[dbird5]

My little girl is turning 1 this week and she absolutely loves fish, so I decided to get her a fish tank. I have been wanting one myself for the longest time. So, tonight I went out and got a 20 gallon tank so I could set it up and get the water cycled so I can give her the fish on her birthday.

This may be a dumb question, but I have never owned a tank of my own. I got the tank, and there were some sample packets of water treaters. It had one thing of Tetra AquaSafe which I followed the directions and added one teaspoon per 10 gallons of water. There was also another double packet that is API Stress Coat (Fish & Tap water conditioner) and Stress Zyme (Biological Filtration Booster). DO I PUT THESE IN ALSO? Or are these the same as the Tetra AquaSafe?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[pinoysportz]

OK your good..

Add the stress coat when you add the fish.. then a few days later one the fish is able to do his or her own thing you know... #2.. ya know.. LOL.. add the Stress Zyme

I would buy the fish she really wants like 2-3 weeks after the tank has been cycled.. . for the first few weeks get realy "hearty fish" like goldfsh and so on.. hope that helps...

[premmy32]

You are good as far as the chemicals go. But as mentioned earlier, dont put the fish you want to keep in the tank first. Buy some comets(goldfish) They will get th water right. The first fish you put in the tank are going to die, so dont spend to much money on them. After about 3 weeks, you can start to introduce the fish you want to keep.

[dbird5]

pinoysportz Wrote:OK your good..

Add the stress coat when you add the fish.. then a few days later one the fish is able to do his or her own thing you know... #2.. ya know.. LOL.. add the Stress Zyme

I would buy the fish she really wants like 2-3 weeks after the tank has been cycled.. . for the first few weeks get realy "hearty fish" like goldfsh and so on.. hope that helps...

Thanks for the advice.

I was thinking about starting out with some danios, those are suppose to be pretty hearty, right???

[patriotsguy]

There are many ways to start your tank up.....the most effective way is to cycle your tank first then add the fish. The key is going to be to keep testing your water on a reg basis (every 3-4 days).

When your tank cycle you will start off with an amonia spike. Now when all your beneficial bacteria starts to form your nitrite levels will increase while your amonia decreases.

next your nitrate levels will increase while your nitrite levels decrease. The end result is when your nitrate levels decrease to a safe level.

Once you go through all that your tank is cycled. Cloudy water is normal going through this process and NO chemiclas should be used to correct that.

Zebra Danios are a very hardy fish but can be nippy with other fish with colorful longer wavy fins. Neon tetras are a pretty popular fish.

if you have other Q's feel free to PM me.

[dbird5]

patriotsguy Wrote:There are many ways to start your tank up.....the most effective way is to cycle your tank first then add the fish. The key is going to be to keep testing your water on a reg basis (every 3-4 days).

When your tank cycle you will start off with an amonia spike. Now when all your beneficial bacteria starts to form your nitrite levels will increase while your amonia decreases.

next your nitrate levels will increase while your nitrite levels decrease. The end result is when your nitrate levels decrease to a safe level.

Once you go through all that your tank is cycled. Cloudy water is normal going through this process and NO chemiclas should be used to correct that.

Zebra Danios are a very hardy fish but can be nippy with other fish with colorful longer wavy fins. Neon tetras are a pretty popular fish.

if you have other Q's feel free to PM me.

I will keep that in mind, Thank you very much.

[premmy32]

patriotsguy Wrote:There are many ways to start your tank up.....the most effective way is to cycle your tank first then add the fish. The key is going to be to keep testing your water on a reg basis (every 3-4 days).

When your tank cycle you will start off with an amonia spike. Now when all your beneficial bacteria starts to form your nitrite levels will increase while your amonia decreases.

next your nitrate levels will increase while your nitrite levels decrease. The end result is when your nitrate levels decrease to a safe level.

Once you go through all that your tank is cycled. Cloudy water is normal going through this process and NO chemiclas should be used to correct that.

Zebra Danios are a very hardy fish but can be nippy with other fish with colorful longer wavy fins. Neon tetras are a pretty popular fish.

if you have other Q's feel free to PM me.

well put.

[patriotsguy]

premmy32 Wrote:

patriotsguy Wrote:There are many ways to start your tank up.....the most effective way is to cycle your tank first then add the fish. The key is going to be to keep testing your water on a reg basis (every 3-4 days).

When your tank cycle you will start off with an amonia spike. Now when all your beneficial bacteria starts to form your nitrite levels will increase while your amonia decreases.

next your nitrate levels will increase while your nitrite levels decrease. The end result is when your nitrate levels decrease to a safe level.

Once you go through all that your tank is cycled. Cloudy water is normal going through this process and NO chemiclas should be used to correct that.

Zebra Danios are a very hardy fish but can be nippy with other fish with colorful longer wavy fins. Neon tetras are a pretty popular fish.

if you have other Q's feel free to PM me.

well put.

Thanks! been doing this a long time

[psu21]

patriotsguy Wrote:There are many ways to start your tank up.....the most effective way is to cycle your tank first then add the fish. The key is going to be to keep testing your water on a reg basis (every 3-4 days).

When your tank cycle you will start off with an amonia spike. Now when all your beneficial bacteria starts to form your nitrite levels will increase while your amonia decreases.

next your nitrate levels will increase while your nitrite levels decrease. The end result is when your nitrate levels decrease to a safe level.

Once you go through all that your tank is cycled. Cloudy water is normal going through this process and NO chemiclas should be used to correct that.

Zebra Danios are a very hardy fish but can be nippy with other fish with colorful longer wavy fins. Neon tetras are a pretty popular fish.

if you have other Q's feel free to PM me.

Listen to everything he said. Also, I wouldn't mix goldfish with other tropical fish. I know that people do it, but some people also have problems with it. Goldfish prefer colder temps. than the other fish you will have, they produce way more waste, will hog all of the food, and depending on the tankmates can actually kill other fish due to the waste that they put off. I've known people that had danios and tetras with goldfish and the goldfish slime would get caught in their gills and kill them.

[premmy32]

patriotsguy Wrote:

premmy32 Wrote:

patriotsguy Wrote:There are many ways to start your tank up.....the most effective way is to cycle your tank first then add the fish. The key is going to be to keep testing your water on a reg basis (every 3-4 days).

When your tank cycle you will start off with an amonia spike. Now when all your beneficial bacteria starts to form your nitrite levels will increase while your amonia decreases.

next your nitrate levels will increase while your nitrite levels decrease. The end result is when your nitrate levels decrease to a safe level.

Once you go through all that your tank is cycled. Cloudy water is normal going through this process and NO chemiclas should be used to correct that.

Zebra Danios are a very hardy fish but can be nippy with other fish with colorful longer wavy fins. Neon tetras are a pretty popular fish.

if you have other Q's feel free to PM me.

well put.

Thanks! been doing this a long time

I did it for about 5 years. I had a 125 Gallon tank. I sold it about a year ago. It was a lot of fun, but also alot of work. I always kept gold fish for some reason. I had some Coi that were huge, but goldfish are extremely messy. Cleaning was an all day event.