New owner of a 25 gallon tank!

[Cypilk]

Today, I went to the store and bought a brand spankin' new 25 gallon tank. I'm planning on going for freshwater aquarium. Right now, I have the following.



25 gallon tank
3 lbs black gravel
30 gallon Top Fin power filter
150 watt Theo Heater
and a cheap 15 watt all glass aquarium lamp



As of right now, I put in all the gravel and filled the tank up with tap water. The filter is running right now, with the heater set at 80 F. Tomorrow, I plan on going to the store to get a bottle that removes the chlorine from tap water, and also some Zebra Danio to start my nitrogen cycle with. I also need to pick up some tools such as:



A power strip
Thermometer
Bucket
Net
Siphon? ( I don't know what its called but its the tube that is used to drain out water from the tank to a bucket for when I need to remove Nitrates )



Any suggestions on how many Danios I should get? Or anything else I would need to pick up at the store?

 

[WaterPond]

I think you sould start out with a small group of danios, maybe three or four. Once you are done cycling, i would get a few more.

 

[Guest]

I would start with 4-5 small zebra danios. And only get them if you plan on keeping them. Not fair to the fish to just use them to cycle. Danios are a lot of fun, very active schooling fish.

When you pick up the dechlorinator, I think i speak for almost everyone here when I say get Prime =).


If you can find it, pick up some Bio Spira. If you can't find that, Pick up some Stability. It will help your cycle.

The Siphon is also called a gravel vacuum.

If you have the money, stop at home depot and get a light timer.

Get food for your danios while you are there =)

decorations =)

Other than that you have a really good start. Oh, and get a TEST KIT, the liquid kind, not the strips. Most of us swear by the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master test kit. it does everything you need. YOU NEED THIS.


Good luck =)

 

[JustOneMore20]

3 lbs of gravel isn't alot, but if it looks ok to you, then I guess its fine. Just thought I'd mention that.

Instead of the bucket and the siphon, I'd pick up a Python brand gravel vac if you can find one. They are great. They hook up directly to your sink and the water pressure siphons water out of the tank (and the nasties too). Then you adjust something (not sure what its called) and it puts clean water back into the tank. Its a very handy thing to have.

And you should do water changes weekly after the tank is cycled, not just when you need to get rid of nitrates. Nitrates are ok to have....just keep them below 40ppm (you'll understand when you get the test kit and start cycling).

If you want to keep the danios, then get them and some Bio-Spira if you can find it. Otherwise, if the danios aren't in your stocking plans, I'd go fishless on the cycle.

Here is some reading material for ya:
Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle again
Fishless cycling
Fishless cycling again
Stocking guidelines for newbies *Use after the cycle is complete.

That should get you started!

 

[Cypilk]

Oh, not 3 lbs.. .30 lbs =D

Im going to go to the store and find some of the items you guys suggested ! I'll tell you how it goes!

 

[JustOneMore20]

I was thinking that the tank couldn't be too long or wide if 3 lbs of gravel covered the bottom...lol.

Alright, let us know what you find. And make sure, if you don't want the danios in your stocking, don't buy them! Go fishless...you'll need to look for ammonia at the grocery store...no additives, pure ammonia, no surfactants. Shake the bottle, if it bubbles, leave it on the shelf. Usually the unheard of brands are the way to go.

 

[rich311k]

You can also you use a cocktail shrimp or fishfood as your ammonia source. I have used freeeze dried brine shrimp, the last couple of times and had an ammonia reading within 48 hours.

 

[joannde]

Personally, if I had to do fishless cycling again I'd go with the cocktail shrimp from the start. I switched to the shrimp once the ammonia spike fell. Yeah, its a little gross to look at and it smells a bit if you stick your nose right to the top of the water, but there are no worries about the right type of ammonia and you don't have to remember to dose.

 

[Cypilk]

Got it!

I picked up some items from the store like a fish net, a thermometer, 4 danios, and some free fish flakes from a friend that hasn't even been opened yet! I couldn't help myself from getting fish from the store and they were cheap! I spent about 80 cents on each of the danios and acclimated them into my new 25 gallon tank after I dechlorinated it. They seem happy, all of the danios are the samed sized except for one miniature one that kind of hangs by itself near the top of the tank. The other three swim with each other and chase each orhter around all the time. I also dropped in a pinch of fish flake food so they know that I wouldn't hurt them. I'm happy to see my aquarium jump off to a healthy start!

Hmm....I still need to get a bucket and a gravel vac for weekly water changes

 

[src]

Since you are cycling with fish, plan on daily water changes, every other day at the most, once the ammonia and nitrites start rising.

The issue of a fishless cycle isn't taken very lightly here - there's a strong sentiment that consideration for the fish's needs should be paramount, or at the very least WAY up on the list of priorities. It's considered to be the dividing line between being a "fishkeeper" and a "fish haver".

 

[Cypilk]

Oh, sorry!!!

I didn't know you guys would be offended by what i'm doing. Do you guys think the fish are suffering in the tank right now? They seem fine, and swim calmly back and forth. Is there something I should be doing to make them more comfortable in their new water?

 

[rich311k]

Just test your water and keep ammonia and nitrite under .5 ppm by water changes.

 

[Cypilk]

*salutes*

ROGER! I'm looking at my fish tank a lot and seeing how they act, and i'm gonna keep monitoring/testing the water to keep the water good and healthy!


.5 ppm?.. . .I thought the rule of thumb was to keep it under or around 40

 

[rkilling1]

.5 ppm?.. . .I thought the rule of thumb was to keep it under or around 40

.5 PPM for NH3 and NO2. 40 PPM for NO3 (some say under 20).

 

[Cypilk]

Ohh, I see.. Maybe I should consider having live plants in my aquarium. I have gravel at the moment though, and I know I need some iron supplement of some sort. Any suggestions?

 

[theatrus]

Live plants are a whole 'nother ballgame really . The trick is CO2 content of the water, Iron and other trace elements, substrate (Fluorite is a good one), pH of the water (plants like it to neutral, not too hard), and LIGHTING! Lighting is the most important part. I run a 65W CF strip light over my 20g personaly. Its rewarding, but imo harder to get right than fish

Zebra danios are great little fish, they're also very hardy and will likely survive any cycle unscathed. Note that they do have a shorter life span of around 3 years

I'd not worry about using live plants as a nutrient export system right away. Do a weekly water change once things have gotten established (i.e., you have a NO3 reading which differs from your tap water (in case your tap does have NO3)). I'd personaly not do a water change when your ammonia or nitrite spikes as you will probably end up delaying your cycle. If you notice your water suddenly is cloudy one day, you've hit a spike. I'd test every other day or every day for ammonia and nitrite to see how the levels are doing.

 

[Cypilk]

Hm...I may start looking into plants and some of the equipment I would need for making the plants happy. I should take a picture of what I have so far so all of you can see it. Now, if only I can find a digital camera....

 

[joannde]

Do a weekly water change once things have gotten established (i.e., you have a NO3 reading which differs from your tap water (in case your tap does have NO3)). I'd personaly not do a water change when your ammonia or nitrite spikes as you will probably end up delaying your cycle.

I'm sorry but I don't agree with this advice. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish and the ammonia spike could very well kill every living thing in the tank. Weekly water changes are also not enough during a cycle with fish. As Rich said, Ammonia and nitrites should not be allowed to exceed 0.5ppm - as soon as they get to those levels a 50% water change is needed.

 

[ksfishguy]

I have been cycling with fish and doing many partial water changes, it hasn't seemed to stall the cycle. My ammonia is down to zero ppm after spiking, the nitrite is currently spiking at 1-2 ppm and I am doing water changes to try to keep it lower (or from going higher), should be done soon. I don't know why I thought I could "think" my way into shortening the cycle process, it just won't happen faster that nature will allow, unless you seed the tank or take some other measures.

I have my nine year old son help with testing and water changes, it is a blast!

 

[JustOneMore20]

If you want plants, you'll have to replace your current lighting with a new fixture or a retrofit kit. 15w over a 25g is too low.

Head over to the planted forum and start browsing there....that will give you an idea of what you'll need to grow some plants.

I've had ammonia get up to around 3ppm with neons in the tank...accidentally...and they made it through. My tank was cycled, and experienced a mini-cycle. I'm not saying you should let it get that high. I personally think that it can go as high as 1ppm without hurting the fish...anything over that and you can burn their gills (with ammonia). Keeping it below 0.5 will be really hard...so I'd go for under 1ppm if you can...for ammonia and nitrite.