Will be putting water in tank tomorrow

[Jim101]

OK, I will be filling the tank tomorrow (72 Gal. bow front) and have a few questions..
- For that much water do you just use a hose?
- I want to pick up some plants today, does the water temp. have to be a certain temp. before I add the plants? It's cold here.
- Do I wash the plants before I put them in the tank?
- Can I buy them today and leave them in the plastic bags for a day or so?
- I only (at this time) have a single 40W light, will the beginners plants live with that little light?
- How long does the tank have to sit with the plants before I can add "some" fish?

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[Rue]

There's no real right and wrong way...

You can fill the tank with hose if you want to.

I'd warm the tank up before adding plants...but it's probably not critical, although it may stress them out more than what shows...

You can wash them...but wash them in a bucket of dechlorinated water.

They'll likely be okay in the bags, if they don't overheat...but again, you can keep them in a bucket of dechlorinated water overnight...that would be better...

The plants will be fine under low light for a day or two...

BUT...you can not add fish until the tank is fully cycled. Give it 6 weeks. It may happen sooner, but don't count on it.

However...if I were you...I'd get the water in the tank...the lights...the heater running all BEFORE buying the plants. You're putting the cart in front of the horse...

[Lady Hobbs]

I will be filling the tank tomorrow (72 Gal. bow front) and have a few questions..
- For that much water do you just use a hose?
Fill from your kitchen sink to the temp you want your tank.

- I want to pick up some plants today, does the water temp. have to be a certain temp. before I add the plants? It's cold here.
Plants don't like ice cold water, either. Fill as mentioned above.
-
Do I wash the plants before I put them in the tank?
Plants do not need to be washed but you may want to let them set in 3 T. alum per one gallon of water for a few hours to kill any snails you may have in them.
-
Can I buy them today and leave them in the plastic bags for a day or so?
Why not fill tank now and let the plants float in the water until ready to plant?
-
I only (at this time) have a single 40W light, will the beginners plants live with that little light?
Probably for a time but you should have at least 1 watt per gallon of plant lights for even the low light plants.

- How long does the tank have to sit with the plants before I can add "some" fish?
If you have a lot of plants you can add a few fish right away. The plants are not cycling your tank but they will help to hold down the ammonia levels. The slow growers are not too great for this, tho. It's the fast growers so you still need to use caution, do water changing as necessary and test for toxic levels.

Thanks in advance,
You're welcome. :)

[Wild Turkey]

Good post from hobbs. Agree on everything except silent cycle (planted cycling)

Adding fish very slowly will help, but i would recommend supplementing this method with another if you choose it. Grab some tetra start smart and add that to the tank when you add fish as well. Like lady hobbs said the plants wont cycle the tank, just possibly make the initial cycling easier on the fish to a point but it can still kill them be pretty unconfortable for them. In either case i would be either adding bacteria culture, waterchanging my A down to 1.0, or both if you have the $ to replace the bacteria you take out with water changes.

[Lady Hobbs]

http://img.aquaristic.net/dyn_images/1/tetraaqua_safestart_p1.jpg (http://www.aquaristic.net/shop.php/sid/ce97494cecf87bfe5ba4138482c5cdf6/cl/moredetails/cnid/-/anid/292451f623fdc44c3.66437381/TetraAqua%AE%20SafeStart%20100%20ml/)

[Rue]

I dunno...I hate to see anyone rush with a new tank. Part of the fun is setting it up over time.

72g is a large tank. If you buy enough plants to have it 'fully' planted right off the bat it would be very expensive...so I'd wait until the plants estabish themselves...and they'll do that over the initial six weeks to some extent before adding fish.

However, if you can't wait...a school of 6 zebras in 72g, with plants, would probably do just fine...and encourage the cycling...

But I'd still wait at least 2 weeks or so before introducing them...

Unless you instant cycle your tank of course...

[Jim101]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll follow it...Tomorrow I'll use the "Journal" area here to keep track what I'm doing...

Jim

[Jim101]

LH,

I got some SafeStart and was wondering..... Do I leave the carbon in the filter when I add the SafeStart or remove it while the SafeStart is "getting going" for a few days? Also I have been told to add some fish food when I put the SafeStart in to "get it going".....Your thoughts..

Thanks,

Jim