sooshee
- #1
Longtime lurker here, first time poster, glad to be here
Bought a used 55 gallon tank from Craigslist which included canister filter, heater, substrate and decor for $100.
There was a 2 day gap from when he emptied out the tank up to the point where I was able to set the tank up at my house. The canister filter still had the bio media but the sponge fine/coarse filters were replaced with new ones.
I did not use the substrate included with the craigslist deal but I did use the rocks and fake plants, along with the canister filter and media.
Dechlorinated the water 4 days ago, and waited 24 hours. Started fish-in cycle with Tetra Safestart (8oz) + Fritz Zyme Live Bacteria with 1 Opaline Gourami + 1 Black Sailfin Molly.
As of now it's been cycling for 3 days. These are the water results from now (day 3)
Looks like
0.25 Ammonia
0.25 Nitrite
10 Nitrate
Now this is where I need some advice
1) The craigslist deal came with a SunSun 304B (525gph). It's working fine but it's LOUD. The tank is in my bedroom in the corner and I covered it with a comforter and I can still hear it. I shook it and even replaced the impeller and the sound doesn't go away. Anyways I can't deal with the sound so I ordered an EHEIM 2217 canister filter which is being delivered this Thursday and that's what I am going to use for the tank.
My question is how should I set up the canister? Do I wait until the tank is cycled and move the biomedia from the SunSun to the Eheim? Do I run them both until it's cycled then just remove the SunSun or do I just disconnect the SunSun now and connect the Eheim and wait for that to cycle?
2) My second question is regarding stocking. I want a tank with fewer, but relatively bigger fish (4-6 inches). Right now I have
1 Opaline Gourami
1 Black Sailfin Molly
I have in mind adding
1 Angelfish
1 Red Fin (Rainbow) Shark
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 (Male) Swordtail fish
Does anyone see any potential issues with this stock?says this is 80% stocked. Ideally I'd like 1-2 more similar sized fish or a school of smaller fish.
What do you guys think?
Bought a used 55 gallon tank from Craigslist which included canister filter, heater, substrate and decor for $100.
There was a 2 day gap from when he emptied out the tank up to the point where I was able to set the tank up at my house. The canister filter still had the bio media but the sponge fine/coarse filters were replaced with new ones.
I did not use the substrate included with the craigslist deal but I did use the rocks and fake plants, along with the canister filter and media.
Dechlorinated the water 4 days ago, and waited 24 hours. Started fish-in cycle with Tetra Safestart (8oz) + Fritz Zyme Live Bacteria with 1 Opaline Gourami + 1 Black Sailfin Molly.

As of now it's been cycling for 3 days. These are the water results from now (day 3)
Looks like
0.25 Ammonia
0.25 Nitrite
10 Nitrate

Now this is where I need some advice
1) The craigslist deal came with a SunSun 304B (525gph). It's working fine but it's LOUD. The tank is in my bedroom in the corner and I covered it with a comforter and I can still hear it. I shook it and even replaced the impeller and the sound doesn't go away. Anyways I can't deal with the sound so I ordered an EHEIM 2217 canister filter which is being delivered this Thursday and that's what I am going to use for the tank.
My question is how should I set up the canister? Do I wait until the tank is cycled and move the biomedia from the SunSun to the Eheim? Do I run them both until it's cycled then just remove the SunSun or do I just disconnect the SunSun now and connect the Eheim and wait for that to cycle?
2) My second question is regarding stocking. I want a tank with fewer, but relatively bigger fish (4-6 inches). Right now I have
1 Opaline Gourami
1 Black Sailfin Molly
I have in mind adding
1 Angelfish
1 Red Fin (Rainbow) Shark
1 Bristlenose Pleco
1 (Male) Swordtail fish
Does anyone see any potential issues with this stock?says this is 80% stocked. Ideally I'd like 1-2 more similar sized fish or a school of smaller fish.
What do you guys think?