# Look What I Got!!!!!



## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

check itt out i got a 55gal tank 
its getting ready to have fish put in there
i got 50 gls of reg water
and then i got 5 gls of water from my ten gl

my ph is having a hard time of coming down, its at 7.5 
My anmonal is sitting in the middle, and i need to know the best way to get that down.
i have all these little bubbles stuck to the side of the tank? 
Right now theres no fish in there.

Its a nice tank set up. I am using a bio-wheel, a 200 watt heater.

I just need some help on getting my p/h and anmonal down before i start putting fish in it.


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Not really sure. But I know you must let is cycle. Also how in the world is the table holding it down?


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

Ricker said:


> Not really sure. But I know you must let is cycle. Also how in the world is the table holding it down?


table? what do you mean?


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## dogsare4losers (Feb 26, 2008)

He meant it looks like the table might break because thats around 440 pounds sitting on it. BTW what's anmonal? And pH of around 7.5 is perfectly fine for most people unless you plan on having fish that prefer more acidic water. Most fish can adjust to pH even if its 7.8-8. 

But the most important thing is you have to let it cycle or else everything you put in there will die. If you don't know what cycling is here's a link: http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
Another link that's on the forum: http://www.fishforums.com/forum/general-freshwater/7125-nitrogen-cycle-basics.html

Oh and btw the bubbles are just "new" tank bubbles you don't need to worry about them, you can brush them off or just leave them. They'll be gone in due time.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

ammnoia(cant spell)

i have 3 zebras, a molly, and a pleco that are going forma 10gal to this tank
i plan doing it one by one


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

so what i can do is drop my zebras in the tank, do a 20% water change tonight, and one tomaorow night

and then i should be able to put some more fish in the tank right

i also know that putting 5 gl of water from my 10gal is prob helping me out right?


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## dogsare4losers (Feb 26, 2008)

Well no not really, unless in this tank you want a bunch of plants to take up nutrients. But water from an old tank will help a little but not a lot. Most of your bacteria is on your filter and gravel. If you could move all your gravel over (or just a handful) and put it straight in or in something like pantyhose that would help. Also taking your media from your old tank and putting it in your new one would help a lot or just a piece. You can put the zebras in to cycle your tank, they are very hardy. Wait until the ammonia and nitrite reach zero and then nitrates should spike up. This can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. BUT if you do all that I said it should only take a little over a week because you should have kind of an "instant cycle". Cycling takes time and patience and if you want your fish to survive you have to do it.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i am leaving for az on monday, and i was hoping to have fish in the tank

so it sounds like i need to run and buy a couple of fish to cycle my tank, dont find them that much, and just watch the tank


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i was alos getting told that the little bubbles on the tank are bad


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## dogsare4losers (Feb 26, 2008)

That's basically all there is to it, make sure to watch all your levels though. But trust me adding in some filter media and gravel would help you tremendously. Or you can buy bio-spira just make sure where you buy it it is refridgerated. Make sure to feed the fish and NO water changes during this time for the fastest results.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

anyother insight?


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## dogsare4losers (Feb 26, 2008)

Haha wait till night...the mods come on more than. If you don't trust me it's cool but most people will just say what I did. And no bubbles aren't bad who said that?


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i trust you dont worry
i am on another fourm thats telling me a bunch of bs
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=234466&st=20&gopid=1936906&#entry1936906

can i drop my old filter in the new tank and let it float around?


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

YA that is what I meant. Is how is the table holding all that. It just looks like it could just collapse. As far as the filter goes. I put it inside the filter in front of the new one.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

It is best not to let it float around, it is best to put it in your new filter. 

The bubbles are not bad at all, they are there because the tank is new and it is just trapped oxygen on the sides of the tank. This happens to all new, or empty for a while then refilled tanks.

Please, I honestly BEG of you to just read about the cycle process. This is probably the number one post on this forum and others. Putting the gravel, the filter etc in the 55 gallon will do nothing if it has no ammonia to continue to feed the bacteria. Buy a shrimp prawn from the grocery store and hang it in there in a clean stocking. Or you can put SOME, not ALL of your existing fish in there since if you have used filter media that will cycle your tank quite fast. But you need to start SLOW. You don't add fish daily, you add them at the earliest weekly, and usually closer to every other week. This is 2-3 fish at a time, not 5-6. 

Cycle information:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

This was from me to another member, explaining things:
You can do this fishless (which I recommend because its the safest for your fishies). If you can find pure ammonia, no colors no scents no additives at all, then use that (around here its impossible to find pure). You add enough ammonia to get your ammonia test to read 3-4ppm. You add enough daily to keep the number in that range. You should see nitrIte after about a week. Eventually your nitrIte will spike and nitrAte will show up. Make sure you are adding enough ammonia to keep your ammonia at 3-4ppm throughout this. When your nitrIte reaches 0 and your ammonia is back at 0 within 24 hours of putting it in, your tank is cycled.

You can also use a large frozen shrimp prawn from the supermarket to do this. Put it in a pantyhose to contain the mess. Its the same process though

If you added bacteria and it was not from BiroSpira or Stability you are probably not getting the right bacteria, this can slow your process so choose wisely grasshopper. Cycle has the wrong bacteria, or it did. I heard that they claim to have fixed this, but I would not count on that right now. If you do use BiroSpira then your tank is essentially cycled within 24 hours and you need to make sure you add fish or ammonia the next day or your money will be wasted.

A cycle will take 4-6 weeks without a product like BiroSpira or the use of established media from another tank. If it happens quicker than that be wary!

You could add a fish each week once the tank is cycled, as long as there is not a mini cycle after adding the new fish. So you would want to test throughout and make sure your tank is keeping up with the bioload. The cycle is a pain in the butt, but well worth the positive health results you get with your fish Patience is your best friend in this instance!

There are probably hundreds of threads about this to be honest. 

If you are going out of town the best thing to do is add the shrimp prawn because you won't be able to handle any emergency that may happen for this tank. Or you can wait until you get home and add the filter media and a few of the fish.


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Very well explained Obsidian. Where were you when I was new to fish keeping?


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

ok i put my old filter media in front of the new one, then i have ornaments and 5gl water from the old tank

i just bought two zebra fish and put them in there, put a little food in there

when should i check the water?
change... etc???


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)




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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i just relize one of the filters is backwards...brb


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Well I might be wrong.. But when I cycle my tanks I never do water changes tell everythign is at OPPM


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## mesapod (Aug 18, 2007)

I read its bad to have the edges of the tank hanging over the edge of a table


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Seriously-DO NOT keep the tank on that table. The 2 ends hanging off is going to create uneven pressure and you're going to end up with cracks on either sides. I'd drain the tank, get a real stand, and then put it on there. Trust me, the last thing you want to wake up to in the middle of the night is 55 gallons of water on your floor.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i am getting a real stand in two weeks when i get paid again
i am gonna tell you that the table has metal legs, and a solid wood top
its ok
i wouldnt put a large ass tank on somthing that i didnt think could suport it

i need to know when to check my water for ****************


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Ya at least get it on something that is a little longer then the tank make sure the width is good to. Make sure it can at least hold over 500lbs. If my math is correct. a 55gal tank with just water weighs about or over 440lbs. Which means with sand/rock in it plus Decor it can weigh a good 500Lbs. Ya we would hate to see all your money/tank go down the drain.


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

> i am getting a real stand in two weeks when i get paid again
> i am gonna tell you that the table has metal legs, and a solid wood top
> its ok
> i wouldnt put a large ass tank on somthing that i didnt think could suport it
> ...


It isn't the table we are worried about. It is the unequal share of weight that the edges of the tank have. trust me I've lost a 10 GALLON to this were a edge was off about a week later I got a crack.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

ok i will watch it
i always do somthing wrong when it coems to fish...


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

NP at least you listen


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

so how many zebras should i have in here to cycle the 55, i have two right now
do i need more?


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Well for my 55 I have 4 fish to cycle I use the fish cycle cause i am more familiar with it.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

can you break it down to me in 4steps
the cycle

i want to know manily what i am looking for before i can drop my pleco in the tank


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Step 1 Ammonia goes UP

Step 2 Nitrite goes UP Ammonia starts to drop

Step 3 Nitrate arrives nitrite spikes

Step 4 Nitrate stays (anything less than 40ppm is okay, I try to keep mine closer to 10-20), nitrIte 0 ammonia 0

CYCLED

Read up on cycling, seriously there are more posts on this than how to boil water. The filter media you have included will change what some of this will look like. If you understand what it means to cycle then you will understand your test results.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i want to thank everyone for their help
i found a great water cycle page
http://www.bestfish.com/newtank3.html
if that looks right let me know


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

Cycling...your tank needs to build up beneficial bacteria that 'eats' the ammonia caused by fish waste and left over food. Ammonia is toxic to fish.
There are a couple ways to do this:
1) Fish cycle....using fish to create the ammonia needed to feed bacteria (this method is not recommended)
2) Fish-less cycle....by letting your tank run and feeding the tank with fish food or pure ammonia.
*3) Seeding your new tank with filter media from an established tank.*
4) Using bio-spiro, which contains the beneficial bacteria your tank needs.

i am seeding my tank right?


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## dogsare4losers (Feb 26, 2008)

Yes, you are seeding your tank but like I said ealier it'll be like an "insta cycle" but you should still wait and test all your levels and make sure everything works well. If you seed your tank really well I'm pretty sure (not 100% sure) but I think the cycle should be very quick like 1-2 weeks maybe less. You need to be careful, though, and not figure it is already cycled, especially since your old tank was smaller. Just watch the levels for a while and if nothing spikes your good or if you have a small spike but it goes through the cycle your good.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

should i do a 20% everynight and watch the anmonai levels?'

it seems like scince i am seeding my tank i could drop fish in monday

i just put a hand full of gravel from my other tank in there

should i just do a water change and check everything and start adding fish?


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## fishin5 (Feb 28, 2008)

...no he said to watch all of your levels for a week and make sure nothing happens. You already have fish in there. Be patient.

No water changes


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

In general, you can cantilever (have hanging off) 20% of length on each side. But a tank sits all its weight on the rim, so the edge should be supported all around. You could put a piece of plywood under the tank on the table.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i thought about that....

my tap water is putting out .5ppm in a 5gal bucket
good or bad?

did a water change last night only a 30%
the tank was at 3ppm in ammonia

prob do another one sometime today


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

my bio wheel boxes


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2008)

aidas_tank_keep said:


> i thought about that....
> 
> my tap water is putting out .5ppm in a 5gal bucket
> good or bad?
> ...


You've got some good info so far. 

0.5ppm is ok. Once your cycled the bacteria will take care of it.

Do a water change when the ammonia gets over 1ppm. 


I know you're tired of hearing about the table, but trust us, eventually you will have issues and you don't want that to be when you have water leaking in the floor. That's not fun. Atleast put a piece of plywood under the tank until you get a stand.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

I AM GONNA GET A TEST KIT TODAY! API MASTER

and i will get a board..to put under it for now

but yea i am learning alot


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i checked the ammonia and it was a solid 3.0ppm
so i did a 50% water change
right move?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Yes, good move.


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

i am gonna check it in the morning
and check it befrore i got bed


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## aidas_tank_keep (Feb 20, 2008)

.5 at the moment


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