hargo

Hello,

I work at a petsmart DC, and have just won a 20 gallon Top Fin fish tank that came with a Tetra Power Filter 30. So I need to know the following so I don't kill the fish:

1. What equiptment do I need for freshwater fish?
2. It is VERY dirty form the warehouse, how should I go about cleaning it?
3. How many Fish can I place in it?
4. Can plants be placed in it or is that a bad idea for beginners?
5. I am planing on adopting fish from our DC is there anything I should be on the lookout for.( These fish are damaged or are too big to ship and I have to wait till next week to see them due to a computer change happening this week. )
6. If I place deco in there should I clean it first?
7. Would a cleaning fish be a wise first addition?

Thank you for your time, I do not want to make a mistake since I have not owned a fish in 15+ years.

-Hargo

Llama

1. You will need a heater, a filter and some sort of light. Optionally you're going to need a gravel vac of some sort to speed up the maintenance. You're also going to need two buckets which have NEVER had any chemicals in them. Also you're goign to need some testing kits. API master kit is good

2. 19 parts water 1 part bleach, give it a good scrub. Then wash very well, until you can't smell bleach

3. Usual rule of thumb is 1 inch adult size per galon

4. Some plants are hardy, and fish LOVE em. If you want something that will survive well: Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias. If you want something that will grow a lot: Elodea

5. Check that they look healthy and lively. Any weird lumps, or marks means they may be sick

6. Yep, either bleach it if you don't trust the source, or powerwash it.

7. Wouldn't put it as first, since then you'll end up overfeeding.

8. Remember to read about the nitrogen cycle

hargo

Will I need a bubble thing?

Llama

Not really, unless you like bubbles, or need to aerate the water because you shot the temperature up too high to deal with ICH or something, you probably won't need an artificial aerator.

Remember to read about the Nitrogen cycle (can't stress this enough times) - many people end up with sick/dead fish because they don't.

shih-tzu mom

Hargo; it is very important to cycle! your tank before adding any fish cycle -as no fish are harmed. Liama; has given some excellant advise for you to start your tank-and any and all questions please ask. There is a lot of experienced people on here and would love to help you-as far as a bubbler it is personal preference. Welcome to Fish Lore and good Luck -we love pic's before and after, post them and do some reading a lot of good info bella

thumper

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

here is a link to the nitrogen cycle hope it help and welcome to fishlore

Lucy

Hi Hargo welcome to Fish Lore

Wow, I want to win a 20g tank! Congrats!
Here's a link to get you started in your research. It contains some great info to help you get started:
Beginners

Good luck and have fun

Fishies-for-me

1 more thing ...up there you were advised to clean with a 19-1 water bleach solution and then rinse well. After rinsing overdose the tank with declor ( just a cheap one will do ) and make sure the bleach is neutralized . Anything you wash with bleach should be rinsed/soaked in a heavy declor solution.

sirdarksol

Welcome to Fishlore and good luck.
If you have any other questions, or need clarifications on any of the answers, don't be shy. Most of the people on here live to help people out.

hargo

I have one more question that comes to mind, I live in IL. and have sulfur in my water, will this effect my tank in a negitive manor. Should I be buying distilled water?

Llama

Hmm, couldn't find anything about sulfur and aquarium, except that there's some sort of nitrate removing device which uses sulfur. How much exactly do you have?

hargo

Option 6 bottled bacteria of the The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle, I didn't see a time table for that is there a rule of thumb when using that?

Llama

Bottled Bacteria - Tetra Safe Start is the most popular around here (some people swear by it). There will be instructions on the bottle but it might NOT WORK (due to poor shipping/handling).

If I remember correctly you use TSS by putting fish in FIRST and then adding it.

Problem is, if it doesn't work, you're goign to have a ton of 50% water changes daily.

There are other bacteria containing products, but most of those are terrestrial - if you need to keep adding them weekly, they're not good at all.

hargo

Im not sure, I do know that if Im thristy and there's nothing to drink, I think twice about drinking from the tap.

Mylisser

We used to have nasty sulfur smelling well water, too. Eventually we got a "whole house" treatment for it, but even before the house filter, my fish did fine. You may need to up the aeration (i.e. get a good strong bubble thing and a slightly oversized filter), but for the most part there was little to no negative impact on the fish. I did frequent (every other day) small water changes (10-20%) once the tank was established because I was afraid to do large less frequent changes. I'm not sure if it was necessary or not....but I still do that.

I did have to wipe down the top of the tank and the filter casing with every water change, though, because it would get that nasty looking brownish-yellow ring along the top edge.

agabr123

welcome and good luck with your tank! don't hesitate to ask questions!

a word of warning, ANY other product aside from tetra safe start for freshwater and biospira for saltwater is not going to help you with cycling in the long run. products such as cycle, stress zyme, etc. use terrestrial bacteria instead of aquatic bacteria, and the bacteria will drown fairly quickly. because of this, you will need to add whichever product it is for the entire life of the tank, costing a lot more money than it's worth when you could just cycle fishless