neilanh
Sliced Bread
1st Post!!!
Okay, now that that's out of the way...
As I'm sure tons of people did, I got a new tank for Christmas that I've been wanting. While I've kept smaller tanks before for my daughter, this will be the first, what I consider larger scale, that I'm doing. We kept for over a year an Eclipse 12, artifically planted, Neon Tetras and rosy barbs, a pleco, and some snails. We had an algae problem come up at one point, but I think that was just because we had gotten lazy in our cleanings. That won't happen again, and was easily cleared after a handful of Partial water changes over a period of weeks.
Hoping for some of you experts to take a look at what I'm considering and provide any feedback you might have. I also have questions about the proper way to cycle the tank.
Here's the hardware I have waiting to be setup. With exception of the tank, I'm more than willing to exchange the other equipment for better options, so if you have advice in that manner, fire away. I am, however, hoping to get things rolling this week.
My equipment:
Oceanic 46 gallon Bow tank
Marineland Emperor 280 Bio-Wheel filter
Top Fin 300W heater
The tank hood comes with a 25W tube for lighting
Here's what Im considering to do...
Gravel Substrate
Mostly artificial plants, however I'd like some live plants for the background. Not a lot, as I don't like the whole planted thing, but a few I'm considering are Swords, Anacharis, and/or Temple-Narrow Leaf.
Now, here's the fish that I think I'd like to have:
Red Marlboro Discus
Yellow Marlboro Discus
Clown Loaches
Pleco
Neon Tetras
Possiby some Guppies
Swordtails
Blue Lobster
Shrimp
Obviously, I'm not going to go out and buy them all tomorrow, and from what I can tell, all of the fish are compatible, and hopefully you guys can tell me about the invertebrates I'm wanting to do.
So, for my first set of questions:
What do you guys think of my considerations here?
I doubt the lighting that came with the tank is adequate for live plants. True or False? Is upgrading as simple as purchasing a different bulb? Are the benefits of live plants worth it?
How do I figure out how much algae eating fish to use? Is 1 pleco sufficient, or should I consider some other bottom dwellers too?
Since fish will be introduced over time, using this list above, what order should they be introduced?
Now my more immediate question. The initial cycle of the tank.
While I'm quite anxious, I'm not going to start adding fish until the tank is ready. I'll be buying a good test set to get me going and keep an eye on things through the initial cycle, but I've read so many different things on how to cycle a tank, I just don't know at this point.
As one of my presents, I got a bottle of TetraAqua AquaSafe water conditioner. Obviously this is to dechlorinate the water, but will it introduce the ammonia I need to start off? If not, what do you recommend on how to cycle a tank? I know at pet stores they have stuff they claim for initiating a tank, is any of that any good? I've read tons of posts, here and elsewhere, and this topic seems to be extremely opinionated. Also, what kind of time am I looking for cycling a tank this size to get it ready for fish? The LFS said 10-14 days, is that reasonable? I know the truth is in the numbers from the test set, but my daughter's as anxious as I, and she works better with a timetable guideline
Also, what should I use for the initial cleaning of the tank? It's new, and not like it's filthy, but they had it on display at the store with ribbons and junk in it, and it's naturally got a bit of dust as well. I know no soap, so what should I use?
Anxious to hear your thoughts, and thanks for providing a forum like this to tap in to the large knowledgebase of people who are in the know! I sometimes feel guilty bombarding all these questions at once, but that's the only way to learn, right?
Merry Christmas!
Neilan
Okay, now that that's out of the way...
As I'm sure tons of people did, I got a new tank for Christmas that I've been wanting. While I've kept smaller tanks before for my daughter, this will be the first, what I consider larger scale, that I'm doing. We kept for over a year an Eclipse 12, artifically planted, Neon Tetras and rosy barbs, a pleco, and some snails. We had an algae problem come up at one point, but I think that was just because we had gotten lazy in our cleanings. That won't happen again, and was easily cleared after a handful of Partial water changes over a period of weeks.
Hoping for some of you experts to take a look at what I'm considering and provide any feedback you might have. I also have questions about the proper way to cycle the tank.
Here's the hardware I have waiting to be setup. With exception of the tank, I'm more than willing to exchange the other equipment for better options, so if you have advice in that manner, fire away. I am, however, hoping to get things rolling this week.
My equipment:
Oceanic 46 gallon Bow tank
Marineland Emperor 280 Bio-Wheel filter
Top Fin 300W heater
The tank hood comes with a 25W tube for lighting
Here's what Im considering to do...
Gravel Substrate
Mostly artificial plants, however I'd like some live plants for the background. Not a lot, as I don't like the whole planted thing, but a few I'm considering are Swords, Anacharis, and/or Temple-Narrow Leaf.
Now, here's the fish that I think I'd like to have:
Red Marlboro Discus
Yellow Marlboro Discus
Clown Loaches
Pleco
Neon Tetras
Possiby some Guppies
Swordtails
Blue Lobster
Shrimp
Obviously, I'm not going to go out and buy them all tomorrow, and from what I can tell, all of the fish are compatible, and hopefully you guys can tell me about the invertebrates I'm wanting to do.
So, for my first set of questions:
What do you guys think of my considerations here?
I doubt the lighting that came with the tank is adequate for live plants. True or False? Is upgrading as simple as purchasing a different bulb? Are the benefits of live plants worth it?
How do I figure out how much algae eating fish to use? Is 1 pleco sufficient, or should I consider some other bottom dwellers too?
Since fish will be introduced over time, using this list above, what order should they be introduced?
Now my more immediate question. The initial cycle of the tank.
While I'm quite anxious, I'm not going to start adding fish until the tank is ready. I'll be buying a good test set to get me going and keep an eye on things through the initial cycle, but I've read so many different things on how to cycle a tank, I just don't know at this point.
As one of my presents, I got a bottle of TetraAqua AquaSafe water conditioner. Obviously this is to dechlorinate the water, but will it introduce the ammonia I need to start off? If not, what do you recommend on how to cycle a tank? I know at pet stores they have stuff they claim for initiating a tank, is any of that any good? I've read tons of posts, here and elsewhere, and this topic seems to be extremely opinionated. Also, what kind of time am I looking for cycling a tank this size to get it ready for fish? The LFS said 10-14 days, is that reasonable? I know the truth is in the numbers from the test set, but my daughter's as anxious as I, and she works better with a timetable guideline
Also, what should I use for the initial cleaning of the tank? It's new, and not like it's filthy, but they had it on display at the store with ribbons and junk in it, and it's naturally got a bit of dust as well. I know no soap, so what should I use?
Anxious to hear your thoughts, and thanks for providing a forum like this to tap in to the large knowledgebase of people who are in the know! I sometimes feel guilty bombarding all these questions at once, but that's the only way to learn, right?
Merry Christmas!
Neilan