# Just looking for tips



## connorsdad (Aug 1, 2010)

Hello everyone,

I'm brand new to this hobby. about 6 weeks ago i was given a free 55 gallon tank. My son has always wanted one as he loves fish so i thought what the hell. As soon as we got it I filled it with tap water, set up the filter (make is Fluval 204?) went straight to the fish store with the boy, purchased some fish, dumped them in and watched all 5 of them start doing the funky chicken within 5 minutes. Long story short, ID shark and rainbow shark died, Pleco Cat and 2 Powder Blue Gourami's lived. After this incident I did a little research etc. I decided to just leave the Gourami's by themselves for a couple weeks. After about a month I checked the ph, Ammonia and Nitrite levels. Ph is 7.3, Ammonia is almost non existent and the Nitrites appear a little high (between 2-5 ppm). Temp is 74 and I haven't added a heater yet. This was on the weekend and I have since added another Gourami, an Angel Fish, 6 Lemon tetras and a black molly which died.

I'm a little confused about the whole nitrogen cycle thing. My Aquarium has been going for about 6 weeks. Does this mean it is "established" The fish all seem quite happy and healthy. 

BTW they are fed once a day and i tend to mix it up. I figured variety is the spice of life. I feed them a mix of blood worms (seems to be the favourite) Mysis shrimp and those sinking pellets. 

Now, how often should I check the water specs etc? 

Oh ya and I added an aerator because I read that may help the Nitrite levels come down. Everything sound ok?


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

There's a process of cycling that I'm sure you've heard during your research.

Sometimes the nitrogen cycle gets a little bit longer than it should, it's usually a month and a half at max. But if you don't have enough of a source of ammonia, then it'll generally take longer, what precisely do you have in there right now and how much of it? (ie like 7 pearl gourami?). As soon as your nitrite hits 0 and you get a lot of nitrate, then your cycle is finished, as you still have nitrites your cycle still isn't finished. It's common for nitrite to spike before it reaches 0.

Not to sound mean, but please do research before you buy fish, ID sharks get quite big and it is recommended that they need hundreds of gallons when they are fully grown. It won't be fun for you to try to get rid of it when it's so big. Because you're still a beginner, try not to put too many fish in at once, because that causes an ammonia spike which isn't good.

I'm not sure about the aeration reducing nitrite but I'm sure someone else can clarify that for you.

And about the food thing, you hit the bulleye, it's always good to feed different foods.

By checking 'water specs' you mean like ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and all that stuff, you can get your water tested at most local LFS. I know PetSmart does free water testing, I've seen someone get their water tested at Big Al's before, I'm not sure if that was just a one time thing.

You can easily speed up your cycle, if you can find a nice forum member that lives relatively close to you, then you can probably get their filter sponge or a handful of gravel from them.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

You might also want to consider getting a few plants. That's completely up to you though, there are some good things about live plants but I don't feel like explaining it because I'm lazy, so hopefully someone else will.


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## connorsdad (Aug 1, 2010)

Thanks Joe,

By the way after buying the id shark and the other ones I did do some research about each species (I know I should have done it before, but being new to fish I had know idea what I would have been researching.). I was relieved the ID shark died and will not be buying another. My son just loves sharks and insisted on one (he's 7).


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Hey Connor,

I would leave the stock the way it is for now. You shouldn't really need to get anyone's old filter media. You should have some bacteria in your filter now. With the fish already in there you should be cycled soon. Part of your problem might be that the filter is slightly underated for that size of tank. I think that the 204 is good up to 50 gallons. I have a 55 set up and I'm running a fluval 404 and an emperor 400. You can always upgrade later, but if you keep this filter for now, keep the stock fairly low. Later you can either get a larger canister filter or add an HOB filter also.

Hope that helps a little.

Wil


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Connor,

I don't think I read that you put any water conditioner into the tank the first time other then just putting tap water but I could have oversight that. I'm trying to find a good source to post you about the nitrogen cycle so you can understand it better.

In reponse to Joe comment about Petsmart I know they offer free water testing. I've had my water tested there many times before for free and was told it was a free service. When they do the water test they will reference a number chart on the test kit to see if your tank water is within safe perimeters. Ask kindly before they do the testing for you for them to write down the water testing values. Those numbers are very useful and as Joe said it does take about a month and a half for an aquarium to naturally do its cycle. If you are willing to post your major intersection/area here I'm sure many will help out with providing a cycled piece of filter media.

Even with the mature cycled media you should stock the tank with a small amount of livestock and slowly add 1-2 fish extra per week so the filter can slowly ripen up with it's build up of beneficial bacteria.

I'm about due for my filter change for my filter floss so I can help you out with the filter media if you need some.


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

I am shocked that the 2 Powder Blue Gouramis survived with fresh tap water but now your systems seems to be much better but the Fluval 204 is too small of a filter for a 55gal but you can add a AC110 or Emperor 400 along with the 204.
BTW, some systems can take up to 3 months to get fully established.
Also the 2 Powder Blue Gouramis must have faced a great deal of ammonia poisoning from the freash tap water. I am wondering if their growth has been stunted


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## connorsdad (Aug 1, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. I was wondering about the filter because the tank was also given to me with a "hob filter" (had to google that, sheesh now I'm speaking jargon). I have just added that, hopefully it will help.


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

connorsdad said:


> Thanks for the replies. I was wondering about the filter because the tank was also given to me with a "hob filter" (had to google that, sheesh now I'm speaking jargon). I have just added that, hopefully it will help.


What kind of HOB? and what kind of media are you using in the HOB?


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## connorsdad (Aug 1, 2010)

Not exactly sure what kind, just clear plastic. put in some polywool.


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

connorsdad said:


> Not exactly sure what kind, just clear plastic. put in some polywool.


Sounds like Aqua Clear HOB...got any pics?
BTW, polywool are very good for polishing the water but does not last long. Try and use some sponges with the polywool. The sponge last for a long time. Some of my sponges that I have are over 20 years.


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

dl88dl said:


> I am shocked that the 2 Powder Blue Gouramis survived with fresh tap water but now your systems seems to be much better but the Fluval 204 is too small of a filter for a 55gal but you can add a AC110 or Emperor 400 along with the 204.
> BTW, some systems can take up to 3 months to get fully established.
> Also the 2 Powder Blue Gouramis must have faced a great deal of ammonia poisoning from the freash tap water. I am wondering if their growth has been stunted


Yes, thank you for reminding me, different sized tanks will usually cycle at different rates. I also heard some not so good things abou the Emperor 400 from AquariAM, I personally like the AquaClear series because you get to use whatever filter media you need rather than what they give you. I'm not sure if the Emperor 400 comes with that. I think that the AquaClear 110 is also more expensive than the Emperor 400 though.

As for conditioner, I use Seachem Prime, it takes out chlorine and chloramine and is very concentrated. I've heard of people recommending StressCoat, but I don't see it as necessary. StressCoat has aloe vera in it which helps the fish create it's natural slime coat to protect it from various things such as infections. It's good if you have something with long fins like guppies or bettas.



connorsdad said:


> Not exactly sure what kind, just clear plastic. put in some polywool.


If you get us a picture of it, someone can probably identify it for you. I'm not sure what polywool is (when I google it I only see clothing) but I think igor.kanshyn mentioned that some things can rot (refer to his 'Crystal Water Method').


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## connorsdad (Aug 1, 2010)

dl88dl said:


> Sounds like Aqua Clear HOB...got any pics?
> BTW, polywool are very good for polishing the water but does not last long. Try and use some sponges with the polywool. The sponge last for a long time. Some of my sponges that I have are over 20 years.


I googled AquaClear and it appears what i have is the 110. Now these sponges, are these special sponges I have to get?


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

connorsdad said:


> I googled AquaClear and it appears what i have is the 110. Now these sponges, are these special sponges I have to get?


Yes, you should buy the sponge that is made for the AC110 or AC500 and the best price is from John (aka sugarglidder). He sell the AC110/500 sponge for $6.75 tax incl. Here is his Ad:

http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16108


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

Joeee said:


> Yes, thank you for reminding me, different sized tanks will usually cycle at different rates. I also heard some not so good things abou the Emperor 400 from AquariAM, I personally like the AquaClear series because you get to use whatever filter media you need rather than what they give you. I'm not sure if the Emperor 400 comes with that. I think that the AquaClear 110 is also more expensive than the Emperor 400 though.
> 
> Yeah he is not a big fan of the EMP400 because the cartridge needs to be replaced every month or so and you lose all the good beneficial bacteria when you replace them with new ones and they are also very costly but it is not that bad since it come with 2 media baskets. I fill these baskets with Kaldnes K1 media and this media has a very large surface area almost twice as much as the Eheim media and much much lighter too. And instead of the usuing cartridge I cut 2 pieces of 1.5" thick sponge and reuse this sponge for a long time and keep the good beneficial bacteria. Also this filter has 2 large bio wheels and these wet & dry bio wheels is the ideal culture site for the beneficial bacteria, therefore, this is a very good filter. And yes I use both the AC500 and EMP400 and I like both


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

dl88dl;127324Yeah he is not a big fan of the EMP400 because the cartridge needs to be replaced every month or so and you lose all the good beneficial bacteria when you replace them with new ones and they are also very costly but it is not that bad since it come with 2 media baskets. I fill these baskets with Kaldnes K1 media and this media has a very large surface area almost twice as much as the Eheim media and much much lighter too. And instead of the usuing cartridge I cut 2 pieces of 1.5" thick sponge and reuse this sponge for a long time and keep the good beneficial bacteria. Also this filter has 2 large bio wheels and the bio wheel is the ideal culture site for the beneficial bacteria said:


> I don't use the AC110 but I do use the AC70 along with the Emporer 400 and 280. I also like both. In the Emporer's second basket (grey one) I use Fluval bio media in there. This gives me extra bio along with the biowheels. To avoid buying the other cartridges, I cut off the blue poly/sponge material off of it and replace it with polywool from big als. It comes in a large roll which you can cut to size.
> 
> The sponge idea you metion sounds pretty good too! I might have to try that in one of my emperors.


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