# Setup for Beginner



## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

Hi I am new to the forum as well as the hobby...for christmas I recieved a 55gallon tank, a Fluval 305 canister filter, some various plastic decor plants and a bunch of driftwood my wifes parents had kept over the years. I was thinking of keeping 3 red bellys in the tank and possibly upgrading later on to a 150 gallon if the wife permits haha. Anyways I was wondering tips on first setup... and cycling the tank before I get the fish to put in the tank. What did you guys do before first introducing the red bellys to the tank....and also Ive heard that adding driftwood to the tank will turn the water brown or black....how do I prevent this from happeniing? Any info and advice before I begin the tank setup will be much helpful...Probably start here next week. Help!


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

welcome, to cycle the tank you'll first need an ammonia source, you can put some ditcher fish in there or just put a raw shrimp or a piece of fish fillet in the tank. as the food decompose it will release ammonia and you just have to wait for the beneficial bacterias to grow. you can also get some "bacterial in a bottle" type of product (i.e. Stability from Seachem) to help introduce bacteria in the setup and speed up the process.
replace the ammonia source ever couple days if you use food.
as for driftwood, boil it for a lon period of time will get most of the tannins out or you can use active carbon in your filter to remove it but i rather use those space for bio media instead.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

First,with everything setup(filter,heater,substrate,decor,powerhead...) let the tank cycle.Add a few feeders in there and monitor ammonia,nitrate and nitrite levels. Everything should drop back down to zero once it's cycled except nitrates,shou;d be between 10 and 40(if you get it at zero,even better). The driftwood will add tannins to the tank ,giving it a tea color.Depends on how much you have the tint can vary but will eventually go away when the tannins run out. Personally,i like the tea color.Temp should be between 76-85F,i keep mine at 84F. You can add peat to your filter to lower the ph in your tank if it's too high.PH should be between 6.8 and 7.6(approx) This should be good to get you going,i'm sure others will add more info for you. You can also use the search button to search for answers. Top right corner of the screen next to "help".
Ps.this is what tannins look like (i had a lot) http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=187928


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

chaddfc said:


> Hi I am new to the forum as well as the hobby...for christmas I recieved a 55gallon tank*For this size tank a solo serra would be best. Reds would be ok, but should have a 18" wide tank in a year or two max*, a Fluval 305 canister filter, some various plastic decor plants and a bunch of driftwood my wifes parents had kept over the years. I was thinking of keeping 3 red bellys in the tank and possibly upgrading later on to a 150 gallon if the wife permits haha. Anyways I was wondering tips on first setup... and cycling the tank before I get the fish to put in the tank. What did you guys do before first introducing the red bellys to the tank....and also Ive heard that adding driftwood to the tank will turn the water brown or black....how do I prevent this from happeniing? *run carbon. This yellow tinge will decrease with time*Any info and advice before I begin the tank setup will be much helpful...Probably start here next week. Help!


I would also boil and clean the driftwood if its been sitting somewhere for a couple years. If its large throw it in a bath tub and throw some buckets of boiling water on it from a stove


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

Thanks for the advice guys I will try it all... I forgot to mention that I do have carbon media for my filter already.... ill try boiling my driftwood a couple times before I place it in the tank, they are small pieces so I shouldnt have a problem. As soon as I get things going ill supply a pic.


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

Welcome To P-Fury

the other guys have given you good advice already for you to go on. i suggest you invest in a decent test kits. i also suggest you let the tank cycle for 3-4 weeks. make sure you keep testing the water. 
good luck with setting it up. im sure it will all work out well. 
theres alot of good info on this website so have a look around and aks as many questions as you like


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## balluupnetme (Oct 23, 2006)

what would be a good water test kit ?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

balluupnetme said:


> what would be a good water test kit ?


aquarium pharmaceuticals freshwater master test kit... great price and contains all you should need for basic tests.

here's a link to a freshwater master test kit using a discount code... normal price is $23.99, with the discount only $14.99...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...1&catid=113

just don't tell anyone...


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

Ok so I finished setup last Monday night and things have been running smoothly except for the water started getting a little cloudy last night after I added some Tetra Easybalance to try to get my ph right. My ph has been way too high and I dont know how to drop it down definately been over an 8.0. (See picture) Alkalinity is a litlle on the high side as well. Also my water here is very Hard....dont know if that matters or not but if so how do I get it soft? Other than that things are looking good and I cant wait to get everything worked out and introduce some fish










View attachment 190265

View attachment 190266


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

are you on well water? i can't imagine a municipal water source being that hard out of the tap... i wouldn't bother messing with the ph, as long as you can keep it stable, being a little high isn't too bad, my water comes out of the tap at 8.2-8.4 (i'm on well water).

i have never had luck with the strip tests... it might be a good idea to check out that link i posted, those are great test kits, very accurate.


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

joedizzlempls said:


> are you on well water? i can't imagine a municipal water source being that hard out of the tap... i wouldn't bother messing with the ph, as long as you can keep it stable, being a little high isn't too bad, my water comes out of the tap at 8.2-8.4 (i'm on well water).
> 
> i have never had luck with the strip tests... it might be a good idea to check out that link i posted, those are great test kits, very accurate.


Yeah Ill def. look into my local pet stores such as Petco and Petsmart to see if they have any better test kits. So even if my Ph is high like that, as long as its stable its ok?? And what about the issue with my water being hard....thought it says in the information tab that Red bellies and ,ost other species prefer soft water. I want to make sure everything is perfect before I introduce my fish to not have the risk of complications later...

Oh and I am on city water I believe.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

chaddfc said:


> Yeah Ill def. look into my local pet stores such as Petco and Petsmart to see if they have any better test kits. So even if my Ph is high like that, as long as its stable its ok?? *Its not an ideal pH, but its better to leave it stable then to keep adjusting it. You may have to accumulate new fish longer though* And what about the issue with my water being hard....thought it says in the information tab that Red bellies and ,ost other species prefer soft water*its fine. The main things you need to test for are ammonia, nitrate nitrite and pH. Anything else is nice to have once in a while, but they arn't as important.*. I want to make sure everything is perfect before I introduce my fish to not have the risk of complications later...
> 
> Oh and I am on city water I believe.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

chaddfc said:


> are you on well water? i can't imagine a municipal water source being that hard out of the tap... i wouldn't bother messing with the ph, as long as you can keep it stable, being a little high isn't too bad, my water comes out of the tap at 8.2-8.4 (i'm on well water).
> 
> i have never had luck with the strip tests... it might be a good idea to check out that link i posted, those are great test kits, very accurate.


Yeah Ill def. look into my local pet stores such as Petco and Petsmart to see if they have any better test kits. So even if my Ph is high like that, as long as its stable its ok?? And what about the issue with my water being hard....thought it says in the information tab that Red bellies and ,ost other species prefer soft water. I want to make sure everything is perfect before I introduce my fish to not have the risk of complications later...

Oh and I am on city water I believe.
[/quote]

if you are in the US, the link i posted earlier is for an API Freshwater Master Test Kit that usually retails for $24.99... if you use the link, i put the discount code in so that you would only pay $14.99.

you've got hard water with a high ph, in order to counteract that and provide the ideal water conditions that you described, you would need to invest in an RO unit and do a lot of mixing and monitoring... in other words, it's much easier to just leave things the way they are. i went from soft city water to hard well water a little over a year ago and there has been no difference in my fish. as long as the conditions aren't extreme, it's better to provide stable conditions than to mess with things.


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

joedizzlempls said:


> are you on well water? i can't imagine a municipal water source being that hard out of the tap... i wouldn't bother messing with the ph, as long as you can keep it stable, being a little high isn't too bad, my water comes out of the tap at 8.2-8.4 (i'm on well water).
> 
> i have never had luck with the strip tests... it might be a good idea to check out that link i posted, those are great test kits, very accurate.


Yeah Ill def. look into my local pet stores such as Petco and Petsmart to see if they have any better test kits. So even if my Ph is high like that, as long as its stable its ok?? And what about the issue with my water being hard....thought it says in the information tab that Red bellies and ,ost other species prefer soft water. I want to make sure everything is perfect before I introduce my fish to not have the risk of complications later...

Oh and I am on city water I believe.
[/quote]

if you are in the US, the link i posted earlier is for an API Freshwater Master Test Kit that usually retails for $24.99... if you use the link, i put the discount code in so that you would only pay $14.99.

you've got hard water with a high ph, in order to counteract that and provide the ideal water conditions that you described, you would need to invest in an RO unit and do a lot of mixing and monitoring... in other words, it's much easier to just leave things the way they are. i went from soft city water to hard well water a little over a year ago and there has been no difference in my fish. as long as the conditions aren't extreme, it's better to provide stable conditions than to mess with things.
[/quote]

Ok so youre saying as long as the readings are stable and not fluctuating too much I shouldnt have a problem with red bellies in the tank?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

yup... you're at the higher end of the ph spectrum, but as long as you can keep it around 8.2-8.4, you should be fine. also, your hard water will actually help keep the ph stable... a higher kH means that your water has a lot of buffering capacity, so you don't have to worry about wild ph swings.


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## lifeguarden (Jun 21, 2008)

HEy 
Really nice tank! Good luck!
you're getting some good tips here!


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## balluupnetme (Oct 23, 2006)

Hey, I'm also new, I recently purchased a 100 gallon tank and I introduced goldfish in the tank so they can produce the bacteria necessary, before I put the goldfish in I had the tank up and running for about a week, what would be my next step ?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

next step would be to wait until the tank is cycled


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## balluupnetme (Oct 23, 2006)

Oh ok, how long would the cycling take ? and what do I do after it's been cycled ? Thanks


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

cycle could take anywhere from a week to a few weeks... just gotta test your water and wait for an ammonia spike, then a nitrite spike, and then finally you should have 0 as a nitrite and ammonia reading and nitrates should be adding up. once that happens, you can go ahead and add your fish.


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## balluupnetme (Oct 23, 2006)

I see


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## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

joedizzlempls said:


> cycle could take anywhere from a week to a few weeks... just gotta test your water and wait for an ammonia spike, then a nitrite spike, and then finally you should have 0 as a nitrite and ammonia reading and nitrates should be adding up. once that happens, you can go ahead and add your fish.


ditto what joe said. cyling usally takes about 3 weeks. sometimes a little longer. ive never had any of my tanks cycle in 1 week. who ever has is one lucky chap :laugh:


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

joedizzlempls said:


> cycle could take anywhere from a week to a few weeks... just gotta test your water and wait for an ammonia spike, then a nitrite spike, and then finally you should have 0 as a nitrite and ammonia reading and nitrates should be adding up. once that happens, you can go ahead and add your fish.


Ahh so im supposed to add some goldfish first to cycle??? I thought goldfish were bad because they often carry diseases??? And how many per gallon....say how many would you need to cycle 55 gallon tank..... or is there a step by step cycle process guide somewhere...sorry completely new to this ...i remember being a kid and having a small tank filling it with water and dropping the fish in HAHA....things have changed and I wanna do it right the first time...please help with cycle... what fish? how many? how big of a spike? etc.?


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

you don't have to use gold fish, you could use some other cheap hardy fish such as convicts to get things going.... all you really need is an ammonia source, so you could do a fishless cycle be using ammonia or by just dropping a piece of shrimp into the tank and letting it rot. i usually just throw a few convicts in, but i have done the shrimp method as well.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

To help drop the PH, i would add some peat in the filter, that's it.A steady ph is better than trying to get "the best " ph...witch you won't.


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

Well just dropped in 2 african cichlids ive named them "Bert and Ernie" for the time being......So hopefully all goes well with the tank cycling over the next week or 2.


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## balluupnetme (Oct 23, 2006)

This is what my setup looks so far, I'll be adding in the 2 heaters probably today or tomorrow


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

chaddfc said:


> This is what my setup looks so far, I'll be adding in the 2 heaters probably today or tomorrow


gotta love a nice clean new tank...


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## balluupnetme (Oct 23, 2006)

All I'm gonna add in the tank is a nice big piece of driftwood because my tank is 5 feet ling lol


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## chaddfc (Dec 29, 2009)

joedizzlempls said:


> This is what my setup looks so far, I'll be adding in the 2 heaters probably today or tomorrow


gotta love a nice clean new tank...








[/quote]

Should I even keep them in there when I get the red bellies?? Because im probably gonna get the small red bellies .....would the cichlids eat the piranha??? And how long does it take to cycle again...what spike am I looking for??


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## Johnny_Zanni (Nov 8, 2009)

the piranhas would eat the africans







and that sucks because i love africans lol i have 9 in my 55g

you could take them out (recommended) or you could keep them in (not recommended)


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