Totalbeginner

Hello...

I have done a conversion (litres to US gallons) and my new tank is approx 34 gallons. It is a tall tank rather than long. I'm starting out as a total newbie to keeping tropical fish but I'm keen to learn and I hope I don't come across as being thick with some of my questions. My other half has kept tropical fish before but his advice is conflicting with what I am reading on the net and in books. He seems to think that I can wait a few days to a week and then chuck some fish in and also that I don't need to regularly do partial water changes. I have read different.

Anyways, I have set my tank up pretty much how I want it and despite the wise cracks from my OH I have stuck to my guns and started to play the waiting game with fishless cycling of my tank.

Ok...so here are my questions...

Do I need to change the water partially during this period? If it helps with answering I have researched the cycle so I understand about the stages my tanks water will go through.
secondly, Please please can someone talk me through how I go about partial water changes lol I know that sounds really silly but I don't want to stuff it up. I really need to know also...1) how often is there such a thing as doing it too often? I was thinking along the lines of 20% fortnightly? I understand though this is dependent on how many fish, the type of fish and how quickly my water deteriorates. It's just my OH has said that I will be making a mistake doing it that often. How do I add the new water in? How can I get it to the same temp as the water in the tank so it does not affect the fish?

Oh so many questions!

Also all the fish I have been thinking about keeping are around 5 cm when adult and the largest one will be 7cm so no biguns in my tank as you can see. Even so I am not keen to overcrowd and would like to know if I can acceptably keep maybe 15 fish in my tank. This is another area that OH and me can not agree on as he says that I could keep maybe 25-30.

erm...that's it for now as my mind's gone blank. Sorry if it seems so simple to you guys as while i'm waiting I want to be sure I know what I am doing.

Totalbeginner

hello - me again! Also I forgot to ask...

Reading another thread on here someone is adding some sort of drops to their water to speed up the process I think? Do I have to do that? Also I forgot to say that I have added a few fish flakes each day to kick start the cycle...is this enough as I can't get hold of someone elses filter slime?

Thanks!

lilsoccakid

to cycle the tank, you have to have a constant source of ammonia. the fastest way si to add 100% pure ammonia, but many people just drop a few flakes of food in the tank a day, and as it decomposes it gives of ammonia. there is a good section on the nitrogen cycle on this site. dont do partial water changes until the cycle is complete. to find out how many fish you can have, the best way is to find how many inches of fish you want, because you can have 1 adult inch of fish for every gallon of water. for water changes, i would use a gravel vacumn and create a siphon going into a large bucket. for water changes, to be safe i would do less % water changes, but more times a week. if you wanted to do 20% a week, i would do 10% and then10% again a few days later, so its not that drastic of a change for the fish.

sgould

As long as there are no fish in the tank, you should not do any water changes whatsoever until the cycle is complete. Water changes slow the cycle down, so only do them if there are fish in there.

For water changes, as lilsoccakid said, siphoning to a bucket works well. You should vacume out the substrate regularly during your water changes as well. Generally, tank siphons will have a large diameter hard plastic tube that you put down into the water, with a more pliable hose that will drop down into the bucket. Vacume the gravel by jamming the hard plastic tube down into it once you have the flow of water started through the siphon. You will see debris start getting sucked up almost immediately. Keep the siphon in place until the debris stops coming up, then move to a new spot. Do about half the tank each time you change your water. Once the tank is established, you should change 20-25% of your water once per week. I have no idea how long a fortnight is...sorry! You would not hurt anything doing water changes more often, but unless there is a problem in the tank, there is no real point to doing so.

You can either siphon it back in, or just pour from a bucket...whichever you prefer. Just be sure to treat the water for chlorine/chloromines before adding it to the tank.

I just adjust the temperature until it feels right to my hand.

capekate

It sounds like sgould and lilsoccakid has given you terrific advice and there is nothing for me to add to it. Just wanted to wish you the best of luck on your tank and its very good that you have done your research and know about the nitrogen cycle. Once upon a time a lot of folks, including myself would buy the tank, add water.. etc and then the fish and thought that was all there was too it. That was about thirty years ago before the advancement of all the knowledge you can find on the internet. We just didn't know any better. But thank goodness we do now~

COBettaCouple

You'll want to check out: http://www.fishlore.com/Beginners.htm , especially the nitrogen cycle info: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

http://www.firsttankguide.net/cyclechange.php is another good information source. it may seem a bit daunting at first, but getting an understanding of the nitrogen cycle and the basics of how the tank works will help you avoid the many mistakes that we did when starting our 1st tank.

jsalemi

A fortnight is 2 weeks.

sgould

Yea! I learned something new!

Totalbeginner

Thanks for all the advice! And sorry about the fortnight thing! That's every two weeks. This site really is fantastic.

sgould...

"I just adjust the temperature until it feels right to my hand."

Do you mean by that, that when I fill my bucket up with replacement water, I can use both the hot and cold taps to gain the right temp?

capekate

May I answer for sgould??... Yes, that is what is meant. Just adjust your tap water to the temperature you need. I check the temp* of the tank water, then take that thermomater out and as I fill the bucket of water I check to see that it is the correct temperature. This way the water going back into the tank is pretty much the same temperature as the water going out.

Totalbeginner

thank you very much for that capekate.

Isabella

When your tank is finally cycled, you start performing your weekly, or bi-weekly, water changes - depending on your stocking level. But I'd personally recommend weekly water changes. Normally people perform anywhere between 15 - 30% weekly water changes, once again, dependind on their stocking levels. I once had an overstocked Angelfish tank (unexpected baby Angels ) so I performed 50% weekly water changes in it (sometimes even twice a week). Basically, the size and frequency of your water changes will depend on your Nitrate buildup. When you're performing water changes, it is best to do them using a siphon tube. When you use a siphon tube, you can poke the gravel with it so that as it's sucking the water out of the tank, you're removing fish wastes and whatever the dirt trapped under the gravel. If fish wastes are not removed from under the gravel, they will start to decompose and increase your Nitrate fast, which will cause bad water quality, and will make your fish sick. When I have emptied 30% or so of the water in my tank, I pour the same amount of water in a separate container. Then I mix that new water with a dechlorinator, and when it's well mixed, I pour that water into the tank. Remember to have a similar temperature of the new water to that of your tank water's temperature (this is to avoid any temperature shocks to fish). Just make sure your tap water is the same temp. as your tank water, that's all (Unless you're not using tap water?)

Your tank is around 34 gallons in volume. You say you'd like fish that are 5cm (approx. 2") and 7cm (approx. 2.7") in size. What kinds/species of fish will they exactly be? Any other sizes of fish?

Totalbeginner

I was thinking of trying to keep the fishies smaller because the tank is tall rather than long - if you get what I mean?! I have not made any final decisions but I was thinking dwarf gourami, dwarf corydoras, leopard corydoras, guppy, coolie loach... this is just what were on my list of smaller sized fish that I quite liked. Any input would be appreciated! I did think about the old favourite the neon tetra but wasn't sure how happy they would be in the tank?

Isabella

These fish are OK (size-wise) for a 34 gallon tank Only how many of each do you want? Because if you add too many of each kind, you can certainly overstock your tank with small fish too.

Suppose you'd like to have 25 - 30 fish that are 3" long. That would give you 75" - 90" of fish ... way too many as for a 34 gallon tank! Now, suppose you'd like to have 25 - 30 fish that are 2" long. That would give you 50" - 60" of fish ... also way too many for a 34 gallon tank.

You should have at most around 30" of fish or so in your tank (leaving the other 4" for gravel and decor, as gravel and decor take up the tank space as well). Of course, it also depends on how massive your fish will be. Just tell us how many and what fish exactly you'd like in your tank.

Callum The Cat

Isabella

Callum, I think 2 Angelfish are enough for a 34 gallon tank

Callum The Cat