First tank, anything i am missing/forgetting?

I have a 29g, I have read up on cycling before adding fish, I have everything to test my water, I am ordering everything to scape it this Friday (plants, soil, sand, rocks, wood, lots of plants). I know I need to run it a couple weeks with no fish, I have API quickstart and I plan on throwing in food to decay and feed the bacteria. I plan on adding 12 CPD's to start, later adding more CPD's, red crystal shrimp and mystery snails, possibly clams.

I'm worried I am forgetting something although I have done a lot a learning before just diving in, and I do have a few questions.

1. How many 1-2" clams for a tank this size if I do add them? Is it a good idea? I will have the front of the scape sand for them to bury in.

2. I plan on adding a co2 system in a couple weeks when I have the extra money. Any advice on brand or settings?

3. Will the led's in the hood that came with my tank be okay? They seen very bright but I don't know what temperature range they are, top fin essentials kit.

4. I plan on adding a couple 10 gallon setups to quarantine, breed on a small scale and grow out plants. Is that too small?

 

I'm going to do you a favor right off the bat. Don't use food as your ammonia source. Either get some pure ammonia from the drug store, or order some Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride. Both are inexpensive. When you use food, it is very difficult to control dosing the tank, and your tank will become an absolute mess before you even put fish #1 in there.

I would also say if you are going to spend the money on a CO2 system, then you might as well upgrade the light. You need to remember that while buying the complete kit is indeed a money saver, they are going to include the absolute bare minimum for the tanks. So this includes the light and especially the filter.

 

I guess I will add a light to the list. Will my plants die if it's a few weeks (3 or 4) before I upgrade the light?

With clams, shrimp and snails for a clean up crew will I run into trouble with the filter I have? I'm trying to make it as low maintenance as possible, a water change every other week and basic cleaning.

Can you explain the pure ammonia process?

 

go check out this video. This guy has helped me a ton in this hobby. Poke around his channel for a ton of information and just good content. Cory has a different view then most and it has worked very well for me personally.

 

Instead of using decaying food as your ammonia source, you use pure ammonia instead. This can be purchased from most hardware stores. But you need to make sure it is pure ammonia, with no perfumes or dyes added to it. (This is why I like Dr. Tim's Ammonium Chloride. It takes the guesswork out of it.)

When you are doing a fishless cycle, you need to feed the tank with ammonia. This means you need to get the tank to a determined parts per million of ammonia, or PPM. This is what your test kit is for. You add the appropriate amount of pure ammonia to your tank until it reads 2-4ppm on your test kit. You need to pay attention to how much you are adding, so when it starts metabolizing the ammonia into nitrites, you know how much to add to get it back to 2-4ppm.

For example. When I did my 75 gallon tank, I used Dr. Tim's. I believe I had to add 3 teaspoons to get it from 0ppm to 4ppm. (Don't quote me on that.) There are directions on the bottle. If you use pure ammonia, it will be trial and error.

 

How long should it take to get back to 0ppm when its is cycled? I watched the video too, so as long as my tank is getting rid of ammonia and nitrites consistently am I ready to add fish?

 

When you add ammonia, and it processes back to 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites in less than 24 hours, you are cycled. But just remember. Going from ammonia to nitrites can take a few weeks, and from nitrites to nitrates can take even longer.

One other thing. You mentioned the clean up crew, and your filter. Your filter not only filters out particulates, but it is more importantly home to where a lot of your beneficial bacteria grows. So it is important in more than one way. Also, having a cleanup will not help with your water change schedule. Water changes not only eliminate nitrates (the end process of ammonia-nitrite-nitrate) but it also replenished trace elements in water that your fish need. In fact, I would say by adding those clams and snails you will only make water changes more important. Remember. What goes in their mouths has to come out somewhere lol.

 

Yes that's the whole idea of the cycle is to establish bacteria so it can do its job. Dont go adding a ton of fish at once tho. You slowly increase your bioload then more bacteria grow. I personally feel that a lot of people way over complicate "cycling".

 

Yes that's the whole idea of the cycle is to establish bacteria so it can do its job. Dont go adding a ton of fish at once tho. You slowly increase your bioload then more bacteria grow. I personally feel that a lot of people way over complicate "cycling".

If by "way overcomplicate" you mean doing what is best and safest for the fish, I agree.

 

The first stock will be 8 CPD's. My plan is to get 8 from 3 different places (2 10 gallon quarantines and display tank) because I am completely new to this and everyone has a different favorite online store. Liveaquaria, A Z gardens and Aquatic Arts. Will probably do the same with shrimp when I'm ready. I know I will wind up paying a fortune in shipping.

 

If by "way overcomplicate" you mean doing what is best and safest for the fish, I agree.

I wasn't talking to you guy. I was talking to the OP.

Why buy from 3 different places?

 

I wasn't talking to you guy. I was talking to the OP.

But I am genuinely interested in your uncomplicated cycling method? If there is a less complicated way of doing it, I for one would love to know what it is. As I imagine most of the board would. Thanks!

 

One place may have better quality fish, I plan on breeding eventually so a broader gene pool, I dunno it may be the same guy pulling fish out of the same tank and putting it in 3 boxes with different labels.

Really I'm just looking for what sites and brands are best to use

 

Yeah it could be haha. I personally think you would be just as well off if you bought from one source and keep cost to you lower. If in the future you decide to keep breeding the same type of fish and feel it necessary then acquire more fish from another source to broaden you gene pool. Start small and you can always go bigger.

But I am genuinely interested in your uncomplicated cycling method? If there is a less complicated way of doing it, I for one would love to know what it is. As I imagine most of the board would. Thanks!

Dude... did you watch the video? You're Welcome!

 

But if I stick all my money in the wrong place and wind up with 24 dead fish 2 weeks later that would be worse to me than paying extra shipping and finding a place I trust.

Also don't want to add 24 at once to a new tank.

 

Yeah you have some good points. I don't buy fish online so I don't have any recommendations in that respect.

Do you have a local store?

 

A couple local chain stores, the quality of their fish is pretty bad and the don't carry CPD's .

 

Oh ok just wondering

 

I recommend using pure ammonia to cycle the tank rather than letting food rot. You can use dose higher ammonia, use exactly how much you want, and it's way cleaner.

 

May be an obvious answer to this but I can add pure ammonia with plants right? As long as I don't go past 2-4ppm like Morpheus said.

 

Yes you can.

 

May be an obvious answer to this but I can add pure ammonia with plants right? As long as I don't go past 2-4ppm like Morpheus said.

Yes. And you can go past 4ppm, but it's not necessary, nor will it hurt anything.

 

Am I being ridiculous by thinking cycling with ammonia for 2 weeks before adding the first 8 fish? I know I will have to test daily and do a lot of water changes. I'm just eager to get going. Is that too soon if the tank in processing ammonia decently?

 

For your CO2 you should consider buying separate parts for a tank that size - ie a good quality regulator with solenoid (I bought a cheap Chinese import at first - it lasted 3 months) , a timer, tubing graded for CO2 (not airline tubing - CO2 will make it brittle and prone to cracking) a CO2 graded non return valve (to ensure water does not siphon back and wreck your regulator) and a good diffuser or reactor - check out the JBL Proflora Taifun - fits in the tank and has no moving parts - it also doesn't create a cloud of tiny bubles or need regular cleaning. For a CO2 source you don't necessarily need expensive tanks - a CO2 fire extinguisher will do and (certainly in the UK) is cheaper - 10 quid (about 12 bucks) for a 2Kg CO2 extinguisher refill lasts me 5 months (I have an aquarium the same size). All my kit is sourced in europe so I can't recommend US brands. If possible your regulator solenoid should be low voltage or it can be prone to humming whilst on. Finally a drop checker.
Also work out your usual KH and PH - you can get a reasonably accurate measure of the actual CO2 in the aquarium (google for kh/ph/co2) though bogwood or other PH lowering elements can affect those results.
If you decide on the DIY route there are plenty of others on here with better advice than me!
Make sure you fertilise your tank too - there's a balancing act between lighting, ferts and CO2 - getting it stable and in the sweet spot which is good for plant growth and bad for algae can take a while of fiddling with all the parameters - it took me a couple of months.
Another chap to check out is George Farmer - loads of good videos on youtube with some stunning aquascapes and loads of practical advice.
Finally for a heavily planted tank with CO2 be prepared to do 50% water changes every week - our ferts push the nitrates up close to 100ppm by the end of the week and many aquascapers recommend 50% water changes to deal with the high nitrate levels.