First time fish tank - comments/suggestions?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Happy to report any progress as I go here. I suppose I will have to watch that the tank doesn’t cycle and then “crash”? Maybe adding a bit of fish food periodically would help or maybe better to just get a bit of ammonia if I get some 0-0-0 readings?

You don't need to add any ammonia (NH3/NH4+) in terms of cycling. You need to keep the plants in active growth, and why you don't have any livestock? You can use a <"fertiliser containing ammonium">. I used <"MiracleGro">, mainly because it is cheap to buy.

cheers Darrel

 

[itudela]

@dw1305 mentioned floating plantes earlier. I followed his advice (also a newbie here) and it made a difference! A couple of in-vitro pots of Amazon frogbit (limnobium laevigatum) from one of the sponsors would probably be more than enough.

For fish, you will love ember tetras, but probably get a few more than 8. I got 12, and I was very tempted today to get more... Although I need to get some shrimp first, as the tank seems to be cycling quite well and diatoms have started to show up.

 

[NorthCoast]

I’m planning on adding some red root to start out, as well as likely a pothos/maidenhair out of the top of the tank

I was actually thinking today maybe just starting with 10-12 embers was the move anyways. I will get them in there after the shrimp get settled.

 

[megwattscreative]

Hiya, can recommend emergent growth like pothos to help with filtration/ nitrate conversion! That's probably not scientifically correct at all, but then again im not a scientist. My practical understanding of water chemistry basically boils down to more plants = more oxygenation = great habitat = better. This will all come with time 🙂

Chucking in the plants and some floaters early is really helpful, as you can use the duckweed index to physically see what ferts you need/what issues you may be experiencing! In my experience, it comes to a lot less guesswork than relying on test kits. I'm deeply terrified of the amount of maths that goes into microdosing fertilisers & balancing specific factors in water chemistry, so visual cues work for me 😅 sorry to say it again, but the "plant densely and wait" method has worked really well for me as a newbie, and I think has been a big contributor to me not having algae issues too.