Chris24
04-30-2007, 03:23 AM
yesterday was my birthday thumbs2: (29) and my girlfriend pestered me to tell her what i wanted till i spilled the beans. i had been thinking about getting an aquarium for a while now. the first one i had some years ago failed, so i was a bit hesitant, but i decided to give it another go. so my first trip to petco, and this is what i came home with.
10 gallon all glass aquarium kit. ran me about $60. came with:
-hood and 15 w fluoresant light
-50w heater
-whisper power filter.
-thermometer strip
-starter sample of fish food and water conditioner.
-fishy net
also got:
2 five pound bags of gravel, one red one black with specks.
amquel plus (on advice of a friend over the phone)
a tank decoration. (greek temple looking thingy)
all in all it ran me a $100. i think i did allright, the more i read though, the more im thinking i should have gotten a bigger tank. at first i was thinking a little tank (2.5-5 gal), but once i got to the store, my common sense told me there was no way the fish id want could be happy in there. the kit seemed like a bargain, i saved probably $20-30 vs. buying everything seperatly. did i get a decent deal, or did i buy into a gimmeck? :confused:
anyways, ive read the 10 gal tanks are ideal as hospitals, etc. so if i can get this one going, ill get a larger tank for bigger fish, and use this one for special needs, etc...
i got home, set everything up, got the filter going etc...the water has settled to about 77 degrees on its own. seems odd cause i keep my AC at about 70. maybe its the light? i suppose ill keep the heater on, in case the temp drops...the heater is the adjustable kind. i did add a teaspoon of the amquel plus. i guess it may have helped de-chloronate the water, but it seems to be the properties of removing ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates would be counterproductive to cycling the tank? any thoughts? im not going to use it again until i know for sure.
day two:
i read about fishless cycles, etc. and to be honest i somewhat didnt want to wait to get my first fishy. i hope thats not too bad i sign. i read that the cycle process doesnt really begin until you get your first fish, so i decided to pick one out and go get him. i went to the store and bought:
-siphon/cleaner kit
-tetramin flakes
-tetracolor extra (looks like bacon bits for fishys,lol)
-a 5 in one tester (ill post some results below)
-one red tail shark! i hope i can make a good home for him. and i hope he is hardy enough to go through the cycle process.
i spent about $30 on that whole lot. this hobby is adding up in the $ department, more than i expected, but i dont mind. its actually quite mild compared to my other hobby (motorcycles!), im going to pick up some more stuff tomorrow.
i slowly introduced the shark. i kept him in the bag at first and waited a while. then started adding a cup or so of the tank water to the bag 3-4 times over about 45 minutes and finally let him explore around.
as for my shark, they seemed alot blacker in the tank at the store. maybe they gave me a grayer one, or i also read he may just be stressed. maybe im being silly but i think he is back to a shade darker now that hes been in his home a few hours. im guessing his color may not be all that great while the tank cycles. does anyone have any experiance they can share? the pics of red tails that are jet black are so stunning. they really make me want to get one of the bigger black sharks (once i get a much larger tank of course!)
my shark seems to be happy for now. these are ferocious little guys. he seems to want to attack every little speck in the water. he seems to love playing with the bubbles made by the power filter. though i see him blowing bubbles now and then, and poking at the top of the water. poking at the top worries me, but i swear he is eating the power filter air bubbles, lol. is he just burping them out? other than that he seems very active. i even got him to take a few bites of the tetra flake!
the water seemed just a tad cloudy before i put him in, when should i do the first water change. if its still really cloudy tomorrow night, i will do a 15% then, other wise ill wait a day? im also going to pick him up some more decor tomorrow, i read he needs a little cave to hide in.
here is some of the data from the test kit:
what comes out of my tap:
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
gh 250
kh 250
ph 8
what the tank is at now (i got to add the water the fish came with)
nitrates 10
nitrites 0
gh 75
kh 120
ph 8
the ph seems a bit high, but i read it can be counter productive to try and mess with it? should i do something or let my shark get used to it. i read maybe treated driftwood from a fish store? also it seems this kit doesnt test ammonia, should i get a tester for that as well?
wow, ok...i realize that was like an essay two days worth of fishkeeping, but i want to be really informed and i really want yalls experiance to help out me and my shark. what do yall think of the shark as a first choice. i read to get something youll want to keep but is also hardy, well the dime a dozen tetras everyone seems to ooh and ahh at just dont do it for me. i read they inject them with the color and to me that is just wrong and nasty!
one more question, a very important one. when should/can i introduce another fish? is one enough to cycle well, is two too many? ive read that full grown the shark can get to 4-5", so there is definatly room for him to have an equal size buddy, or a couple smaller ones, yes?
10 gallon all glass aquarium kit. ran me about $60. came with:
-hood and 15 w fluoresant light
-50w heater
-whisper power filter.
-thermometer strip
-starter sample of fish food and water conditioner.
-fishy net
also got:
2 five pound bags of gravel, one red one black with specks.
amquel plus (on advice of a friend over the phone)
a tank decoration. (greek temple looking thingy)
all in all it ran me a $100. i think i did allright, the more i read though, the more im thinking i should have gotten a bigger tank. at first i was thinking a little tank (2.5-5 gal), but once i got to the store, my common sense told me there was no way the fish id want could be happy in there. the kit seemed like a bargain, i saved probably $20-30 vs. buying everything seperatly. did i get a decent deal, or did i buy into a gimmeck? :confused:
anyways, ive read the 10 gal tanks are ideal as hospitals, etc. so if i can get this one going, ill get a larger tank for bigger fish, and use this one for special needs, etc...
i got home, set everything up, got the filter going etc...the water has settled to about 77 degrees on its own. seems odd cause i keep my AC at about 70. maybe its the light? i suppose ill keep the heater on, in case the temp drops...the heater is the adjustable kind. i did add a teaspoon of the amquel plus. i guess it may have helped de-chloronate the water, but it seems to be the properties of removing ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates would be counterproductive to cycling the tank? any thoughts? im not going to use it again until i know for sure.
day two:
i read about fishless cycles, etc. and to be honest i somewhat didnt want to wait to get my first fishy. i hope thats not too bad i sign. i read that the cycle process doesnt really begin until you get your first fish, so i decided to pick one out and go get him. i went to the store and bought:
-siphon/cleaner kit
-tetramin flakes
-tetracolor extra (looks like bacon bits for fishys,lol)
-a 5 in one tester (ill post some results below)
-one red tail shark! i hope i can make a good home for him. and i hope he is hardy enough to go through the cycle process.
i spent about $30 on that whole lot. this hobby is adding up in the $ department, more than i expected, but i dont mind. its actually quite mild compared to my other hobby (motorcycles!), im going to pick up some more stuff tomorrow.
i slowly introduced the shark. i kept him in the bag at first and waited a while. then started adding a cup or so of the tank water to the bag 3-4 times over about 45 minutes and finally let him explore around.
as for my shark, they seemed alot blacker in the tank at the store. maybe they gave me a grayer one, or i also read he may just be stressed. maybe im being silly but i think he is back to a shade darker now that hes been in his home a few hours. im guessing his color may not be all that great while the tank cycles. does anyone have any experiance they can share? the pics of red tails that are jet black are so stunning. they really make me want to get one of the bigger black sharks (once i get a much larger tank of course!)
my shark seems to be happy for now. these are ferocious little guys. he seems to want to attack every little speck in the water. he seems to love playing with the bubbles made by the power filter. though i see him blowing bubbles now and then, and poking at the top of the water. poking at the top worries me, but i swear he is eating the power filter air bubbles, lol. is he just burping them out? other than that he seems very active. i even got him to take a few bites of the tetra flake!
the water seemed just a tad cloudy before i put him in, when should i do the first water change. if its still really cloudy tomorrow night, i will do a 15% then, other wise ill wait a day? im also going to pick him up some more decor tomorrow, i read he needs a little cave to hide in.
here is some of the data from the test kit:
what comes out of my tap:
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
gh 250
kh 250
ph 8
what the tank is at now (i got to add the water the fish came with)
nitrates 10
nitrites 0
gh 75
kh 120
ph 8
the ph seems a bit high, but i read it can be counter productive to try and mess with it? should i do something or let my shark get used to it. i read maybe treated driftwood from a fish store? also it seems this kit doesnt test ammonia, should i get a tester for that as well?
wow, ok...i realize that was like an essay two days worth of fishkeeping, but i want to be really informed and i really want yalls experiance to help out me and my shark. what do yall think of the shark as a first choice. i read to get something youll want to keep but is also hardy, well the dime a dozen tetras everyone seems to ooh and ahh at just dont do it for me. i read they inject them with the color and to me that is just wrong and nasty!
one more question, a very important one. when should/can i introduce another fish? is one enough to cycle well, is two too many? ive read that full grown the shark can get to 4-5", so there is definatly room for him to have an equal size buddy, or a couple smaller ones, yes?