The new aquarium. Truly a momentous occasion in any household. Now that it’s home and out of the box, and you’ve followed the instructions on how to set up the filter and put the stand together, what’s next? Well, fill it up and throw some fish in and start enjoying their fishy antics, right? Not quite. First you have to watch some capital-s Science happen.
Before we get into cycling your tank and the Nitrogen cycle, a quick note that every time you add water to your tank (via a bi-weekly water change or the initial fill), be sure to condition that water. (You can use any product that will remove the chlorine from tap water.)
Now that your (hopefully) 20 Gallon or larger tank is full with conditioned water, has gravel and rocks and other decorations in it and is being filtered properly you need to kickstart the Nitrogen Cycle. Depending on your animal rights standpoint, this can be done with feeder fish or chemicals. If you decide to use feeder fish (as i did), bear in mind that they will die what is most likely a horrible fishy death (but for my money they were going to be eaten anyway, so at least this is a survival of the fittest contest, as evidenced by my lone survivor). Go to the local pet store and ask for a dozen fish feeders. These are the fish that you always see in that one huge tank and there’s about a million of em in there, and they all look like small orangey goldfish. This should cost you no more than $3 or so. If they charge you too much more than that, find a better pet shop. While you’re getting your little troopers, also pick up a test kit. I prefer the one-stick multi-test strips. People don’t like these because they’re not as exact as the test tube variety, but for my purposes it tells me all I need to know.
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