IT'S DONE YAY

 Tomorrow I will be setting up my first tank for  will be going out midday to get some plants so any suggestions would be welcome Alan is going to take time-lapse photos of how it goes, so you can all be totally shocked at what I do wrong, I know I will do something wrong     I have everything I need except a syphon but that should be here I next couple of days so will manage until then with a jug.  I am so nervous I probably won't sleep tonight worrying and working out what to do.


Wish Me Luck Please. 

Good luck 


I would suggest plants but I only have the kind that attach to decor.

You won't need a siphon tube until you need to change some water.

Quick check list. Have you got:
dechlorinator
ammonia (and syringe to measure it with)
test kit

And bicarbonate of soda. I haven't mentioned that yet but it is because of your soft water. You may well have some in the kitchen. You'll need about two rounded 5 ml spoonfuls for 55 litres. Once the cycle is finished, you have to do a big (90% plus) water change which will remove all the bicarb.




Timetable:
Put sand in tank.
Put a few inches of water in tank and then plant the plants.
Add dechlorinator, enough to treat the final volume.
Mix some bicarb in a bit of water and add that to the tank.
Add the rest of the water. If you have a combi boiler, use hot and cold water to get the right temp. If you have a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard, boil a kettle and mix that in.
Turn on the filter and heater.
*Add 1 ppm dose of ammonia. This is less than the method on here but you can't use 3 ppm with live plants as it could kill them.
Test ammonia after half an hour (so it has thoroughly mixed in) to make sure it really is 1 ppm.

During the cycle, test pH at the same time as ammonia and nitrite to make sure it doesn't drop. If it does, tell us. I can explain why if you want me too 

* this bit can wait till next day if you are exhausted setting the tank up 



I find it easier adding water when there is sand in the tank using a colander. I run water into a bucket, adding dechlorinator at the correct dose for the amount of water in the bucket then use a jug to ladle the water into the tank. My colander is a 150 g yoghurt pot with hundreds of holes stabbed in it with a skewer. Other people put a plate on the sand and pour water on top of that. If you just pour it in you end up with a crater all the way down to the glass 

Got back with plant only to find I have 2snails in shells what the h**l do I do with them ?.

WHAT A DAY!!!    Hi Well the day did not start well, woke up sneezing, coughing, hot/cold. then just has a couple of hours not sure how I was feeling. So Decided to just go out and get the plants first, I did put the tank on the patio with water in whilst I was out so we could make sure it did not leak.  Travelled over to Durham to Fish Alive and bought 3 different plants, 3 bunches of Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, 2 bunches of Cabomba Aquatica (which is where the snails were) and 3 bunches of Ludwigia Palustris Red. I was going to buy some fertilizer for the plants but I was put off a bit as straight away he plonked a £10 packet of plant pellets then some daily fertilizer he said I needed as well then a bottle of C02 stuff which was going to cost me nearly £40 in total, well I quickly refused and aid the £13.50 for my plants. I ended up at P@H and bought some weekly fertilizer that will last me about 15 weeks for £4.50, then to Poundland for a couple more buckets. Back home tank had not leaked so Had a quick lunch and a cuppa and got started, opened the plants and gave them a quick rinse (found the Snails) Panicked  came straight on here to see what I needed to do and thankfully Andy and Sue came to my rescue, so I put the plants into a tub of water along with the snails until I was ready for them. Then I set to cleaning everything and making sure everything was in working order. Then Stopped OMG.    I had not thought about the fact I needed the electric extension in place before I started as once the tank was full I would not be able to move the unit it is standing on. So had another coffee whilst Alan sorted that out for me. Then the Build started,

 



















Unfortunately, some of my photos did not turn out ok And Alan could not get his camera thing to work he needs to go back to the manual and learn a bit more. only had it a few months and not used it much yet.

I stood back looking, thinking not bad Barbara for the first try,  then OMG I forgot the Bicarb quickly mixed it into some water and put it in. Set all the electrics going then collapsed on the settee absolutely Knacked nerves wrecked  . Now What ................ 

Questions :
1, Do I leave the filter going all night,
2, Will there be enough food for the snails without any fish in.
3. Do I add plant fertilizer now or wait a couple of days,
4. Am I right in thinking I start testing water tomorrow giving it time to settle or have I got that wrong.
5. Can someone get me a large stiff drink Please? 


Ok come on give me the low down is it a goer or a no goer 

Setting up a tank can be exhausting, but you should be very proud of yourself. 
The tank looks great, and I like the way that you've got different areas with different substrates. Very pretty pebbles as well.

With regards to the snail pictured, it looks very much like an assassin snail to me, but you'd be better getting other opinions on that.

As for a drink, you deserve it after all of your hard work. 

My snail identification leaves a lot to be desired, sorry about that.   

Filters and heaters should be left on 24/7 except for one occasion - during a water change.

If filters are run with the motor out of water it burns out the motor; and heaters turned on with the heating element out of water can explode.

Besides which, it is always a good idea to turn off electrical items before putting your hands in a tank of water 





However, those with external filters can leave those running during a water change provided the water level does not drop below the tube taking water from the tank to filter.

All sorted now ammonia in fertilizer in filter back on electrics made more accessible, one snail not to be seen the other with shell half out of the substrate, just a little bit worried hope they are going to survive even though they are snails I would hate to think I have killed them. Hubby thinks I should have the lights closer to the tank thinks they are a bit high up. not sure but will see how it goes.

I would just like to thank everyone for their help. I think if I had not had the encouragement from you all and the great information from this forum. I would have totally chickened out. fingers crossed this is going to work out.

                                                                        THANK YOU BXX

If the plants haven't grown after say a week move the light closer and wait another week to see if it helps.  Last thing you want is an algae bloom 

Might be worth starting a log with what you do with the tank so you can track backwards if you need to.  In fish keeping ideally we change one thing at a time slowly and monitor the effects.

The cloudiness is either very fine dust from the substrate - so fine you couldn't see it in the wash bucket, but you can in the tank because there's more water in there and you are looking through it rather than down on it - or it could be the start of a bacterial bloom. Don't panic, these are very common in new tanks.
The bacteria we want to grow in the filter use chemicals based on nitrogen as food (ammonia, nitrite) and they multiply very slowly. They live in the biofilm which is attached to surfaces. But there are other bacteria which use carbon based chemicals as food, they live floating in the water and they multiply very quickly - and we can see them as a white mistiness.
All the new water you put in the tank contains some carbon based chemicals, as do all the plastic things in your tank (they contain plasticiser) and even the silicone joining the edges together contains them. The good news is that they will use up all their food and die off, but it is impossible to say how long this will take as every tank is different. It will be before the tank is ready for fish 




The filter -
You don't need to use the venturi, you can just remove the thin tubing from the filter. That will stop the bubbles. It's the bubbles that cause most of the spray - I know because I have a filter powered by an air pump in my betta's tank; this makes a lot of bubbles and a lot of spray. And bubbles make a noise.
If the filter makes a humming noise, that could be due to air caught in the impeller well. Tilt it side to side, and that should get rid of any air.
One thing I learned the hard way. If you ever do anything to the filter while it is running, don't point the outflow upwards. You'll get very wet