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35 Posts
i just bought a new tank, 47 gal. it is taller than it is wide. any suggestions on how to set it up, ie, plants rocks etc... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
new to the hobby and just bought a 47 gal tank.
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Joined
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84 Posts
in my opinion you should get sand it makes the tank look alot nicer that gravel
you should also go with fake plants so your fish dont eat them
i like to set up my tank to look like the bottom of a lake so i have some cave rock and driftwood
heres a friend of mines tank 50 gallons:
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you should also go with fake plants so your fish dont eat them
i like to set up my tank to look like the bottom of a lake so i have some cave rock and driftwood
heres a friend of mines tank 50 gallons:
Joined
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35 Posts
i set the tank up tonight and plan on getting fish in 48 hrs. i have gravel now but after seeing the pics that are posted, i wish i got sand. if i remove the gravel and replace it with sand, how long should i wait to put fish in?
Joined
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1,039 Posts
Welcome to the forum and the hobby :thumb:
With regards to aquascaping, what type of cichlid do you think you are going to get? If you get Mbuna cichlids, which are usually what you get when you by from the 'african' tank at most stores, you want a lot of rockwork. Others don't requires as much.
As far as how long to add fish, you will need to cycle your tank first. Your fish will have waste in the form of Ammonia, which is toxic. Over time you develop bacteria that convert Ammonia to less toxic nitrite and even more bacteria to fairly inert nitrate. You have a few options for how to complete the cycle. First you could get 1 or 2 fish and monitor the ammonia level with a test kit and reduce it with water changes or conditioners. After the ammonia level stabilizes at zero you can add another fish per week or so as the tank develops. Another, better option is to do a fishless cycle. Here is a link to a library article on how to do this.
good luck :thumb:
With regards to aquascaping, what type of cichlid do you think you are going to get? If you get Mbuna cichlids, which are usually what you get when you by from the 'african' tank at most stores, you want a lot of rockwork. Others don't requires as much.
As far as how long to add fish, you will need to cycle your tank first. Your fish will have waste in the form of Ammonia, which is toxic. Over time you develop bacteria that convert Ammonia to less toxic nitrite and even more bacteria to fairly inert nitrate. You have a few options for how to complete the cycle. First you could get 1 or 2 fish and monitor the ammonia level with a test kit and reduce it with water changes or conditioners. After the ammonia level stabilizes at zero you can add another fish per week or so as the tank develops. Another, better option is to do a fishless cycle. Here is a link to a library article on how to do this.
good luck :thumb:
Joined
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297 Posts
I hate fake plants, if you have problems taking care of plants go for some of the really hard ones instead like Anubias, Java fern or Java moss. It just looks so much better.
As tannable said, your filter needs to cycle before you add fish, so start slowly or do a fishless cycle. The time you wait can be spent browsing this forum and finding out exactly which fish you want to keep
As tannable said, your filter needs to cycle before you add fish, so start slowly or do a fishless cycle. The time you wait can be spent browsing this forum and finding out exactly which fish you want to keep
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