Water quality + 'whats safe'...

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Peter McFarlane

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 22, 2007
492
1
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London
Hey guys,

I'm just setting up my first tropical tanks, got the water in and waiting for the levels to balance out.

I know nothing of this, so at the moment this involves me taking a water sample to my local store to be tested etc and then they say what it needs etc.

Can someone advise me on the best way to get my water quality correct? I'm in no rush to get the fish in, so want to get the water just right. Can anyone possibly recommend a good testing kit and what is ideal levels for me to be looking for?

Also can someone advise me on whats safe to put in my tank, regarding wood and rocks/stones ornaments etc. I know that everything has to be sterilized fist with a 'safe' product...

My local pet store want like insane prices just for rocks and bits of wood etc... Is there anyway I can get hold of my own rocks and similar? Would this be ok?

Thanks.
 
First off we need to know if your using fishless cycling or fish cycling. Also a bit more information about the tank size and filtration type along with the type and number of fish your planning to keep.

Basicly without an ammonia source to set the nitrogen cycle in motion nothing is going to happen in your tank, levels wise, even if you wait for another 10 years...

MFK has a number of great threads about fishless cycling so I'll let you use the search box and look them up rather than repeteing the info here.

Stay away from any of the "test strip" type of kits. They are innacurate and usually do more harm than good. I use an API freshwater master kit with a few additions. CA...KA copper and a TDS (total desolved solids) meter. You wont need all of that at first of course but do get the freshwater master kit.

Aquarium decorations....rocks and bog or drift wood are some of the most over priced things in our hobby. It's impossable to cover everything in a single reply but YES most of it can be picked up on your own and used. Run another search on bogwood/driftwood...theres a ton of great advice on what to use and where to get it....the same goes for rocks. A great place to find intresting and safe rocks by the way is at landscaping yards...although MOST rocks are safe once washed.

oops almost forgot....welcome to MFK.
 
Thanks Wolf,

To be honest I didn't know their was a search feature on mfk *doh* lol

Super useful feature...

Thanks :)
 
There are so many features here that even some of the long timers don't know them all. It's still hard to get anyone to check out the Blogs. LOL
 
Hey Mr.Wolf,

I looked closer at my pump its a "rena filstar M1" I've looked online and any posts I can find related to this pump are in Norwegian! So I'm unsure if it's been imported or is no longer sold over here etc.

I have two tanks (a bigger one and a little one) the one I'm trying to get set up is the small 18" tank. (Will tackle the bigger tank once I've got a better idea about what I'm doing...)

The little tank is very unusual... In the hood itself it has a pump built in, it's not very technical. Basically the water is sucked up on the left side... it goes through two different type of sponges.. then through some sort of spinning wheel that has another type of sponge in it...(this is all visible when i open my hood) then finally the water drops back into the tank from the right hand side...

So yeah there is a built in filter/pump and also at the moment I have the rena filstar M1 running in there too.

I bought some new gravel which I put in, other then that my tank is naked. Except for water...

Because of the tank being so small, I'm just looking to have it heavily planted with some very small fish in it, I'm thinking...a few neon tetra's and some cory's (no idea what type of cory) but something nice and small.

I know my description are a bit weak (sorry) but if it will be helpful I can borrow a friends cam and get you some pictures?
 
Yes pictures always help. And countless hours of reading and researching. You should be able to find out everything you need to know right here. On this forum. Welcome and good Fishkeeping.
 
Sounds like some sort of Eclipse tank. Built in hood/light. If stocking levels are low that is all the filter you will need.
 
There's loads of interesting and useful info regarding fishless cycling on the interweb.
e.g. http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Fishlesscycle.htm

With the smaller tank you could just cycle it gently by first adding the plants and then a few hardy fish at the beginning, gradually and slowly building up your stocking levels while watching your ammonia and nitrite levels closely. This does mean exposing the fish to some toxins however which is not ideal. Plants will help by consuming some of the waste, and you can keep the levels acceptable with water changes.
Google "aquarium nitrogen cycle" to familiarise yourself with what's going to be happening in your aquarium.

Like the others have said, you'll need your own set of test kits and the API ones are both easy to use and inexpensive. Don't forget a water conditioner such as Seachem Prime too.
I can recommended this site in the UK http://www.aquatics-online.co.uk/default.asp for just about anything you could possibly need!

Sounds like the small tank's built-in filter will be adequate for the fish you are planning.

Welcome and good luck :thumbsup:
 
Guys, Thank you all so so much for the input.

I think I now know what I'm doing... I've started reading those links and going to carry on reading up now. I'll report back in a few days and keep you updated. :)
 
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