Starting New Tank

[Zelda]

Zelda here in need of advice/ answers. I'm going from a 10 gallon tank to a 42 gallon. This is a big adventure and really want to do it the right way. I have never had a tank bigger than 12gal. I have had tanks in the past, so I'm not a complete rookie. It's going to be a freshwater tank.
I got the tank, stand, light, Marineland filter(I need the wheel and filter yet), heater, and thermometers. No manual or instructions as this was given to me. I just washed some used gravel with bleach water(1 cup bleach to 8 cups water) and rinsed it real good. The tank was washed with Safe & Easy made by API and rinsed. How am I doing so far?
I'm not planing on using a bottom filter just the gravel. How much gravel do I need to have? Like 2 inches? Also a Power head G40 water mover. What is that for? I haven't got any water in yet, but I do have the stuff called 'cycle', AquaSafe plus by Tetra, aquarium salt and stress coat. What else do I need? Well I guess this enough for now. I thank you all for the advice. More questions to come

 

[herp_mommy]

If you want to jump start your cycling for the 42, use the old filter media from the 10gal that has the good bacteria on it.

 

[librarygirl]

I wouldn't use the "Cycle" product; it's unreliable at best. You have two options:

1) Move everything over into the 42: fish, filter media (very important!), as many decor etc as you can from the 10 gal which should help seed the new filter rather quickly, just test the water every day and do water changes as needed in case you go into a mini cycle OR

2) Move SOME of the filter media (or/and some gravel or decorations) from the 10 into the 42 and do a fishless cycle on the 42 gallon. Then when it's fully cycled move the fish and everything over into the 42.

You'll need an API Master Test kit, which is very important for either option.

There are two links in my signature: one is for a fish-in cycle (option 1) and one is for a fishless cycle (option 2); read them over and see which one you'd rather try.

For gravel, I think the standard is 1.5-2" per gallon. Not sure what the PowerHead is for or if you need one. My filters cause good surface movement of the water; if yours doesn't you might need the power head? Not sure on that.

For a good water conditioner, you could try Seachem Prime. Tetra AquaSafe is basically the same thing, but Prime is more concentrated and will last longer and it detoxifies some toxins for 48 hours as well. You shouldn't need aquarium salt unless you are treating for illness. The Stress Coat can be used when you're adding fish to the tank etc, but not in place of the water conditioner.

Good luck!