Setting Up a New Tank

Good morning! What better way to start off the new blog than an explanation as to how to set up a new tank? Let me first begin by saying that I used to have 8 tanks running before I moved out of my parents' house for college. Now that I've graduated, am working full time, and have my own place, I just started getting back into my hobby. Up until today, I had 3 tanks and a pond running. My smallest tanks were both 10 gallons, one of which was a fry tank for sulferhead cichlids and guppies, the other holding my betta fry. The other tank was a 56 gallon African cichlid tank, which was way overstocked but very well cared for. Outside is my 75 gallon planted pond.

So, as I said, the 56 gallon tank was way overstocked. I purchased a custom-order 125 gallon tank 2 weeks ago, picked it up last week, and have been in the process of setting it up over the past week. So now, the 125 gallon is my cichlid tank, the 56 gallon tank is holding angelfish and my sulferheads for grow out, and the 10 gallon is a guppy tank, while the other 10 gallon is still a betta tank. Now, those of you that have been doing research or are experienced in setting up an aquarium may be wondering why I only cycled my tank for a week. Well, I'm so glad you [didn't] ask! Here's what I did:

1) Buy your aquarium, filters, substrate, lights, hood, and any other equipment you need.

2) Get your tank set up on the stand, rinse out your substrate and put it in the tank, put on your hood and light, and plug the light in. I've noticed that bacteria cultures tend to grow more rapidly if they have access to natural sunlight or some light source. Be sure you are turning your light off at night and keeping your aquarium on a schedule, as you would with fish in it.

3) Keep in mind this process only works if you have an existing tank already set up. Take your new filter media and soak it in your existing tank's water for a couple of days. If there is room in your existing filter to add in the new filter media, do so. You can even set up your new filter on your old tank, allowing the old one to still run, though this isn't necessary. Doing this allows your existing tank's bacteria to build up on your new filter media, thus reducing the time it takes to cycle your new tank.

4) Begin to fill your new tank. From my 56 gallon tank, I took out 20 gallons of water and placed it in my 125 gallon. The rest was brand new water, and I then added a small amount of a bacteria culture (I believe the product was called Bio-Magnet - I've used it on all of my tanks).

5) Set up your filter(s) with media, heaters, and any other accessories. The tank will likely be somewhat cloudy, but this means the cycling process has already started. Most of the time it takes a few days to a week for the tank to become cloudy. Allow the tank to run fully overnight. The next day, you can adjust the heater if the temperature wasn't right, or make any adjustments to the decor, air pumps, etc. The tank may still be slightly cloudy, but you will notice that it is clearing up very quickly.

6) Add your fish once your temperature, air flow, etc. have evened out to where you want them. Your new tank should have nearly identical conditions to your other setups. Voila!

Hopefully these steps help you add to your collection. For me, this process is so much easier than starting with a 2 week cycle, which often times turns into a month or longer because the bacteria doesn't build up as fast. I always refer to it as the "old fashioned" method. Whatever you are most comfortable doing is obviously the path you should take, but this is my suggestion for speeding up the process. Happy fish keeping!