I need some advice on Guppies and my tank

[birdsNbeesNseeds]

Quote:

I'm not sure where exactly you are or where your water supply comes from but I'm relatively close to the KY/OH border and when I moved here I was shocked at how hard our water was. I also had an issue with high pH also. This will vary depending on where your water comes from and how its treated though, but I definitely recommend letting it set and balance the hardness/pH long before putting in any fish! I also recommend the plants! My aquarium is 125 gallons so it should have been be relatively stable, but it still wasn't easy.

WoodlandWoman has it right!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I totally forgot to add in my original post that if the stuff you got for cycling fish tanks from the pet store did not come from a refrigerator, then it probably won't do much for your tank at all. The reason tanks are cycled is to grow up essential bacteria to keep ammonia and other nasty stuff down. However, unless the bio stuff from the store is refrigerated, then all the bacteria dies. That's something I'll never understand about pet stores! It seems like false advertising to me!

Another thing you can do to speed up the cycling time is get some substrate or a used filter cartridge from a healthy, cycled tank and stick it in your tank or filter. This will help introduce the bacteria and it doesn't take all that long to grow after that.

 

[Diamante]

So Im guessing i should look into live plants. I dont want to do fishless cycling because i want fish now not later lol. I miss having fish. I never thought about the bio boost stuff that way. Ill probably just get some guppies and live plants and keep an eye on the water.
Thanks everyone!
Lisa