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Beginners First Tank

Walsh

Seedling
Joined
28 Jul 2017
Messages
16
Location
Manchester
Log 1: Genesis

After a good year of watching aquascape and aquarium videos and telling myself its just a passing impulse, i have finally given in and decided to stick my toe in the 'water':) and try out the hobby. Ill try and document some things that I learn as i go along that i think might help other people out.

As all this is new to me any feedback and help would be greatly appreciated. So here we go.

I have gone for a very cheap setup to try and learn a few things before sinking money into it. I bought i 34L fluval flex from Pier Aquatics in Wigan, NW England (was a decently reviewed semi local store and the girl who works in there was extremely helpful and must have spent a good half an hour helping me out finding a tank). I checked out ebay for something second hand but for what it was like £30 difference between a new and second hand (on the flex) i thought i would save myself any hassle and get it new.

It comes with its own internal filter and LED lights so that makes things a little bit easier. I also bought a 55W Aqua One heater (set to 26 C), some spider wood, some pebbles and 2 small bags of sand.

Washed all the equipment and decoration placed it in the aquarium and filled it up with luke warm tap water. Plugged it in and here is where we are so far. The smaller piece of spider wood is floating a bit but hopefully when it soaks in the water i can re position it. It also need some plants!
IMG_2676.jpg



IMG_2685.jpg



So firstly i learnt that putting water into the tank could be much easier with the right equipment. I used a bucket and a small jug as it was all i had and I made a right mess and it took a lot longer than it should have. But after watching some videos today i think i need to invest in a siphon or a bit of hose pipe, a plastic colander that can hook onto the tank and a much bigger bucket. Let me know if there is anything better available in the UK.

I also cannot make my mind up whether the water looks a little cloudy or if it is just the light on the black background? The photos above where taken off an i-phone well over 12 hours after the water was put in so it should have settled down. I read that the reason may be that i didnt wash the sand thoroughly enough, but i did 5 bucket washes of all the sand so i am not 100% sold on that being the reason.

Last thing i think is worth mentioning for a new setup is having and extension lead handy and some method of organizing the wiring. Even this basic setup required 3 plugs (two socket standard in UK). At the moment i just have them plugged into an extension on show next to the tank but this isn't ideal and i think i will drill a hole in the cabinet to tidy them up at some stage.

The girl i spoke to in the store just told me to leave the tank to rest for three days before testing the water for PH and nitrates (which i have the kit for). Then go in and pick up some hardy fish and plants dependent on the water quality to help mature the tank. However i read on this forum some tanks need longer to 'cycle' ( up to 4 weeks in some cases) and have various solutions put into them before they are safe. Is this just for heavily planted / high tech aquariums that are planted from the get go / with sensitive fish or should i be doing something else before putting fish into this tank? So far i have put nothing into the tank besides the water and decor. I also hear George farmer talking in one of his videos about de-chlorinating tap water when he does water changes is this something i need for a tank as simple as mine?

I was thinking of introducing some type of guppies to being with as i quite like the idea of doing some breeding eventually. With a some kind of carpet plant to cover the sand. Anyway that is all i have so far.

Bye for now.


.
 
Hi,

You are getting poor advice from your pet shop.

1. Your water will probably take about 48hrs to clear. Don't worry.

2. Your tank is NOT cycled in 3 days. Adding fish then may lead to their death. Several weeks is normal. You can add additives to speed up the process but they are not necessary. There is heaps written online about cycling a tank. https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/do-i-need-to-cycle-a-planted-tank.48450/

3. Some tap water is treated with chlorine and chloraminse to kill bacteria. It also can kill the beneficial bacteria in you tank. Hence use dechlorinator. Any shop selling aquarium products will stock it, it'll be called tap safe or aqua safe or words to that effect.

4. Do you really want 100s of guppies? What will you do with them?

Your tank looks neat, maybe do a bit more reading before you go further. Good luck.
 
Hello and welcome. I've just got back into the hobby after years out and have just set up a new tank myself.

Couple of questions; have you got any substrate for the plants under the sand? Have you considered water changes? You will probably be doing a lot with a new set up.

Guppies are dead easy to keep and breed. The hard part is keeping good quality fry and not letting them become all inbred.
 
Sand looks very fine & densely packed - this sort of sand should only be 2-3cm depth at most & kept regularly “turned” - substrate sifting fish and snails will help
That deep substrate area at back corner will likely become anaerobic over time, if disturbed, anaerobic areas can release toxic (to fish, shrimp etc) gases

Flex tanks have great fun lighting for fish but limited for plants, choose “Easy” plants from Tropica website
For a carpet try
moss on stones would be awesome,
Marsilea hirsuta
Littorella uniflora
Sagittaria subulata
Helanthium tenellum
Staurogyne repens

All will carpet more readily with an aquarium soil substrate, added CO2 etc
Note that some are much slower growing than others
 
The clouding in the water is from “fines” from the sand, you can water change to remove it more quickly
 
Hello Bradley
the girl who works in there was extremely helpful and must have spent a good half an hour helping me out finding a tank)

Naturally she was helpful she saw "Newbe" written all over you. Cheap kit tanks are made for a price and nothing else.

Hunt every LFS in your are or ask on this Forum where is a good LFS in my area.

I strongly recommend you do some good research on "Cycling" if not you are heading for a massive disaster.
The same goes for Substrates, Plants, Inhabitants and, Maintenance.

Keith:wave::wave:
 
"There are many ways to Rome" so there are a lot of ways to get things done.
In general: tanks health is a balance between light, plants and fish, between cleaning and pollution and between feeding and waterchanges. For beginners i would advise to go slow but err on the safe side. Meaning: do lots of waterchanges ( these remove dirt/pollution/toxins from the tank) use plenty of (easy) plants and if all this grows wellk start adding some fish.
For plants to grow they need fertilisation (like all plants N,P,K and some Mg and micronutrients like Fe).Too much fertilisation doesn't happen fast, especially not when you do your waterchanges. Easiest for now will be using some one solution product. Others will chime in which ones.
My advise is to plant it up ( easy plants, see Tropica plants for which ones) and start with the fertilisation/waterchange regime. Only add fish if all is well and growing ( by that time tthere will be plenty bacteria in and on the plants and in your filter).
Start with this and let us see how this goes.
 
@Bradley Walsh, First of all, welcome!

It is great that you have found this forum, and there are sub categories about almost anything you need answers about this hobby, and if you cannot find your specific answer, many people with immense knowledge would help you out.

This is a wonderful hobby, and your tank does not need to be perfect, just concentrate on basics, read about "low tech aquariums", your setup is just right for that.

Goodluck! :)
 
Reminds me of that one time at the LFS when a family of newbies bought a nano tank with everything you need to set it up, including lifestock. LFS shopkeeper told them they could add the fishes that very night.

Go slow ya, and research lots to prevent future tales of despair.

I would do these:
1) Don’t add any lifestock till Nitrite falls to 0ppm or (if you don’t fancy test kits) wait patiently till Day 60
2) Reduce the sand, limit it to 3cm depth to prevent anaerobic conditions in the future
3) Attach Anubias, moss, Java ferns etc on the wood
4) Plant more plants, add floaters
5) Keep lighting period to around 4-6 hours until plant mass increases with new growth

I hope you enjoy learning and experimenting in this wonderful hobby :)

Cheers
 
Thank you for all the advice. I have been doing plenty of reading since my first post and taken a lot of the advice given above.

I did a big water change which seems to have helped abit with the clouding although it has not fully gone.

I have added some friendly bacteria bought from a LFS , a few low tech plants and some plant food and something for treating the chlorine in the water. So hopefully the cycle has begun.

I took some water tests to a different LFS after adding the plants and live bacteria etc and they again recommended put one or two hardy fish into the tank to help with the cycling. The conflicting advise isn’t great but I really don’t want to put the fish through anything unnecessary. How many water changes should I be looking at doing over the next few weeks , I have read a few different things online from 50% once a week right up to leaving it for 6 weeks. So far I have only done one for the clouding and that was maybe 60%

To answer some questions , no I haven’t thought much about breeding any guppies yet I wouldn’t do that until I had the right setup for it. But the idea is what Interested me in the hobby to begin with. The conservation of species and breeding your own fish etc seems really interesting to me.

The sand has no substrate under it but I have got liquid food for the plants. I think with the lack of co2 system and the type of lighting in the flex I will only be going for low tech plants.

I have some white fungus that seems to be growing on the wood but I have read that is nothing to worry about .
 
I would start with 50% twice a week. You can't do too many ( within reason and depending on tapwater quality) but doing too few hurts more.
Just get to a healthy looking tank with good healthy new growth and then start adding fish slowly.
Remember to add ferts after each waterchange and treat the water for Chlorine/chloramine if needed
 
Hi all,
I took some water tests to a different LFS after adding the plants and live bacteria etc and they again recommended put one or two hardy fish into the tank to help with the cycling. The conflicting advise isn’t great but I really don’t want to put the fish through anything unnecessary. How many water changes should I be looking at doing over the next few weeks , I have read a few different things online from 50% once a week right up to leaving it for 6 weeks. So far I have only done one for the clouding and that was maybe 60%
Cycling is a really contentious issue.

Have a look at <"Siporax vs ..."> and links.

cheers Darrel
 
Good to see you're doing your research, just unfortunate that you get conflicting advice. A couple of points are:
People on this forum are keen and often very knowledgable about planted tanks specifically. And are not trying to sell you anything. :)
A lot of pet shop staff seem to have 'done a course' based on rather outdated ideas.
Hardy fish for cycling is not great, but much worse in a nano tank as there isn't much water to dilute their waste. Not quite so bad when 30 gallons was considered a good size tank to start with.
If you take things slowly you won't go far wrong, it's if you try to rush things that you run into problems.
As people have said, get plenty of plants, including some fast growers, and keep up with the water changes.
hth
 
Your tank is currently not cycling. You have two options... get hardy plants growing well then add a couple of fish and wait while the tank starts to cycle. Build up stocking gradually. Testing the water all the way. Or add some source of ammonia now to start the cycle!
 
Hi
The tank cycle starts the moment we add water.Bacteria will develop no matter what .Slowly but is still happening .
If adding plants there is no need to add fish or ammonia source to aid and finish the cycling successfully .The plants will provide what is needed.Just plant your chosen plants, use some complete fertiliser, do 1or 2 50%waterchanges (always better with more waterchanges) and give yourself 6-8 weeks before adding the livestock in stages do not overstock (I always did when I started fish keeping)Sometimes less is more when working with small volume tanks.
I find very useful the use of floating plants in initial and not only tank stages
Regards Konsa
 
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Hi all,
The tank cycle starts the moment we add water.Bacteria will develop no matter what .Slowly but is still happening. If adding plants there is no need to add fish or ammonia source to aid and finish the cycling successfully
I favour @Konsa's approach as well.
Your tank is currently not cycling. You have two options... get hardy plants growing well then add a couple of fish and wait while the tank starts to cycle.
Fishless/sacrificial fish cycling, where you add ammonia, can work. If you don't have plants, or a substrate, you are obliged to rely on microbial nitrification in the filter, because you don't have any alternatives sites for nitrification.

It is different in a planted tank, once the plants are in active growth you have plant/microbe filtration, which is potentially much more effective and resilient, than microbe only filtration. There is a much fuller discussion in <"Siporax vs......> thread linked earlier in this thread.

cheers Darrel
 
It is different in a planted tank, once the plants are in active growth you have plant/microbe filtration, which is potentially much more effective and resilient, than microbe only filtration. There is a much fuller discussion in <"Siporax vs......> thread linked earlier in this thread.

Couldn't agree more. Whether you classify the tank is cycling or not, this is the key point here... make sure you have healthy plant growth and I would still recommend stocking gradually if only for peace of mind ;)
 
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