New to the aquarium hobby!

[Jawjagrrl]

On 10/14/2021 at 12:14 PM, CrashBandit05 said:

Nice! I'm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we love the ability to drive a few miles and be able to hike! I'll have to read more about what local plants I could potentially use. I've always liked those glass, closed terrariums purple make out of Mason jars and such. 

 

Small world! I used to live in SW VA and hiking/caving were popular pasttimes. It's also a great place to keep African cichlids as the tap where I live was just about perfect Mbuna water. River rock is nice and hard too for buffering purposes. Closer to neutral now, so it's fun to work with fish that wouldn't do as well up there like some of the acid loving tetras, etc. 

[Torrey]

On 9/5/2021 at 3:21 PM, CrashBandit05 said:

Hello everyone, my name is Chris and I've just started my first aquarium! I've usually kept reptiles and amphibians in the past so I'm not a complete noob but am definitely a novice when it comes to fish! 

I have a Fluval Flex 9 gallon that has been running for little over a week. I initially started the nitrogen cycle by adding a pinch of fish food every day. I went to my lfs (small mom/pop) to get plants but was directed to wait until the ammonia levels are down. He recommended seachem stability so I have been dosing for almost 7 days now. I've done one water test with my API master test kit and the parameters are: pH 6.6, ammonia 0 - .25ppm, nitrites and nitrates both at 0ppm.

My tank has fluorite for substrate, small mopani (?) for hardscape and a few trimmings of moss from my friend's established aquarium. It still has that cloudy look so I'm not sure where cycle currently is..? I do have algae growth on the glass so I'm assuming if stuff is growing then I'm on the right track. 

Other than the aquarium, I have a Kenyan Sand Boa in a bioactive 10 gallon, two fat cats, and two growing kids😎

Thanks for such a great community and I'm looking for to learning more!

Greetings!

 

Nice boa😍, your lower kitty looks like some sealpoint in the family tree?

Welcome to the hobby, and I cycle tanks by feeding the livestock I plan on putting in the tank, and when I move past ammonia turning into nitrites, and am solidly watching nitrites turn into nitrates with zero ammonia showing up, *and* I see growth on my plants, I know that the tank is ready for fish.

I'm in the plant as heavy as I can afford/have plants at the beginning, and frequently I never see nitrites on my tests. I'll have ammonia and nothing else for weeks, and then go 10 days feeding without testing, notice lots of new growth on the plants, and my water will be 0/0/20 (or something along those lines) and I keep feeding and testing another 2 weeks, and then start adding fish.

[amr427]

Welcome and nice tank! I have the flex 15g and I enjoy it. Right now it has one snail, three shrimp and 5-6 Pristella Tetras. A dwarf gourami or Betta is on my list as well for my centerpiece fish.

Looking forward to more pics and updates about your tank!

[Casual aquatics]

On 9/5/2021 at 5:21 PM, CrashBandit05 said:

Hello everyone, my name is Chris and I've just started my first aquarium! I've usually kept reptiles and amphibians in the past so I'm not a complete noob but am definitely a novice when it comes to fish! 

I have a Fluval Flex 9 gallon that has been running for little over a week. I initially started the nitrogen cycle by adding a pinch of fish food every day. I went to my lfs (small mom/pop) to get plants but was directed to wait until the ammonia levels are down. He recommended seachem stability so I have been dosing for almost 7 days now. I've done one water test with my API master test kit and the parameters are: pH 6.6, ammonia 0 - .25ppm, nitrites and nitrates both at 0ppm.

My tank has fluorite for substrate, small mopani (?) for hardscape and a few trimmings of moss from my friend's established aquarium. It still has that cloudy look so I'm not sure where cycle currently is..? I do have algae growth on the glass so I'm assuming if stuff is growing then I'm on the right track. 

Other than the aquarium, I have a Kenyan Sand Boa in a bioactive 10 gallon, two fat cats, and two growing kids😎

Thanks for such a great community and I'm looking for to learning more!

Welcome to this marvelous hobby look into a seeded sponges filter it will help jump start your cycle 

[Dwayne Brown]

Welcome to the forum!

[CalmedByFish]

Just adding a tip. It looks like your pH is below 7. Snail shells tend to do better at 7+, so just keep an eye on the shell for any signs that it's starting to look different.

[CrashBandit05]

On 10/19/2021 at 1:02 PM, CalmedByFish said:

Just adding a tip. It looks like your pH is below 7. Snail shells tend to do better at 7+, so just keep an eye on the shell for any signs that it's starting to look different.

Thanks for the tip! My tap water pH is right around 7 but I've been using RO water for my water changes.  My aquarium pH seems to stay at 6.8

Should I just use my tap water and dose with conditioner?

On 10/16/2021 at 12:14 AM, Torrey said:

Greetings!

 

Nice boa😍, your lower kitty looks like some sealpoint in the family tree?

Welcome to the hobby, and I cycle tanks by feeding the livestock I plan on putting in the tank, and when I move past ammonia turning into nitrites, and am solidly watching nitrites turn into nitrates with zero ammonia showing up, *and* I see growth on my plants, I know that the tank is ready for fish.

I'm in the plant as heavy as I can afford/have plants at the beginning, and frequently I never see nitrites on my tests. I'll have ammonia and nothing else for weeks, and then go 10 days feeding without testing, notice lots of new growth on the plants, and my water will be 0/0/20 (or something along those lines) and I keep feeding and testing another 2 weeks, and then start adding fish.

Thanks for the information! Both cats were adopted from a Humane Society so I'm not sure of breed but I'm guessing Siamese mix.

I'm starting to see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and >20ppm nitrates so I'm thinking it's cycled or pretty much there.

[CalmedByFish]

On 10/19/2021 at 6:11 PM, CrashBandit05 said:

Thanks for the tip! My tap water pH is right around 7 but I've been using RO water for my water changes.  My aquarium pH seems to stay at 6.8

Should I just use my tap water and dose with conditioner?

When I first got into fishkeeping, a lfs told me to use RO water, which I could purchase from them. Looking back, all that accomplished was them gaining money.

I think RO is really just a solution to a problem, and most people don't need it. If there's not a problem with your tap (based on the needs of the species you keep), then yeah, just go the easy route and stir some conditioner into the tap water!

I'd say to test the following parameters of your tap (after adding water conditioner), and if nothing makes your eyes widen in horror, you're good: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, GH, and KH. (If there's a problem with anything, ask the forum for the easiest way to fix it. This group has a lot of clever tricks.)

[md363]

Welcome!!  🙂