Quinnfrie

hello,
I am new to this forum and new to fish tanks in general. I recently set up a 20 gal tank with an air filter and heater keeping the tank at 76-80 degres. I just ste it up today and am planing to get fish tuesday. So my main question is what should i start out with and what should i add later?
Thanks for your help in advance,
Quinn

Shawn D

Hello Quin

There are some extremely knowledgeable people on this forum who will be able to help you much more than I can, but is it saltwater or freshwater?

__________________
75 gal SW
126 lb Live Rock
70 lb crushed coral live sand mix

Quinnfrie

Woops forgot to add that it is freshwater

Tommy Gun

First place you should start is to NOT get fish next tuesday. I know that sounds pretty bad at first, but look at it this way, you just asked the right question and you will now be able to save A LOT of money and stress on yourself!

Let me give you my advice on what I would do if this was my tank:

1st, like I said, wait on the fish. You need to do what is called 'cycle' your tank. The best place to learn about this is to read this thread created by Jay, a super knowledgable moderator on this site:

http://www.fishtankforums.com/5-fres...-aquarium.html

Essentially, you need to cycle your tank so that when you put fish in there, they will be able to live and the water will actually be able to clean itself through the use of good bacteria. IF you put fish in the tank too soon, like on next tuesday, chances are they will not have good enough water quality to keep them healthy or alive. Bad water can make your fish stressed as well, opening them up to sicknesses and disease.

I suggest, after reading Jay's cycling thread, that you purchase a small test kit that includes tests for Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates (note: Nitrites, with an I and Nitrates, with an A. This confused me bad when I first started out). I actually preffer to use the liquid test kits that have test tubes in them over the test 'strips'. They are a bit more expensive, but they can actually be used more times in many cases and are much less susceptable to being ruined or otherwise affected in ways that will throw you off. Test strips are a good test and acceptable to use however, but you really need to consider how you store them and use them in order to keep them accurate.

There is also a lot of things for you to think about as far as the kinds of fish you will want and can keep healthy in your tank. This cycling period is going to be a great time for you to ask questions on this forum and make an informed decision. This way you can keep yourself from buying new fish all the time when one dies or you find out that it will grow too large or otherwise be uncompatable.

Keep your chin up though. I know that for many people, including myself, it is hard to wait to get your fish, especially when faced with all this new information about getting a tank up and running safely, but it really is not that hard and patience is going to be the key. You are starting off with a nice size tank for a beginner (not too big, not too small) and are going to have a great set up in a couple of weeks, I promise. Listen to the people on this site, they are VERY smart and will never lead you astray. They will also answer ANY question you have and the saying "there is no such thing as a dumb question" applies immensly in this hobby!

One quick question for you, when you say 'air filter', do you mean air pump or water filter? It will be important to know since they do different things.

Quinnfrie

it is an
air pump

Tommy Gun

Do you have a water filter for your tank yet? You will need one to help keep the water clean and safe. This will also be a huge element for the good bacteria that you need for your fish to grow within. There are a couple different types of them and I would suggest getting a filter that is rated for a tank one size larger than yours; for example a 25 gallon or 30 gallon filter. There is no such thing as having too much filtration but there are problems with not having enough.

Also, it is important to get a water conditioner to take out the chlorine that is in your tap water, if you dont already have one.

I hope that I havent disappointed you so far. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, which most people think having to wait is bad news. I honestly want to help you out and without sounding like too much of a pessimist, it is common for pet stores/fish stores to tell you that your tank is going to be good for fish in just a couple of days and while that is not completely false in some cases, only the hardiest of all fish can safely (but not completely without problems) make it in such a young tank.

Quinnfrie

so i should add a couple zebra dianos???

Tommy Gun

Adding fish to the tank in order to get the cycle going is, in my opinion and experience, no longer the best way to go. This is because it is hard on the fish and when one fish dies, you have to constantly replace it, putting even more fish in jeopardy. Using this method, as jay points out in his thread on cycling, is also dependant on how many fish you have in the tank since the amount of bacteria growth is dependant on the amount of food available to support them.

Now days, many people will recommend doing a 'fishless cycle' by adding the chemical ammonia (without perfumes or dyes like Jay also points out), but this is at times difficult to find since most sources commonly available to us are scented to help reduce the bad smell. You can also add wastes to your tank by simply putting fish food or a cooked shrimp in the tank (without having any fish in it). This will get the cycle started and will also help you get some practice water changes and substrate cleanings in. I used the addition of fish food to cycle my last couple tanks and simply cleaned out the food that has not already decomposed by using a phython (siphon) once a week. I would then just keep 'feeding the tank', cleaning the tank, and testing my water until the test showed me when it was safe to add fish. I then would just add a few fish at a time, allowing the bacteria to adjust to these fish before adding more.

Quinnfrie

i have ammonia how much should i add the ppm makes no scense to me? how many drops?

Tommy Gun

This is where the test kit would be handy. That way you could keep testing until you are in the range of 5 parts per million like Jay suggests. If I were you and wanted to get things started right now, I might add a couple teaspoons now. My thinking is that you can always take it out through a water change if you need to.

Doing this will provide food for the first bacterial colony. Then they will, in turn, create nitrites which will later on be eaten and changed into nitrates. Keep in mind that it is not really possible to predict how long this will take in your tank and to be honest, it could be possible for you to have two of the same tanks and both will not cycle in the same amount of time.

Do you have any friends with a well established fish tank (freshwater)?