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Old 12-04-2009, 11:39 PM   #2
Sinubux
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A series of the more common guppy tank setup will be further elaborated in my contribution to this thread. I do hope that for members here that may not agree to what I have contributed, can well chip in to make this explaination of tank cycling more comprehensive.

Tank Setup 1:
Dimension: Standard 2 feet tank
Filtration: Undergravel
Stimulant: A Humble Air Pump that is fitted with an air valve control to regulate the amount of air being introduced to the undergravel system to stimulate water flow.
Substrate: Normal Aquarium Sand as long as it will not alter the water parameters too drastically.

I guess for this setup, it is pretty normal as long as the undergravel plate is well covered by the aquarium sand. As for the height of the outlet, I like the outlet of the water to be protruding out of the water surface so as to agitate the water surface for a better gaseous exchange. As for cycling of such tank, you can either do substrate seeding where once the water is well aged, introduce just a handful of substrate from a well seasoned tank into the new tank and also bacteria to colonize in the new tank. During this period of colonizing, I will introduce just a small spatula of live daphnia as I feel their size and numbers are just nice for the decomposition to take place at a much quicker rate. In order to determine whether the tank is ready for fishes, use any of your fingers to feel the bottom half of the tank. You will notice that the surface is slightly slimy and this is a good indication to show that the bacteria colonization is up to expectation. Then you can introduce fishes into your tank. However do take note that this does not mean that you can pour the fishes in directly, but need to slowly acclimatize them step by step. You will notice that once the whole acclimatization is complete, if you were to tilt the container to allow the guppies to swim into the tank, they will do so freely as if the water really matches to their liking. From day 1 to day 13 of the fish introduction, always maintain a light feeding to your fishes as the fish waste generated will almost certainly cause an ammonia spike in your tank. At day 14, do a 5% water change and replenish the water with good aged water, and lastly you are good to go. The tank only requires a weekly of up to 10% water change and for every 3 months, you will need to do 40% change which requires you to vacuum the substrate for all the deposited waste that are found in the substrate during this period of time.
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