# Starting a 55



## dtn23 (Jul 9, 2012)

Ok so I sought out an aquarium forum tonight seeking advice on the tank I'm planning on getting next week. I ended up here and after reading around a bit decided to register.

A couple months ago my girlfriend and I decided to purchase a little aquarium to keep some fish just as a pretty sight for the bedroom, and we ended up with a 15 gallon starter kit from Petco. It came with a little 10 gallon Tetra filter and small heater. It was a nice kit and a good price and we were instantly hooked on the aquarium keeping hobby. As of now we have a few guppies, mollies, and neon tetras. Everything is going well with the tank but the ammonia levels are a little high and we're having trouble getting them down. We started using an ammonia removing product, added carbon to the filter cartridge, and reduced feedings, but it's still a little high. With the help of Petco's resident expert, we came to the conclusion that we simply have a few too many fish.

I'd been wanting a bigger tank and the prospect of the fish in unhealthy water has given me sufficient reason to upgrade. I've been looking at the Marineland 55 Gallon LED Kit at my local Petsmart. It comes with the 55 gallon tank, an LED hood with day and night lighting, a Penguin 350 BioWheel filter and a heater. I've heard that the BioWheels are very good filters and I really like the look of the lighting. 

So my question to you all is rather broad: what all do I need to know? Has anyone else tried this kit and how does it perform? How long should I cycle without fish to stabilize the tank? How can I prevent the ammonia troubles I had in my smaller tank? What is the best process for transferring my current fish? Am I ok using only synthetic plants or should I have live as well? How often and what percent water changes are optimal? What are some of my best options for fish? Any tips and tricks will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance and sorry for the wall of text


----------



## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

Q How long should I cycle without fish to stabilize the tank? 
A i personally wouldn’t bother with a fish less cycle, lots of newbies seem to mess it up. just go with a fish in cycle. not only will you have fish right away but will get you used to the large water changes needed.


Q How can I prevent the ammonia troubles I had in my smaller tank? 
A dont bother with these ammonia products. water changes are the best way of removing stuff. did you cycle the tank? and do you use de chlorinator?

Q What is the best process for transferring my current fish? 
A to transport your fish, put them back in the bag you got it in and float it in the new one like you would of when your brought it. just dont put the tetras or mollies in until its cycled. they’re very delicate fish.

Q Am I ok using only synthetic plants or should I have live as well?
A you can use fake or live plants, what every you like the look of. one of my tanks have half live half fake, one totally live and the other totally fake. depends on what fish you keep. my totally fake one has fish in that destroy them so cant use them.

Q How often and what percent water changes are optimal? 
A water changes 50% once a week and if you’re using gravel vacuum that once a week too. clean filter once a month. and regarding the filter, id get a canister, these biowheel ones arnt as good as people think if you look at in from a chemistry point of view.


Q What are some of my best options for fish? 
A if you’re going to stay with little fish id add some danios to the tank, they swim around the top but look like little sharks circling! Also a bristle nose Pleco. people may not agree as they produce a lot of waste but i love plecos!!!


----------



## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

oh by the way, NEVER listen to ANYONE in a pet shop especially places like petco. always try and find out what you want to know yourself as they will sell you stuff you dont need and give bad advice. you may find one person who actually knows there **** but its very few and far between! id also get rid of the carbon, it has to be replaced regularly and its nowhere near as good as bio media for bacterial colonies.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You can have trouble like what you're having in any size tank if you don't think about the size of the tank first and then consider stock that is appropriate to the size. You are likely overstocked. You have WAY too many fish in there for a cycling tank. 2 fish would have been better.

Right now you have to deal with ammonia because the tank has to go through the nitrogen cycle. This compounded with having too many fish for even an established tank just makes the issues much worse. It will take 4-8wks to get through the cycle. Read up on the nitrogen cycle if this is the first you have heard of this. Normally, you should try to get the ammonia to 1ppm or below during this process. If it gets above 1ppm, you should do a 50% water change. DON'T use chemicals.....you'll only end up stressing your fish more. None of them remove ammonia, they just make it non-toxic and you will still register a positive value on a test.

What type of testing materials do you have? Liquid test kits are much more accurate. strips aren't really good for a cycling tank.


----------



## dtn23 (Jul 9, 2012)

Wow. It appears I was a bit mislead on my first tank. I kept to the 1 inch per gallon rule but it seems to have left me a little overstocked. I do know about cycling the tank and I read both stickies here on freshwater aquariums. I spent about 4 hours last night reading up on these pages about starting tanks and the cycling. I already came to the conclusion that I needed a liquid test kit so I'll be picking up a API (I believe?) Master Kit with my tank. I may look into a canister eventually but I'm hoping the Penguin will be sufficient at first. I plan on keeping the fish count lower in the 55 but I will be adding a few more tetras and what not. I've read up rather well on cycling with ammonia and hope to try this method. I'd like to establish a very balanced tank before I introduce fish; the idea of losing fish to a fish-in cycle worries me. Thanks for the advice guys, keep it coming


----------



## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

If you do a fish in cycle properly you won't lose fish. Also the 1 inch per gallon rule is utter rubbish. Would u keep one molly in a gallon tank? Some fish require up to 20gallons each but there's a much better way of working out how much room ur fish need.


----------



## dtn23 (Jul 9, 2012)

You have a point, but sadly I was too inexperienced to know that when I started the tank. I trusted a guy at Petco and now I'm overstocked. I plan on researching each fish I have before I add any more to them once they're in my 55. I know you don't always lose fish with a fish-in cycle but I'm afraid I'd mess it up. Going fishless means even a catastrophic mistake only means restarting. That said, I have no intent of messing up, and I plan on following the sticky on this forum for doing the cycle.


----------



## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

You might take a look at the methods in the link on my signature.

then again you might not.*old dude

they're worth at most.

.02


----------



## gar1948 (Jan 25, 2012)

I feel putting together your own "kit" is better than buying a complete one. I know there are people on this forum who like the bio wheel but I would rather use a large aquaclear hob or even better a canister for a 55 gal. The Rena Filstar filters are well priced and very simple to maintain. Don't scrimp on filter size.The heater that comes with the set is usually under powered and not the best quality. Lighting must be checked before purchase. It depends on whether you are going to stock live plants, what kind of plants and your personal preference for lighting levels. This is just my opinion based on my past experience with equipment. Buying better quality components up front will prevent you from replacing items prematurely and winding up spending more than if you started with the better "stuff".


----------



## dtn23 (Jul 9, 2012)

After some more research today I went ahead and purchased the MarineLand kit. It is a good starting place and I'm sure I'll replace parts as I progress but it's a solid set to get me going. The LED lighting will be sufficient as I plan to go fully fake planted. I'm hoping the heater will do well enough but if not I'll of course replace it. I've read nothing but rave reviews for the BioWheel but if I disapprove I'll look into canisters and what not. Until I have some experience, it's just one review versus the other. I spent all of tonight assembling the stand and tomorrow I'll assemble the tank, clean the gravel and start my cycling


----------



## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

dtn23 said:


> You have a point, but sadly I was too inexperienced to know that when I started the tank. I trusted a guy at Petco and now I'm overstocked. I plan on researching each fish I have before I add any more to them once they're in my 55. I know you don't always lose fish with a fish-in cycle but I'm afraid I'd mess it up. Going fishless means even a catastrophic mistake only means restarting. That said, I have no intent of messing up, and I plan on following the sticky on this forum for doing the cycle.



yeah true but its good your going to do research now and do the best for the little guys. 

about following the sticky, if i remember rightly someone followed it to the letter but the amounts of ammonia wasnt right for that tank so it went a bit wrong so jsut make sure your dosinjg right and your have no problem. good luck!!! your doing a fich in cycle in the tank you have tho right?


this is what i read about bio wheel things:


Remember you need oxygen (5-7 ppm dissolved oxygen) and a lot of surface area for bacterial colonies. Wet/dry filters, sponge filters, ceramic media, and loosely packed upper layers of gravel are all sources for bacterial accumulation. If there is not adequate surface area in oxygenated areas filter media or gravel, nitrification will be poor. 

However the oxygen aspect is where old anecdotal information has resurfaced on the Internet. 
Besides the Bio Wheel; DIY bio filters have popped up in Internet forums and videos (these have been around before in some form or another long before the Internet).
The only problem with these ideas, as clever as they may seem is that they operates under the false assumption that an aquarium cannot supply adequate oxygen to a filter such as a Canister Filter, Sponge Filter, or Fluidized Filter.
This said If this were true, why would Sponge Filters and Fluidized filters beat Bio Wheels in head to head tests that included response to increased waste?
As well such "bio filters" cannot maintain anaerobic filtration necessary in marine reef aquariums (nor can Sponge or Fluidized either, but these are not sold for this aspect of filtration either)

As noted earlier, Bio-Wheels are very popular, but in my tests in my maintenance business they are VASTLY overrated. They tend to accumulate hard water deposits and stop and even when they are working my tests have shown little difference in aquariums when they are removed as compared to Sponge filters or Fluidized Filters. 
Other suggestions include Pre-Filters and live rock/live rock crumbles sump filters (in Marine Aquariums).


----------

