Hello everyone. Name is Erik and this is my first post (obviously) To make a long story short, 3 weeks ago I had went to an estate sale. I was there with a friend. Myself, had no intentions of purchasing anything. I was just along for the ride. Well after the auction was over and we were about to leave, one of the men who was running the auction had said to my friend and I, ''Hey fellas, there are a few things in the garage that didn't sell. Why don't you guys go have a look at whats left and if there is anything that you're interested in I will cut you a great deal.'' Like mentioned, I had no intentions of purchasing anything (my wife does a good enough job at that), my friend says, ''Why not, lets go have a look''. As the man opened the garage door, the first thing that caught my eye was this beautiful 75 gallon setup. All solid oak, w/ a wood canopy along w/ some nice detailing. (BTW, I'm a carpenter) As a kid I had little 10gal setups, but nothing serious. Well to keep my story short, we haggled back and forth for a few and just about as we were walking out the door I heard, ''100 bucks and its yours!'' I knew the mini-van (that I hate so much) would come in handy!
I was so excited that, that night I ran to petco, got 60 lbs of gravel, a Cascade 1000 canister filter, a power head, a heater, 2 live plants, a few plastic plants, misc tubing, etc... and by 2 am she was up and running. As well as broke and tired.
So the next night, I had a brief discussion with the guy at petco about cycling, and that evening, 5 tiger barbs and 3 danios went into the tank. After watching some videos on you tube is when I found MFK. For the passed 3 nights I've been reading (You guys/gals know your stuff!). Next thing I did was ran back to petco and purchased a freshwater master test kit (liquid) by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. Testing the tank my results were:
pH 7.4
Ammonia 2.0+
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 0
Temp 79*
Straight out of the tap my results were:
pH 7.4
Ammonia 0
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 0
After reading how ammonia will kill the fish I've been doing 20 gallon water changes every night. I've also been feeding them once in the morning and once when I get home from work.
After my water changes the ammonia levels have been reading between .25-.50 w/ 0 levels of nitrItes and nitrAtes.
Oh I forgot to mention... One day I came home from work, glanced at the tank, and 4 comets were in the there!! I explained to my wife what I was attempting and NOT to buy anymore fish! Also, that eventually I'd like to have a pair of dempseys in the tank and that the danios and barbs were only starter fish. After a little internet searching, I found out how big the comets get!! They are definitely going. When and where I don't know yet, but they're not staying in there.
For the passed week and a half now, all of the fish seem to be doing well. I realize I have some work cut out for me. Being I dont have an old setup that I can use to help promote the cycling nor do I know anyone with an aquarium, but how do you think I am doing? Do you think I should keep doing what I'm doing, along w/ testing the water everyday? Any suggestions for the retarded?
Thanks guys/gals for any guidance. I'd like to begin a new hobby here.
...Erik
BTW, Here is a picture of the tank. (I hope this works)
I was so excited that, that night I ran to petco, got 60 lbs of gravel, a Cascade 1000 canister filter, a power head, a heater, 2 live plants, a few plastic plants, misc tubing, etc... and by 2 am she was up and running. As well as broke and tired.
So the next night, I had a brief discussion with the guy at petco about cycling, and that evening, 5 tiger barbs and 3 danios went into the tank. After watching some videos on you tube is when I found MFK. For the passed 3 nights I've been reading (You guys/gals know your stuff!). Next thing I did was ran back to petco and purchased a freshwater master test kit (liquid) by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. Testing the tank my results were:
pH 7.4
Ammonia 2.0+
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 0
Temp 79*
Straight out of the tap my results were:
pH 7.4
Ammonia 0
NitrIte 0
NitrAte 0
After reading how ammonia will kill the fish I've been doing 20 gallon water changes every night. I've also been feeding them once in the morning and once when I get home from work.
After my water changes the ammonia levels have been reading between .25-.50 w/ 0 levels of nitrItes and nitrAtes.
Oh I forgot to mention... One day I came home from work, glanced at the tank, and 4 comets were in the there!! I explained to my wife what I was attempting and NOT to buy anymore fish! Also, that eventually I'd like to have a pair of dempseys in the tank and that the danios and barbs were only starter fish. After a little internet searching, I found out how big the comets get!! They are definitely going. When and where I don't know yet, but they're not staying in there.
For the passed week and a half now, all of the fish seem to be doing well. I realize I have some work cut out for me. Being I dont have an old setup that I can use to help promote the cycling nor do I know anyone with an aquarium, but how do you think I am doing? Do you think I should keep doing what I'm doing, along w/ testing the water everyday? Any suggestions for the retarded?
Thanks guys/gals for any guidance. I'd like to begin a new hobby here.
...Erik
BTW, Here is a picture of the tank. (I hope this works)
