OK, so I did find a pretty good deal on a tank on Craiglist. So as of now, I have a ~46 gallon bow front (36''x16''x20''), stand, lighthood, and AquaClear 50 with water just waiting the next steps.
So far I have;
- cleaned the tank, filter
- Purchased, cleaned and installed a few decorations (sorry no live plants, that just seemed over my head for now)
- Purchased, cleaned and installed some fairly fine gravel. I have 50 lbs in there for now, do I need more? It is ~1.5" deep.
- Purchased and installed a Marineland Stealth 200W
- Filled the tank with tap water
- Added Tetra water conditioner
- Added Tetra 'Safe Start'
- Tank is currently fishless, but I have 2 little ones (kids that is) that are dieing to see something swimming around in there.
Some questions;
- Do I need more gravel?
- I currently have all of the media types in the filter. Is that preventing the cycling from moving forward. It hit me that if the Bacteria in the 'Safe Start' will feed on ammonia, yet the filter is removing it, then I am essentially slowing the bacteria that I added. Or do I not understand how this works?
- I purchased a test kit, but have not broken it out yet. Will there be recommendations in the documentation about what levels I am shooting for? If not, where can I find that?
- When people say add ammonia, do they literally mean a capful of the stuff you get at the grocery store or is there something specific for aquarium use?
- To appease the kids (and myself to some extent) I may go ahead and add a few fish. I asked the Petsmart lady and she said Neon Tetras would be one option, but I gather from another thread that this is not entirely true. Anyone have any recommendations for a good starter fish? I ultimately want to make this a community aquarium (although I am reading a bit on Cichlids), so I am hoping for something that plays well with others, once I can add others.
- I think the filter than came with this is a little undersized based on most folks saying to upsize one over what is recommended. I have considered going canister, but that is a big financial increase over a larger powerfilter. Is it really that much better?
- Last question (for now ;> ), should I go ahead and plan to get an air pump and airstones? Since I don't have any plants I could see oxygen being an issue. If so, do I need a pump sized for my tank or since it would only be running the airstone(s) should I get something smaller?
Thanks, and I'll try to post some pics in the next few days. I'm not sure I love my decoration choices (afterall I am a guy) so I would be interested to get some opinions...
So far I have;
- cleaned the tank, filter
- Purchased, cleaned and installed a few decorations (sorry no live plants, that just seemed over my head for now)
- Purchased, cleaned and installed some fairly fine gravel. I have 50 lbs in there for now, do I need more? It is ~1.5" deep.
- Purchased and installed a Marineland Stealth 200W
- Filled the tank with tap water
- Added Tetra water conditioner
- Added Tetra 'Safe Start'
- Tank is currently fishless, but I have 2 little ones (kids that is) that are dieing to see something swimming around in there.
Some questions;
- Do I need more gravel?
- I currently have all of the media types in the filter. Is that preventing the cycling from moving forward. It hit me that if the Bacteria in the 'Safe Start' will feed on ammonia, yet the filter is removing it, then I am essentially slowing the bacteria that I added. Or do I not understand how this works?
- I purchased a test kit, but have not broken it out yet. Will there be recommendations in the documentation about what levels I am shooting for? If not, where can I find that?
- When people say add ammonia, do they literally mean a capful of the stuff you get at the grocery store or is there something specific for aquarium use?
- To appease the kids (and myself to some extent) I may go ahead and add a few fish. I asked the Petsmart lady and she said Neon Tetras would be one option, but I gather from another thread that this is not entirely true. Anyone have any recommendations for a good starter fish? I ultimately want to make this a community aquarium (although I am reading a bit on Cichlids), so I am hoping for something that plays well with others, once I can add others.
- I think the filter than came with this is a little undersized based on most folks saying to upsize one over what is recommended. I have considered going canister, but that is a big financial increase over a larger powerfilter. Is it really that much better?
- Last question (for now ;> ), should I go ahead and plan to get an air pump and airstones? Since I don't have any plants I could see oxygen being an issue. If so, do I need a pump sized for my tank or since it would only be running the airstone(s) should I get something smaller?
Thanks, and I'll try to post some pics in the next few days. I'm not sure I love my decoration choices (afterall I am a guy) so I would be interested to get some opinions...