# Sunbeam's new home - a work in progress!



## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

I picked up my new 70l aquarium today, but haven't yet set it up as there's a few things that need doing first. It's a second-hand Juwel Rekord 70 and I think had previously been used as a marine aquarium.

The first issue I noticed was quite a thick limescale buildup between the sides and the filter housing. The only way I could get at it was to remove the filter housing, so I'm guessing I'll need some kind of aquarium-safe glue to stick it back on? Can you get something like that in pet shops?

I used vinegar to clean the limescale as I figured it was the safest thing to use. It's come away nicely and looking all clean now 

Oh, the other thing was the gravel - the seller gave me 2 new bags of gravel, but it was 'marine gravel' which, reading the packaging, looked like it might raise the pH of the water, which I figured wasn't a good thing in an uncycled tank, cos doesn't a higher pH make ammonia more toxic? So I took it back to the shop and was able to exchange it for normal gravel. But as ameliajane suggested adding the gravel from the old tank to help with cycling, maybe I'll do that at first, although it won't be enough for a full layer (the new gravel's a different colour, so didn't want to mix them )

I'll keep you updated, and please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong!


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

You can get aquarium silicone to fix the filter back on. Ordinary silicone contains antifungals that are toxic to fish.

The reason for transfering the gravel from your current set-up to the new tank is to try to seed the new gravel with the colonies of bacteria that are starting to build up in the old gravel so you really need to put _both_ in the new tank for this to be effective.

You could just pile the old gravel up in one corner on top of the new stuff and then remove it after a few weeks if you dont want it in the new tank or just leave it out altogether.

The really important thing is to transfer all the filter medium from the old filter to the new or run both filters in the new tank for a few weeks.

Filter bacteria die pretty quickly without flowing water bringing them oxygen so don't switch the filter off for any great length of time when swopping everything over.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Thanks for the info 

I fixed the filter housing yesterday (after having to return the first tube of aquarium sealant I bought as the trigger nozzle was faulty) - now have to wait 48 hours for the silicone to cure before adding the water!


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

ATM it doesn't look like Sunbeam is going to make it to her new home :-(


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

Oh no... so sorry.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Well, since I've got the tank, I guess I'll be looking for some tropicals that aren't too difficult to keep... I'll do a fishless cycle first though of course, as I don't want any other fishies to have to go through what Sunbeam and Comet did 

I read the post on fishless cycling, but don't know where I can buy ammonia from? In the meantime, will 'feeding' the tank daily with fish food etc help to keep the existing filter bacteria from dying?


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## ameliajane (Mar 26, 2011)

You should be able to buy 'Household Ammonia' from Boots the chemist, alternatively you can use something like a prawn or just keep adding the fish food. All three will work, the ammonia is just the quickest. If you do use the ammonia add it _very_ slowly, just a couple of drops at a time and check the levels.

Monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels. You will first see an ammonia spike, then ammonia will begin to fall as nitrite rises. Finally nitrite will fall and you'll get the appearence of nitrates. Once ammonia and nitrites are zero _and_ you have a low level of nitrates your filter is cycled.


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## NaomiM (Sep 22, 2012)

Thanks  API Master Test Kit is on order from ebay, and I'll get to Boots when I can - in the meantime, at least it's finding a use for my big tub of goldfish food!


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