Newbie Seeking Advice on Water

> > Well water in a lot of places beside haivng undesired iron bacteria
> > etc is also low in dissolved oxygen.........I would opt for bottled
> > water that is sold in stores in 5 gal; jugs etc. I wuld make sure its
> > RO (Reverse Osmosis) water. A lot of places sells RODI water and that
> > is fine for a tank but it normally requires some pretty heavy
> > supplementing to use in freshwater tanks as its essentially water with
> > 99.9999999% of everything thats in it stripped out. It may also be
> > necessary to buffer or supplement the RO or bottled water. You need to
> > get a PH, nitrite, ammonia and KH or water hardness test kit, and the
> > PH and hardness test kit will determine what additivies (supplements)
> > you may have to add...........

> > So set up your aquarium, and let it cycle without any fish intially
> > and take some water readings and make any adjustments to get yuor
> > water parameters where they need to be for the type of fish you
> > intend to keep. Once cycled add a fish or two at a time and do not
> > overload it. Its also b est to setup a tank and let it run for a few
> > days or week or so to cycle and to operational check the filters , get
> > the heater adjusted and in general give it a trial run to see its all
> > working as it should be, before adding live critters....I would stay
> > away from goldfish etc as they will soon outgrow a tank of the size
> > you have. Live bearer fish are quite hardy and easy to keep, however
> > withtheir spawing its easy to get inundated with a lot of undesired
> > fish..........Use caution in picking out yuor fish at the store so yu
> > get fish that get along together and do well in a community type tank,
> > unless your looking for a specific breed.....Pay close attention to
> > the fish so you do not get sickly or emanicated fish. Ask the store to
> > toss in a bit of food so you can see them actually eatingm, and stay
> > away from those that refuse food..........Have fun and good luck

>
> Hi there.
> Being that you are working with (in the fish world), quite a small
> tank.
> Being a newbie you may think differently. =C2=A0=3D )
> The bigger the tank, the more room for error.
> A small tank is less forgiving, so it would be wise to keep this tank
> lightly stocked until you get some experience under your belt.
> I applaud you for researching first. That's so great! Believe it or
> not, way too many people just get a tank, fill it with water and bags
> of fish the same day. Then they wonder why their fish all died. =3D (
> Your idea of Tetras is fine, however, the type of tetra matters in
> your situation.
> Neons are not a good tetra for newer tanks, and absolutely not for
> cycling with.
> Other than that, they're pretty hardy. I've had many batches do quite
> well in very hard, city well water. Our town's water supply is from
> several deep wells around the town, not private wells.
> Don't believe the old myth about 1 inch of fish oer gallon of water,
> as it's quite outdated, and frankly doesn't work for most species.
> Think of adding a 10" oscar to a 10g tank, or a couple of 5" Red Devil
> males. Not going to work.
> However it works perfectly with thin bodied, inch long fish that have
> no territory requirements (like guppies).
> When it comes to fishless cycling, what type are you thinking about
> doing...or have you not gotten that far yet?
> There's a couple of bacteria starter products out there now with the
> correct type of bacteria in it. Depending on what side of the world
> you're on....Here in the states..BioSpira made by Marineland.
> UK...Bactinettes. I'm hoping these have made it across the pond or
> soon will be. Then maybe the prices will go down.
> Unfortunately, the other products out there that claim to be starters
> have the wrong nitrifying bacteria in them and don't really do much of
> anything to "start" the cycling.
> They have a later stage bacteria (nitrobacter bacteria), where as
> BioSpira has the first stage...the start up bacteria (nitrospira).
> Ones that don't do much are:
> BioZyme, StartZyme, StressZyme, Cycle, BacterBoost....etc...
> These may be helpfull after the process has already started, but isn't
> the purpose to help start it up. How these companies can get away with
> claiming what they do makes me very mad. They're misleading the
> public. However, they can because their product contains *A* =C2=A0bacteri=

> in the cycling process. (I believe there are 3 types....but it's been
> years since I read the study).
> The easiest way to cycle your tank would be to use BioSpira (or
> Bactinettes if you can find them). You set the tank up, add BioSpira,
> and fully stock your tank the next day. You then treat the tank as a
> fully seasoned tank and after the first week, start up your normal
> weekly water changes.
> This product is great, and truly does what it claims.
> However, it must be refrigerated properly. If left to warm or gets
> frozen, the live bacteria dies and the product becomes useless (it
> looks like clumpy brown stuff in water when dead). It should appear
> like cloudy water with little teeny bits in it.
> It's also hard to find because not too many stores have a refrigerator
> (most have freezers only). It's also not cheap.
> A 1 oz pack (like what you'd need) cost between $10-15 (around IL,
> USA). IMO, completely worth it. I've used it several times, with 100%
> great results.
> You can also go a slower, but easy route =C2=A0too, cycling with household=