Starting A New Tank - hasn't cycled in 2 months

HI everyone,

I am planning on setting up a new tank. I have a 10 gallon tank and it hasn't cycled yet since 2 months and I have come to realize (as lot of people have mentioned here) that for beginners in fish keeping, it easier to work on a larger tank. Could you suggest if 29 gallons would be a good idea?

If so, do you think it is good to get a starter kit? or should I buy the tank, hood, lights, filter separately? My concern is - do the starter kits available in the market come with good filtration and lightning system?

Thanks

 

by a tank hood and lights trust me I got a kit from petsmart for my 20 gallon and I replaced the filter and hood. I also recommend buying your filter from amazon and maybe hood and buy your tank from a local fish store. Good luck!

 

Thank you for your response. Could you suggest some good filters? Should I go with canisters or HOBs? Would the filter choice be dependent on if I have live plants in the tank or not? Sorry, I have a lot of questions. And what about lights?

 

I recommend a Marineland filter because I love them a lot I would say get a 150 or 200 for a nice price of 13-18$ from amazon and lighting get a hood for whatever the dimensions are on your tank. The live plants debris like the dead leaves but if you get elodea they will get attached to them put they should come out of your substrate as long as you don't get Pictus catfish like me and if you have any more questions you can ask me.

Sorry the your dead plant matter might get stuck in your filter but it shouldn't be much of an issue at least not for me get the same flow.

 

Thanks, I'll check the Marineland filter. I haven't decided on the plants yet. But I was looking at some aquarium plants for beginners and I found that Pygmy chain sword is easy to maintain. Is it a good option to consider?

 

One of the best HOB filters are the aqua clear ones, they are really good and customizable, I have two for my 40 gallon tanks.

For beginner plants you should try anubias and java fern, they are very easy to care for and don't need any special lights or fertilizer or co2. If you have a decent light and fertilizer you could try some amazon sword, jungle val and maybe some crypts, elodea is also nice.

 

Thanks I'll check aqua clear filter as well and read about the beginner plants you suggested. I'll be keeping the plants for the first time in a tank, so I'll prefer something that is very easy to maintain and something that has very less chances of going wrong.

 

10 is ok. 29 is ok. All depends on how many fish you are gonna keep. And once you decide on that, you can decide on your filtration system. 10 you need 100gph ideally. 29 you need 290gph ideally. So on and so forth.

 

If you are going to keep live plants I recommend just buying the tank. Petco $1 a gallon sale.

Get a hinged plexiglass lid on Amazon. A Beamworks 6500 led light from Amazon. And any filter you decide on, Amazon.

Kits are cheaper in the beginning but since I have live plants in all of my tanks, the lids and lights always get replaced.

And i’m a huge fan of having a air pump driven sponge filter in every tank.

And I would go with the 29. Nice footprint. Corys (one of my favorite fish) do better than in 20Ts.

And pearl gourami are OK in a 29 (another favorite).

 

If you are going to keep live plants I recommend just buying the tank. Petco $1 a gallon sale.

Get a hinged plexiglass lid on Amazon. A Beamworks 6500 led light from Amazon. And any filter you decide on, Amazon.

Kits are cheaper in the beginning but since I have live plants in all of my tanks, the lids and lights always get replaced.

And i’m a huge fan of having a air pump driven sponge filter in every tank.

And I would go with the 29. Nice footprint. Corys (one of my favorite fish) do better than in 20Ts.

And pearl gourami are OK in a 29 (another favorite).

Thanks. Do you suggest sponge filter in addition to the HOB?

 

I have a sponge in all 7 of my tanks. And HOBs on 5 of them.

So, yes.

If you ever want to cycle another than you just put the sponge filter in the new tank.

 

I have a sponge in all 7 of my tanks. And HOBs on 5 of them.

So, yes.

If you ever want to cycle another than you just put the sponge filter in the new tank.

That's a good idea. Thanks

I read about Marineland and aquaclear. Although both of them have great reviews, a lot of people seem to like aquaclear better than Marineland though. So, I am thinking of going with aquaclear. But I am not sure what size should I get? For a 29 gallon tank, ideal would be a 290 gph as georgelee1000 mentioned, should I get AC70 filter in that case?

 

For a 20 or larger I prefer a canister filter, that's just me. They're more expensive up front but will rarely need any maintenance. I still use a sponge filter too though simply because I like the simplicity and the redundancy. Good luck and...

WELCOME TO FISH LORE!!!

 

For a 20 or larger I prefer a canister filter, that's just me. They're more expensive up front but will rarely need any maintenance. I still use a sponge filter too though simply because I like the simplicity and the redundancy. Good luck and...

WELCOME TO FISH LORE!!!

Thank you.

I was debating over HOBs and canisters till yesterday before I posted here. Any particular reason why canisters would be a better choice for larger tanks? Would you say canisters are good for beginners?

 

Canisters typically have a much larger capacity for various types of media, whether it's sponges for mechanically filtering particles or bioballs for biological filtration. They are very customizable. Say you have dirty water for whatever reason - you can take out the bio media (keeping it in tank water in a bucket for a short while) and run just mech filtration. Need to remove meds? Just run carbon. They also don't require the same amount of flow/gallons per hour that an HOB will require. Typically you'll see people saying a filter needs to be pumping 7-10 times the tank volume per hour. With a canister that number is about half, 3-5 is adequate. So for fish that can't handle a high flow they are ideal. If you have fish that DO need more flow you can simply put a small powerhead in your tank to increase water movement.
I can't say if they're suitable for every beginner, that depends a lot on the person and their own understanding of the filter. There is a learning curve for all filters.
I have Eheim brand filters but Fluval is a good brand from what I've heard and SunSun is another that many people like. They're super quiet and if kept in a cabinet the only thing you will see is the uptake tube and the tube where the water flows back into the tank. No waterfall sound or box sitting on the tank.
I've ordered Aqueon Versa-Top glass lids from Dr's Foster and Smith for all my tanks (very reasonably priced) and use Current USA LED lights. Not the cheapest and not the most expensive either. If you get into plants that require higher light they probably won't cut it.

 

Thank you, that's a lot of information. I like the idea of just running one type of filtration at a time. I'll read more about their working and decide whether it is aquaclear or a canister type filter.

 

Thank you, that's a lot of information. I like the idea of just running one type of filtration at a time. I'll read more about their working and decide whether it is aquaclear or a canister type filter.

Regardless of what type of filter you decide on I think most here would agree that running a sponge filter in addition to your primary filter just makes good sense. An air pump can be had for cheap and a sponge filter for less than $5. Battery powered air pumps can be bought and kept for an emergency - if the power goes out for any length of time, you may want to keep your fish alive. They can live for a week or more without food but lack of oxygen and ammonia building up will kill them dead in a hurry.

 

Regardless of what type of filter you decide on I think most here would agree that running a sponge filter in addition to your primary filter just makes good sense. An air pump can be had for cheap and a sponge filter for less than $5. Battery powered air pumps can be bought and kept for an emergency - if the power goes out for any length of time, you may want to keep your fish alive. They can live for a week or more without food but lack of oxygen and ammonia building up will kill them dead in a hurry.

Yes I will get sponge filter for my tank. I have air pumps, but will get a battery operated one, just in case. Thanks for the tips.

Another question about the stand:

Do you know if we get good deals around Thanksgiving for the tank stands? I am looking for cabinet style stand and the ones that I like are expensive. Any change the prices would go down in a month or so? I found one on Craigslist that seems reasonable, but it is 7-8 years old, maybe more. The condition of the tank seems good though. Would it able to hold the tank in place because of its age?
Sorry for all these silly questions, but I am pretty new to all these.

 

For 29 gal tbh I think canister is an overkill. Hahaha. A good overkill. I have fluval 50 + Marineland 200 on my 29. That being said I think the cost of hob combo is slightly less than getting a canister.

 

Yes I agree. After doing some research about maintenance required, price and functionality, I have now made up my mind that I'll go with aquaclear 70.

Thank you all for your help. Could you please direct me in a right direction for a tank stand?

Another question about the stand:

Do you know if we get good deals around Thanksgiving for the tank stands? I am looking for cabinet style stand and the ones that I like are expensive. Any change the prices would go down in a month or so? I found one on Craigslist that seems reasonable, but it is 7-8 years old, maybe more. The condition of the tank seems good though. Would it able to hold the tank in place because of its age?
Sorry for all these silly questions, but I am pretty new to all these.

Thanks