I will follow you advice: Setup for a beginner, pls help

[nointerest]

Hi guys,

I am in the process of starting my very first tank. I thought to gather more info here before doing some silly mistakes (which I will eventually do anyway).
I spent 4 full days in the forum reading posts, I learnt so much however things are a bit confusing especially if you barely understand the topic and you need to action.

So I thought about writing a brand new post before going off to the LFS again. Yesterday I went to a well known LFS and they wanted to sell me so many things, I am a beginner and also an expat here in Singapore and sometimes it doesn't help!

At the moment I have:
-tank: 4 x 1.5 x 1.5
-external canister filter: 1200 l/h (bought yesterday, filled with 2 layers of ceramic rings and 2 layers of wool)
-LED lights two rows of 4 feet (DIYed,the guy who sold me the set did not know the power)
-river gravel: pre-used 5kg (in the tank already)
-anti-chlorine treatment (already diluted in the water as per direction)
-aquarium salt (not diluted in the water yet)

Location of the tank: living room, 3 metres away from big window (left open most of the day), no direct sunlight, mostly no aircond, no fan.

What I would like to achieve:
Non-Co2 tank with decent landscaping (rock, wood, live plants) and some fish, low-maintenance setup, budget: ideally no more than SGD200.


I am at your disposal, you tell me what I need to buy and do, I will do exactly what you tell me to.
Please try to be specific with procedure and names as this will help me a lot.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[chansl]

Hi bro

I am not an expert but i would suggest you to get a chiller since you are having your tank in the living room. Singapore weather is hot and your plants may not grow well. No worry, the people here are friendly and will help you. Maybe you want to tell us what are you keeping ? Shrimps or fishes?

[mincedmeat]

I have spent close to $150 for my 2ft tank so I suggest you revise your budget accordingly. Otherwise, you might add in new items periodically but my suggestion is to settle the following:

1. Layout of the tank (head to the aquascaping thread for more information)
2. Soil (you probably need 15 - 20kg of soil)
3. Driftwood or bog wood (part of your scape)
4. Plants (preferably hardy plants (no need for CO2) eg. Java ferns, nana. Stem plants are usually non-hardy)
5. Fishes (probably tetras or if you are low on budget, just get feeder fishes. they can get pretty cheap in the LFS)

I'm still pretty new at this but that's my 2cents based on what you had mentioned. Hope this helps.

[AquaObsession]

It all depends on the setup you want

If you want to spend within ur budget and have a low tech tank with little maintenance and less work

Try reading on java fern. Java moss. Anubia Nana. These will not even need soil. Just a couple of stone or wood

Light will not be a problem , a normal t5 or pl will be enough, given your tank is not deep.

and a fan is just enough to keep temperature down. Problem with fan is evaporation rate though. You may have to top up quite lot every 2 days or so. Both chiller and fan are noisy.

[nointerest]

I think I am going to get some Lapis sand to make ambience as I will follow the advice and put the aforementioned plants.
What is the time frame now? I can put the sand and the plant at the same time or I need to do some cycle first? (what is the cycle by the way?)
Also, at what stage I can start to put fish inside? It is my understanding that the fish waste will feed the plants so i can't wait too long before adding the fish to the tank right?

Thanks

[Apistoinka]

First of all the amount of gravel will not be enough to create the scape well enough... You should have scape your tank first with wood or rock before running your tank with water... Cycling of tank means after you had done with your scape than run with water to allow building of gd bacteria in the water... allow cycling for about 2 weeks to 3 weeks...

You need to have in mind that is there gonna be any foreground plant... There is alot of bro here doing low tech scape... Maybe you can take a look on their post by low tech... Try using the search to fasten your search...

All the best bro...

[nointerest]

I've been searching on the forum re cycling of the tank.

This is what I should do: I prepare the landscape with everything I want to put in, including the plants, and I put in the fishless cycle treatment (any brand to suggest?) and wait until the cycle is over before starting to introduce fish. Is this correct? Do I need to add anything else in order to cycle the tank? How about the mulm?

Thanks

[Apistoinka]

You are there bro... As for what to add I forget the solution brand... If you want to speed up things you can buy a few feeder fish to make the cycling...

[nointerest]

You are there bro... As for what to add I forget the solution brand... If you want to speed up things you can buy a few feeder fish to make the cycling...

If you happen to remember the cycling brand that would be appreciated. I do not want to risk killing any creature (I am a vegetarian myself if that explains!!)

Thanks

[Solasido]

Hi bro, I am using Nutrafin cycle. It has served me very well on my freshwater tank and nano marine tank. I normally start stocking the tank about 1 day after I put the starter bacteria and monitor NH3, NO2 for a week.

You can buy at The Pet Lovers Shop, it cost me around $25 or something. At SeaView some times ago they are selling buy 1 get 1 free.

The Pet Lovers Shop is available at many shopping malls. SeaView is at Seletar Farm Way.

For fish stock pricing, so far I found that Y618 is cheapest (10pc neon tetra only at $2).

[Solasido]

Btw, my tank is about 4meter from big window and no direct sunlight. The temperature is quite stable all year round about 28 Celsius.

[nointerest]

Btw, my tank is about 4meter from big window and no direct sunlight. The temperature is quite stable all year round about 28 Celsius.

Thanks for the heads up!

[armourshrimp36]

Bro,pls dun use fish fot cycle.. U may get diease in yr tank and u dun wat the poor fish to suffer.. Go for fishless cycle pls..

[nointerest]

Bro,pls dun use fish fot cycle.. U may get diease in yr tank and u dun wat the poor fish to suffer.. Go for fishless cycle pls..

Of course man, needless to say! I do not kill any creature whatsoever ....http://govegbegreen.org/