Hello fishy community. Giggle.
I'm unsure as to wether I'm posting this in the correct place so apologies if not.
Ok. . I'm new to having fish. I bought a tank from the LFS (took a while for me to figure out what LFS was lol) and, you guessed it... Ended up with fish a few days later, as advised.
Now, having read through the forums a little I realise that I should have read about keeping fish before buying them and not afterwards. Seems its not quite as simple as getting a tank and putting dechlorinated water, bio enhancer and fish in. More fool me for thinking keeping fish was simple!
So. The tank is 25L, planted and has 6 endler guppies in there. It's a nexus 25 pure if that means anything. The fish seem fine, no fatalities as of yet and the tank has been set up for about 2 and a half weeks.
The only reason I'm here is because whilst reading up on the Internet on how to keep shrimp I came across all of this "cycling" stuff and here I am. - The LFS also said I could keep shrimp after a "couple of weeks"- I now know that that's really not the case.
So!! I bought a new, second hand tank from online which is bigger and was much cheaper. I've washed it out a ton, set it up and planted it and you'll be happy to know has 0 fish in until I figure all of this cycling stuff out properly. Both fish and non fish!! Nightmare.
Ok a few of my questions!!! - I wont post all of them as i have lots and lots and lots and could read through the forums for my answers on things such as cycling, as some of you have kindly gone over this subject already... multiple time it seems-lol.
I hope you'll be able to answer a few of them because I've spent a whole lot of money so far and am not willing to give up!!
1. The bigger tank is a 50L, it has a light in it that's not LED and I'm assuming LEDs are best? Though of course I have no idea really... It has a tube light in that's a "sunGlo" .... Is this light ok for my plants and any future fish I put in there? I know itll depend on the kind of plants I have etc. They're a bit of a random selection I got from the LFS labelled as "easy" (again, I know I should have researched all of this beforehand) so.. In a roundabout sort of way, is this light anywhere near suitable until I can have it upgraded? + any suggestions of what to upgrade it to?
2. I've added driftwood and other bits to the tank.. I rinsed them before putting them into the tank but didnt soak them. As i didnt know i had to. Amateur. One of the bits I put in my tank is a sort of rock but it has a kind of clay-like substance inside a few of the grooves.. i'll try and post pictures? will this have an effect on the water at all?
The wood ive put in are different kinds of wood. One now has a clear, milky white film over it and I'm not sure what it is. This milky white stuff is also in a couple of other areas of the tank. Biofilm or something maybe? The tanks only been set up for 3 days... The other piece of wood is bogwood or driftwood and is chunky and already has some sort of algae or moss growing on it and I'm beginning to think it may have already been used in a tank before. Erm.. Not sure what my question here is as I'm not sure what to ask for other than advice?
3. Most importantly.. The fish I already have. They're a selection of 6 beautiful endlers. Theyre all a bit different! Blonde/cobra etc and I would rather they survive this horrific ordeal and am going to be buying a liquid testing kit. There's one for like £35 and it seems they're the same price all over. Is there ANY way that I can try to ease the cycling process for them so that they don't die? Anything I can add/buy to make it easier? Tbh I can't believe I was advised to get them so soon but hey ho. Lesson learned.
I now know to research research research (or at least ask advise from someone not trying to sell me something) as keeping fish is quite clearly not at all as simple as I thought.
Thank you for taking the time to read through!
Darren.