can someone help me?????

[cougargirl50]

Hello, I have a 29 gallon aquarium that I am getting ready to start up. I have my underground filter, and of course the OTB filter. (I don't know if I did that abbrev. right)

I have a couple stupid questions before I actually get started.
What type of tester kits do you recommend using?
There are so many out there. I'm not even sure what all I have to test for.

I know i have to test the ammonia, and the ph but other than that im clueless. I have been reading alot about tropical fish and this site is very helpful.

I also want to know. I use Dockwell's fish aquarium salt in with my goldfish in the 10 gallon tank that I have.
The 29 gallon tank that I am about to set up for tropical fish will that help if I put some in with the tropical fish also??

This question is about power heads. Do you recommend using power heads. With having the underground filter I have the stones on what looks like a straw. Will it benefit me at all to using the power heads.

And one other question for right now. Im trying to find the right air pump. Is there a thing where an air pump is to big. How do I know what size to get.
As of right now I will be running the undergravel filter with 2 tubes, and a 23" bubble wall. I would like to also put a decoration in the aquarium that has a bubble affect also. So in a 29 gallon aquarium how do I know how big to go?

Thanks for your help. *SUNSMILE*

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I can answer at least a few questions

-HOB is a common abriev. for "Hang on Back" filter.

-I reccommed a freshwater master liquid test kit (The kind with the drops.) Ammonia and nirtates/nitrites, and pH are a must. Others are give or take.

-Personally the only salt that goes in my aquariums is for my saltwater nano tank.

-Another personally, i don't use UGF (under Gravel Filters)..to much trouble than they are worth in my opinion. Powerheads arn't needed, but can be good to sweep some of the waste up off the bottem so the HOB filter can catch it.

-Not sure on the air pump, hardly use one myself.

 

[chrysler_12]

IMHO, i think undergravel filters are not that quite good... i think only a few people use them coz they are not good in biological filtration. (if u know what i mean by this...). so u might want to get a good HOB (hang-on-back) filters like marinelab w/ bi0-wheel... i think that is what u meant by the OTB.

testing kits... the most important ones are for ammonia and nitrite. then u could also get pH, GH, KH and nitrate... if u want all of this get the master kit. but if u think u wont need all of it just get the ammonia and the nitrite coz these are the ones u need when cycling ur tank...

im not really sure about salts coz i dont personally use them... but i know it somehow helps the fish health... so u probably could add a little amount of salt... i believe other people do this...

u could use powerheads with undergravel filters... but again this kind of filter isn't advisable...

air pumps? not really necessary coz i know it creates surface agitation and i think not all fishes apppreciate the bubbles... but if u want to... i believe all air pumps tell their purposes (recommended size tank)...

just a suggestion, go for a planted tank if u want big time decorations...

i hope i have answered ur questions well... dont be discouraged if i disagree to some of your plans about ur tank, those are just my opinions based on my readings in this forum and experience...

 

[FroggyFox]

Have you read over the threads in this post? http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19357 You might get some more helpful information out of them in addition to what everyone posts on this thread.

UGF's are very good in some applications because they will allow your tank to have lots of extra biological filtration and you can actually keep a tank extra clean with using a UGF and a HOB filter at the same time. Using the UGF with a powerhead and a HOB filter is probably overkill...personally (you're starting to hear that a lot) I'd pick one or the other...or at least not get a powerhead. What you'll end up with is a very LOUD tank between the air pump for the UGF and the bubble wall, the powerhead and the HOB filter...I hope its not anywhere near your bedroom I'm only partially kidding. I had a 10G that had a UGF in it originally and then I added a HOB and they worked very nicely together...it was a very clean tank.

As for the salt...I keep it around for medicinal purposes, some people add it to all of their tanks all the time, some never use it for anything. Some fish dont do well with salt in the water, so its something to do some more research on.

As for the size of the airpump...I dont think you can go too big, but I know you can go too small. If the pump isn't big enough...it wont be able to push the air through the tube and down into your tank. I had that happen to me one time because I got too small of a pump.

Oh and on the test kits, I agree...Aquarium Pharmaceuticals has good kits. They sell them seperately so you can just buy the ones you need, or you can get the whole set. You definitely need ammonia and nitrite, IMO NitrAte is helpful to have...and you might want to get pH. Generally you dont need to worry about pH, but it would be good to test your water and know what the pH is, and know that its stable. Aside from that it idoesn't matter much.

Welcome to MFT

 

[revfred]

If you really want to use your UGF (Under Gravel Filter), to get the most benefit from it, use the powerhead for it. Get one with a reverse flow so that you can flush out the UGF, and have the HOB pick up the gunk.

AP Master Freshwater test kit is a good one. I believe the new edition of this kit has a nitrate test. The main ones are pH, Am, Nitrite, but Nitrate is handy to have as well. Big Al's has the cheapest price around, IMO.

Get a good size pump, and a set of gang valves to regulate the air flow. Make sure one of the valves doesn't have anything attached to it so that you can use that to bleed off any excess air that is not used by the bubble wall, ornaments, etc. This will help keep back pressure down to a minimum which may be harmful to your pump. They also will run quieter as well.

As for salt ... I did use it at one time. I don't any more except for very very few medicinal purposes. As one British Fish veternarian said, "Freshwater tropicals should be kept in fresh water."

 

[cougargirl50]

Thank you for all your help guys. It was very informative. And now I can't wait to get my tank up and running.
I do on the other hand have one other question right now. I hear alot about the Bio Spira. Is that any good to use? Or should I just not try and use that. I have been hearing though that the only place to buy it though is on the internet. We have a very big store in the town next to us called THAT PET THAT FISH PLACE. And they don't have it. Is it good??

Thanks for your help.

 

[Orion]

Bio-Spira is bacteria in a bottle. The bacteria is the same bacteria that will nautuarly populate your tank once the cycle is over. Using the Bio-Spira is just a quick way of getting the tank ready.

I've never used it myself, but out of all the 'Instant Cycle' products out there, it is the only one that I have heard of that would actualy work.