but they are ok with a pretty wide range 65-80ish F. Ideally you want to plop them somewhere in the middle of that, like 75

 

[Benmstar]

I know this isn't directed to me but they are ok with a pretty wide range 65-80ish F. Ideally you want to plop them somewhere in the middle of that, like 75

Brilliant! I read several conflicting numbers online!

Ugh, wish there were more defined standards in fish keeping manuals!

 

[tamtam]

Brilliant! I read several conflicting numbers online!

Ugh, wish there were more defined standards in fish keeping manuals!

It can be really frustrating that's for sure. I've only been back into the hobby for a few months, hadn't had a tank since my mid teens... 8-9 years ago. It's been hard at times trying to figure things out with all of the conflicting info.

I think with things like temp and PH that stability is just as important as the number though. Some people don't get that and start messing with stuff trying to get that perfect number and leave the fish bouncing all over in these changes.

 

[Benmstar]

It can be really frustrating that's for sure. I've only been back into the hobby for a few months, hadn't had a tank since my mid teens... 8-9 years ago. It's been hard at times trying to figure things out with all of the conflicting info.

I think with things like temp and PH that stability is just as important as the number though. Some people don't get that and start messing with stuff trying to get that perfect number and leave the fish bouncing all over in these changes.

Very cool I will do my very best to just maintain and slowly get it to practically perfect.

Which made me ponder.
So here is the question how does the temp of the water affect the fish when you do a water change?

 

[tamtam]

Very cool I will do my very best to just maintain and slowly get it to practically perfect.

Which made me ponder.
So here is the question how does the temp of the water affect the fish when you do a water change?

usually you do your best to match the temp.

I do this by a series of running back and forth from the tank to the bucket to get the temp as close to the tank as possible.

Some people like to use thermometers and be right on target but by hand works just fine. You just don't want any big jump in temp on your tank to shock your fish.

 

[Benmstar]

Cool that thought just popped into my head. Lol

 

[TankGirl]

Hi there, just found your thread. It sounds like you are well on your way.

When you say you are fishless cycling, does that mean you're adding ammonia to feed bacteria provided by your friend's cycled media (I may have misread something but this is what I understand)?

As for water changes definitely try to match temperature and other parameters to the tank, and do frequent water changes, so your tank and the tap water, assuming that's what you're using, will always be relatively close.

Right now I'm having a bit of an issue because the cold water out of the tap is a bit over 80, but I don't keep my tanks quite that warm. I use a Python so there's no buckets of water to allow to adjust to room temp, so this time of year I do smaller, more frequent PWCs so there is not such a difference in temp. Also, in the summer some municipalities bump up the chemicals they add to the water to keep bacteria and such out, and this can cause problems in aquariums, but is highly variable location to location.

If you don't have a local source for colorful guppies I am a HUGE fan of Aquabid. I have bought all kinds of things from well-known and respected breeders, and some regular hobbyists, including supplies and plants. Be sure and check out feedback, just like you would on Ebay.

 

[Benmstar]

Hi there, just found your thread. It sounds like you are well on your way.

When you say you are fishless cycling, does that mean you're adding ammonia to feed bacteria provided by your friend's cycled media (I may have misread something but this is what I understand)?

As for water changes definitely try to match temperature and other parameters to the tank, and do frequent water changes, so your tank and the tap water, assuming that's what you're using, will always be relatively close.

Right now I'm having a bit of an issue because the cold water out of the tap is a bit over 80, but I don't keep my tanks quite that warm. I use a Python so there's no buckets of water to allow to adjust to room temp, so this time of year I do smaller, more frequent PWCs so there is not such a difference in temp. Also, in the summer some municipalities bump up the chemicals they add to the water to keep bacteria and such out, and this can cause problems in aquariums, but is highly variable location to location.

If you don't have a local source for colorful guppies I am a HUGE fan of Aquabid. I have bought all kinds of things from well-known and respected breeders, and some regular hobbyists, including supplies and plants. Be sure and check out feedback, just like you would on Ebay.

so for the first thing about adding the ammonia
do i need to add it if my reading are looking good i am using a hob filter with the cartrage that was in it from my friends tank as well as the filter that i will be using for the long term(the idea being to get the bacteria built up in the new filter). also all of the plants and rocks are from his established tank. after letting it run for a week this way every time i have tested the water it has been paractiallly perfect
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
and nitrate has been between 5-10


I have been using distilled water from the store it is dirt cheap and the water quality in my area is horrible. i give my dog water from the store even.

i have just started to check out the local lfs in my area they seem a little skanky so far lol

 

[GoldsGuy]

Make sure if you use RO water that it is buffered or you had some spring water to add buffers. Otherwise you will have pH swings and/or crashes resulting in dead fish.

 

[TankGirl]

Your readings are good right now, but the bacteria cannot survive without anything to feed it, like the ammonia and nitrite from fish waste, or the ammonia from a bottle. Bacterial colonies cannot build up without any critters in the tank- they'll die off. The best thing is to add the filter cartridge, plants and rocks at the same time as adding your fish, so the bacteria can be kept happy, and then you'll have what is known as a "silent" cycle - the tank still has to go through it, but you provide the bacteria to get it rolling and the fish do the rest, so you don't even notice it is cycling.

So, right now you can put a few small fish in there (since you don't have toxic ammonia or nitrite) and see if you get a spike of anything, watching it like a hawk, and see if you have seeded it and caught it in time before the bacteria died off.

As for your tap water, is it safe to drink? What is bad about it? If it is hard (this is what many people would consider bad water) then that is not a bad thing at all, and is actually a good thing for most aquarium fish. High nitrate would be an annoying thing to deal with, but otherwise chlorine, chloramines and elevated KH and GH are not anything to worry about at all, since dechlorinator deals with the chlorine/chloramine, and hard water is okay. These are typical for many municipal water systems. That said - there are many delicate and/or wild caught specimens that I would not put in hard water, but for the fish you're talking about working with hard water is fine.

As mentioned by GoldsGuy, distilled water lacks minerals and any buffering ability, so it is unstable, and would benefit from the addition of some tap water or spring water to provide buffering capacity (that keeps your pH stable in the presence of nitrogenous waste).

When I moved to S. Florida I had a bunch of tanks and everyone said the water was "bad." I used to lug 5-gal water jugs to the store every week and haul them around for all my water changes. In fact, the water was perfectly fine and safe, but just hard, and it was not a problem at all. Fish need stable water conditions, and that is much easier to accomplish with tap water, for most commonly kept aquarium fish. If you feel better about using distilled that's totally fine, but you'll need to add minerals to it for buffering that are removed during the distilling process. Spring water might be easier, but I'd test that for hardness, pH, KH, etc.

Also, look on the local forums here at AA to hook up with members in your area that may know about a gem of an LFS close to you.

 

[Benmstar]

ok so i will be using tap water from now on. the water in our area is just very hard.
that was a super great bit of information to get. that tap would be better would have never in a million years crossed my mind.

to the fish. i am driving to a fish store about an hour away after work to check it out i have gotten several good recomendations on it and i called in advance and the said they had a good selction of guppies in every color. and they even asked if i had cycled my tank and informed me that i needed to do as such before i purchased any fish so i hope the experience with them continues in the positve manor in which it has started thus far.

how many should i start with for today. i dont mind driving back if the store is nice

lol there are several amazing resurtants in that area so it is kinda a special treat to head that way any who lol

 

[TankGirl]

I'd start off with 7-8 fish and be sure to test for ammonia and nitrIte daily to see what happens.

That is a VERY encouraging sign that the LFS would bother to give advice about cycling the tank, etc. Many of them are just selling merchandise so hopefully this will be a good resource for you. I drive 2-3 hours sometimes for particular shops that are almost a destination themselves, and make a day of it.

Keep us posted!

 

[Benmstar]

I'd start off with 7-8 fish and be sure to test for ammonia and nitrIte daily to see what happens.

That is a VERY encouraging sign that the LFS would bother to give advice about cycling the tank, etc. Many of them are just selling merchandise so hopefully this will be a good resource for you. I drive 2-3 hours sometimes for particular shops that are almost a destination themselves, and make a day of it.

Keep us posted!

I will def make sure to test

Going to do twice a day for the first week.

And then back off on the testing

 

[Bearchumjs]

That looks great! Your friend did a good job.

 

[Bearchumjs]

The hill is actually around the castle! You don't see half of the decoration (castle) it is around 16 inches tall! There is vino grass, some java ferns, but the majority of what you see is creeping beleheri. And it is attached to the rocks! It grows in a very similar way to English ivy. Just sticks to everything. That came from a friends tank! There are probably 30 rocks of different shapes and sizes pre covered in plant. And that did not even put a dent in all the ones in his tank. (he literally has the largest tank I have ever seen in a home.) oh but the rocks are placed in a way that there are several tunnels/caves for the inhabitants to hide and play in.

Take a picture of your friends tank too! Lol!

 

[Bearchumjs]

Please let us know what fish you get!

Another thing about using distilled water is that it lacks minerals that your plants need too. I'm glad you are switching to tap water.

 

[Benmstar]