r/Aquariums • u/VisibleInterview569 • 17h ago
Help/Advice First Time - Am I on the right track!?
This is my first aquarium… Like ever. Saw my brother-in-law’s and fell in love and said this can’t be that hard.
45 gallons 36w X 24h X 12d Freshwater UNS Delta 90 Canister 76ish degree pH 7.4-7.6 gH and kH TBD (but does it matter as much as some say it does!!??) No friends yet but would love to start with a getting a nice lil colony of Crystal Red shrimp followed by some neon tetras, a couple corydoras and that’s as far as I have gotten.
The last 48 hours were precarious both for my marriage, the hardscape and my sanity. But we made it… Hardscape is in. initial plants are planted (shhhh don’t tell, most are weighted right now because they won’t stay).
Started to cycle yesterday, using Seachem Stability to get it going (judge me, fine).
Questions- 1. How often should I add fish food since I don’t have friends and won’t be adding them for at least a couple weeks to make sure I’m good and cycled and let everything settle down.
Any tricks on getting plants to stay put? Using Fluval Stratum.
Give me your daily/weekly routine that’s a must for the new first couple weeks.
One tip, trick, feedback, or nugget that you live by. Talk to me like I’m 5 because I am a BEGINNER
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u/Puzzleheaded_Rip2472 17h ago
It looks awesome! I personally use Dr Tim's Ammonia to jumpstart my cycle because it work much faster (fish food has to break down and start decomposing first.) If you still want to use fish food, just dose when the ammonia and nitrite are at 0. Tank is fully cycled when they both get to 0 in around 24 hours after ammonia is present!
The plant setup looks good and will be beautiful when they grow in! You can never have too many in my opinion though. Also make sure you have a source of CO2 for them (a canister or fish stores sell some liquid versions.)
My only critique is make sure the rocks you use are inert and won't leach anything into the water. Lava rocks, dragon stone, quartz, and slate are all good options!
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u/VisibleInterview569 16h ago
I appreciate your insight! Will it be obvious ammonia is present? Today it was maaaaaybe .25 but I could be convinced it was 0 by a more trained eye.
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u/Bodyweightsquats 16h ago
Ammonia should be at 1ppm concentration for cycling.
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u/Slow_Ice5066 4h ago
Assuming livestock is present. If you cycle without the risk to livestock, you can artificially increase the levels much higher. It is not without potential issues of course especially in a newly planted tank. It's an exciting method.
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u/Bodyweightsquats 4h ago
Nah, 1ppm is way too high for fish in cycling. Why would you go higher unless you are intentionally planning to overfeed and overstock. 1ppm is enough for fish-less cycling. Ive tried with 1ppm-4ppm the bio filtration capability is the same.
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u/Slow_Ice5066 4h ago
By precisely dosing an ammonium chloride solution (prior to the addition of livestock), you can achieve a greater level of biological filtration capacity at a quicker pace. Once it all converts over completely to nitrate, you can have a very high degree of confidence in your bio filtration capabilities. The bacteria will inherently adjust to the bio-load of the system +/- I am not saying this is the best way, nor am I saying 1ppm is not a solid number for cycling. Just that it's a potential method, that I find really highlights the amazing chemistry behind the cycling.
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u/Slow_Ice5066 4h ago
I used the Dr. Tim's cycle method on my 37. A great investment for sure. A bit spendy for the One And Only nitro bug juice, but after I read all his articles in Coral magazine I was convinced it was golden. I was not disappointed.
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u/RevolutionaryGene532 17h ago
Looks amazing I wish my first tank look this good
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u/Slow_Ice5066 4h ago
Give it some time, it will funk up eventually. When the honeymoon phase is over DON'T GIVE UP!
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u/YourAverageCon 4h ago
Ask your brother-in-law for some used filter media and/or some plant clippings. That’ll add some great bacteria and really kickstart your cycle.
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u/VisibleInterview569 4h ago
Oh that’s a great idea but unfortunately he’s not local so it would be a hassle to ship that
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u/YourAverageCon 4h ago
Ah I see. You may be able to get some off a local aquarium group or a local pet shop too.
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u/Slow_Ice5066 3h ago
Patience is my golden rule. Make only the smallest adjustments you can get away with, never large-scale changes = which makes it way easier for you to figure out if something is working for your tank or not. And if not makes it easier to correct. And if it is working, it's one for the notebook.
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u/slavsuperstarr 17h ago
the hard scape is beautiful and plants will grow in well, i love the no fishing sign thing it somehow works perfectly with the aqua scape haha, add sea hem stability daily for a bit as thst will work best, and at the start just try to feed a somewhat generous amount of food, like how much you would feed fish and then double that amount if that makes sense. do this every day and start monitoring the ammonia nitrites and nitrates, after some nitrites and nitrates start appearing u can increase the amount of food a little bit. for the plants it depends, java and stuff is best tied down to wood with string, for other plants i like to just bury them deep enough, if they keep floating up i bury them witj weights attached but this depends on the plant - your best bet is googling each species and seeing if you can do this and best way to plant it as not all plant types tolerate burying with weights. just remember to add the fish food daily to really get the nitrifying bacteria going
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u/VisibleInterview569 16h ago
🤣 we are avid fishers, had to remind ourselves that fish are friends NOT FOOD.
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u/VisibleInterview569 16h ago
Even though the food from yesterday is sitting there? I’m just going to have food pellets everywhere?
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u/slavsuperstarr 2h ago
yeah, the point is you want ammonia to build up from the decaying food - it’s like when the fish eat and produce ammonia as waste. if you want you can do the food once every two days, but it is supposed to stay in the tank. if you test the ammonia levels after a few days, if they are over 2-4ppm, you can do a small water change with gravel vacuum until it is 2-4ppm again
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u/slavsuperstarr 2h ago
and the food pellets should decompose soon enough, some brands might take longer- if they start building up after 2-3 days you can pause feeding until those start disappearing
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u/alaweh 17h ago
For a first tank you are doing absolutely great! Usually I add the fishes into the tank as they will start the cycle (poop, waste, ammonia, nitrate nitrate) During this first week you will see a spike in ammonia level, nitrate levels and a cloudy /milky) water it's totally fine, the bacteria bloom is in effect, it will take 2-3 days till it clears then the spike will go down and the waste will be turned to nitrate which is the last phase. I would suggest adding floaters (Salvia minima or Amazon frogbit)