Starting New 10g

M

McFreeze

New Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
6
0
0
#1
Hey everyone...kinda new here, but I have posted before.

Basically I'm a student and I have a 5.5 and decided to get a 10 today. I want to take my time setting it up though to get things the way I want them.

Anyway, I have the tank and am using Flourite for substrate so I washed it and put it in the tank. After filling the tank with water, however, its still REALLY cloudy from (I'm guessing) the substrate.

Can anyone tell me whether or not this will happen every time that I want to vacuum the bottom or even put some plants in?

Thanks for the help everyone! This site is both good reading and good advice for both the members and the lurkers!
 

M

McFreeze

New Fish
#3
Oct 22, 2002
6
0
0
#3
Thanks for the help.

I haven't really thought about what I'm going to stock it with yet. At this point I'm more concerned with getting the tank set up and cycling before anything else. And then I want to get the plants in there.

Any suggestions?
 

Avalon

Avalon

Superstar Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
2,846
10
0
Ft. Worth, TX
www.davidressel.com
#4
It will take a week or two to get all that fine dust from the Flourite out of your tank. Water changes really speed up this process.

Put the plants in now. You should get them going as soon as you can. This will drastically shorten your cycle time and provide your fish with a better enviornment. Try to put in as many as you can, or as you can afford. If you can fill it 70% full with plants, chances are you will never see a cycle and you can add fish in as little as 3 days.

Some plants you should consider are: green hygro (hygrophila polysperma), wisteria (hygrophila difformis), anacharis (egeria densa), rotalla indica (rotalla rotundifolia). Rotalla needs more light to be effective. They all run about $2 a bunch, maybe less.

Do not get an amazon sword, at least not right now.
 

M

McFreeze

New Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
6
0
0
#5
Wow, thanks for all the advice. I will be picking up some plants fairly soon. Question, though: Will the flourite dust that is still settling settle on the plants? Will this harm them at all?

Also won't the filter get clogged up with all that dust?

Thanks.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.