Hello everybody I haven’t had a tank since I was 19/20 ish and back then I didn’t know I had to do cycling and plants and the whole shabang. I’ve been researching and I’m really interested in starting another tank but right this time. I have a 5 foot long aquarium in my shed that I plan to use for whenever I move out so this is my practice run. Recently for my early 24th birthday (even thoughts it’s in August) my boyfriend got me a 10 gallon tank so I can start cycling and planting and eventually get a few fish and/or shrimp and so I have time to learn a lot about fish keeping and aquarium maintenance. This is my tank in natural light from the window on day 4 of cycling. I do have a lid with light. It was a top fin complete 10 gallon aquarium set up. I haven’t gotten a water test kit yet.
My questions are
1.) how long should I let it cycle ?
2.) what water test kits do you recommend?
3.) what is microfauna and beneficial bacteria and where do I get it?
4.) when do I add microfauna (beneficial bacteria?) or will it grow naturally?
5.) what do you think of my tank scape?
6.) how long will it take to see growth in my plants ?
7.) what temp while cycling should it be at?
8.) is natural light good for the tank during cycling ?
9.) I keep it pretty cold in here. Will that affect my temp in my tank ? I’ve noticed it going between 70/80 like dipping up n down.
10.) is it normal for those moss ball plants to be green and brown ? Or is that called melting ?
11.) I have some orange spots appearing in the sand. They go away after awhile but more pop up. Is this okay for new tank?
12.) should I add anymore plants? Or is this enough to get started?
13.) are my plants planted correctly ? Asking more about the second pic which the one in the corner.
14.) should I be worried about the roughness of the volcano rock ?
Okay I think that’s a lot of questions already. Very much appreciated for any help and advice you could give me about the aquarium hobby.
Posted by _Allygator