Newbie 30 gal aquarium; fish, decor, cycling?

[Lain]

Just agreeing with what others have said about sticking to just one type of tetra. It can be very tempting when starting out to get as many different kinds of fish as you can, but I think that sticking to just one, larger school is far better. Not only will your fish be a lot happier, but happy, healthy fish that like to be in a large school will look a lot better in your tank than three separate groups of nervous tetra. I keep rummynose tetra and they love to swim together tightly, even though they're the only fish in the tank. They're great fun to watch and I'd definitely recommend them... I think that any one of the three species of tetra you picked out would be a nice addition to your tank though.

[Mare_226]

Great guys!!! Thank you so much! I am so excited to finally do this. Cycling can take up to 8 weeks right? My only question now is, I am a college student and am home for summer but will be moving back to my apartment for fall (in August) seems like I have just enough time to get the tank cycled, and then I have to move...what do I do about that??

[bignellm]

Read up on a Fishless Cycle, that can be done much faster. Its an article in my signature line. Some have done it in about 2 weeks.

[CrunchyLeaf]

Kudos for doing all your research up front and not jumping into a tank without knowing what you are doing.

As far as proper stocking, I'm not a lot of help. My experience is limited.

I will say that I wouldn't be too concerned about your move back to college depending on the distance. The majority of your beneficial bacteria lives in the filter media. This means that, when you move, if you make sure you keep your filter media wet when transporting it to the new house, then you can put it back on your reassembled tank and it's instantly cycled again. I would be worried about the well-being of the fish if it's a long drive to the new house, but there are several threads on the forum that we can refer you to where people have discussed their experiences of moving their fish a long way if that's the case.

[Mare_226]

It's only 30 minutes away, is that too far?

And really? I thought the fishless cycle could take up to 8 weeks!

[CrunchyLeaf]

No, I think 30 minutes will be a breeze. I had to move my fish that far when I first rescued the tank. They were extremely ill and unhealthy at the time and they all survived the move.

Fishless cycling is much faster than fish in cycling, though I've never done it before.

[bignellm]

I keep hearing the low end is somewhere in the 2 week range, while sometimes just under a month. So, on your time table, would be worth the effort.

[imma24]

Fishless cycling is faster because you can spike ammonia right away to start growing bacteria - with fish, you have to keep the ammonia level low (to protect the fish) so bacteria grow much slower, hence, several more weeks.

[Cermet]

If you have a fully cycled filter, as they all said, just keep it moist (a little tank water in a plastic baggie with the media, it should last easy half an hour. If you need a few hours for setting up the tank, just have a small jar with tank water that has an air stone running with the media. That will keep the bacteria active for most a day.

If the media isn't cycled, then you will have to do a fish based cycle ... you know that story only too well.

[bignellm]

With me, when I transported, used a 5 gallon bucket and kept the fish with the media, lasted the whole trip and set up period. Which was about 4-5 hours. Air stone will help, with battery powered air pump.