starting a 5g tank
- Thread starter thanatos0203
- Start date
Ammonia becomes Nitrite and Nitrite becomes Nitrate. Then in the wild this goes down river and gets absorbed by plants and algae so it never builds up unless in a backwater swamp where microbes usually dominate.
So, how is ammonia building up if you don't have fish in the tank? If ammonia is constantly being inputted into the tank, the necessary bacteria will eventually develop and do the cycling down to nitrates. If ammonia isn't constantly available to the bacteria, the necessary bacteria populations may decline. Since in tanks the build up of nitrates can't move down river, we do water changes to mimic this effect.
So, how is ammonia building up if you don't have fish in the tank? If ammonia is constantly being inputted into the tank, the necessary bacteria will eventually develop and do the cycling down to nitrates. If ammonia isn't constantly available to the bacteria, the necessary bacteria populations may decline. Since in tanks the build up of nitrates can't move down river, we do water changes to mimic this effect.
First - Are you introducing a source of ammonia? If not, your tank will never cycle, the water will just sit there. Second - As far as the salt water goes, read up on the stickies on the saltwater forum. I have a tank that I'm thinking of doing saltwater, and I can tell you after reading multiple web pages and about 5 books that it's much more complicated than "take a freshwater tank and add salt" (not that you're saying that). So, that requires some serious research or it's just a big waste of time, money and fish. Also, I don't know much about them, but most anemones aren't easy to keep, and having a clown fish and an anemone is no guarantee that they will pair up. Just some things to think about.
Well, I guess that's one approach. It's probably better to introduce ammonia in a more controlled manner so that you know how much is there. Also, if the minnows had any diseases, you've now introduced them to your tank. Check out some saltwater fish profiles if you're really interested in that route, but to have a successful tank is going to take some significant research. You could post in the nano saltwater discussion for suggestions about a 5 gallon.
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U will neverbe able to pull of keeping an anemone in a 5 gallon. I have a 12 gallon and I'm about to dump it out and go bigger because the smaller the tank the harder it is to keep good water conditions and you need pristine water for an anemone. If you really want to do saltwater go get a 20 gallon but first spend about 4 days reading everything and expect to spend 300-500 dollars and not put fish in it for 2 months. I'll tell u from experience it's NOTHING like freshwater
I agree after carefully reading the NANO SW sticky on starting up a tank for the last month n a half, it will not be cheap, and a lot can go wrong if you do not exercise proper care and execution of building the tank and maintaining it.
From purchasing the powerheads, heater and filter
-to setting up the water with SW Salt
-to adding the liverock and organizing properly in the tank
-to letting it cycle and letting the liverock "grow" and build up bacteria and micro organisms
-to constantly topping the tank off with water and regularly checking salinity and other parameters you don't check in FW tanks
-to adding your first 'clean up crew' members
-and in the next 3 weeks or so, finally adding your first and usually only fish (sometimes 3-4 if you have a 20G)
It indeed seems very discouraging when you learn all you can about doing it, but it can also be really FUN and very interesting, considering all the things living in the tank besides fish.
JoeyB, I quoted you but this info is really meant for thanatos n co. Obviously you have the experience with SW
From purchasing the powerheads, heater and filter
-to setting up the water with SW Salt
-to adding the liverock and organizing properly in the tank
-to letting it cycle and letting the liverock "grow" and build up bacteria and micro organisms
-to constantly topping the tank off with water and regularly checking salinity and other parameters you don't check in FW tanks
-to adding your first 'clean up crew' members
-and in the next 3 weeks or so, finally adding your first and usually only fish (sometimes 3-4 if you have a 20G)
It indeed seems very discouraging when you learn all you can about doing it, but it can also be really FUN and very interesting, considering all the things living in the tank besides fish.
JoeyB, I quoted you but this info is really meant for thanatos n co. Obviously you have the experience with SW