miskbtch

I recently bought a 30 gal ( I think) fish tank from a neighbor. The tank came with a bunch of stuff inside of it but I have NO CLUE what the items are or how they are placed in the tank. Can someone please help me I am clueless. The tank is actually a gift for a very sick friend of mine if I can ever figure it out.

Isabella

Well, any freshwater tropical tank should have at least a suitable filter and heater. Most folks will include lighting and substrate (gravel) as well So make sure the items you have are the necessary components of a freshwater tank setup.

You also need to know how many gallons per hour your filter will pump. For a 30 gallon tank (that will not be overstocked) I'd recommend at least 300 gallons of filtration per 1 hour (300 gph). You should have a filter that will pump at least around 10 times the volume of your tank per 1 hour (which is 300 gallons per hour, as I've just mentioned).

As for the heater, a 150W heater should be enough for a 30 gallon tank - that's how many watts I have in my 30 gallon tank.

If you haven't yet done so, please read about CYCLING a new tank, as well as the proper stocking levels, before you buy any fish.

Good Luck

sirdarksol

http://www.fishlore.com/aquariumsetup.htm

http://www.fishlore.com/Beginners.htm

Here are a couple of articles that will help. I'll also go into the basics.

You've go the tank, obviously.
There might be a tray that more or less fits the bottom of the tank. It will have one or two plastic tubes sticking out from it (or space for them). My suggestion is to throw this away. It's a type of filter that I would only suggest for people who are setting up an advanced tank.
Hopefully you've got a hood, which is a plastic deal that fits exactly on top of the tank, and hopefully you've got a light that fits in this hood.
There is likely a heater of some sort. It will either have suction cups on it or a hook that goes over the back of the tank. The one with suction cups needs to be submerged, while the one with the hook has to hang on the back of the tank.
There might be a HOB filter, which is going to be a box, probably black or dark grey, with a tube sticking out of the bottom and a few foam trays inside of it. If there is, it will sit on the back of the tank as well, with the tube on the inside and the power-cord end on the outside.
There might be an air pump, which is a box with a connector for a small-diameter tubing on one end and a power cord on the other. This is likely unnecessary, as well.

Welcome to Fishlore, and keep the questions coming. Look over what you've got and see if you can identify stuff based on the descriptions here, then describe anything you've got left.

Lucy

Hi miskbtch Welcome to Fish Lore.

Isabella and sirdarksol's info gave good advice, please take the time to read the links they provided.

If you question the size of your tank you can go here:

http://www.fishlore.com/ConversionCalculator.htm

Scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your tank measurements.

You can also post a pic if your not sure what something is, we might be able to identify it for you.

It's so kind of you to do this for your friend, Good luck with your tank and keep us posted.

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore.