Hello, very new Newbie here!

[Nataqua]

Hello OVAS!

I am very happy to have found OVAS, I have been lurking for a few months now and have found so much information. I have just added a few plants to my very first aquarium and thought this would be a good time to say hello.

It all started as an enrichment project for the cat and a one gallon tank. I was thinking goldfish, then did a bit of research, saw some aquascaping did more research and became fascinated with this wonderful hobby I knew nothing about!

Well I abandoned very quickly the idea of a one gallon and opted for a fluval ebi (7.9 gal) to house a Betta and hopefully many plants.

I set up everything yesterday, and added my plants today, one anubia and 3 bunches of Pennywort some rocks and a piece of driftwood.

I have not started cycling yet, but soon will!

Cheers,

Nat.

[delslo]

I hope you put in some chlorine remover, or else your plants are toast. If you did the cycle has already started.

[Hookup]

Welcome to ovas!  Fluval makes a nice tank setup.

Glad you found us.

[brotherluv]

I'm certain you will love your new hobby for years.  Great selection you started with!  Glad you found ovas.

[touchofsky]

Welcome!  There are lots of helpful, knowledgable people here, so feel free to ask all of the questions you want 

[Cheebs]

Welcome to OVAS!!

[bizfromqc]

Welcome to the club Nat!

I hope you put in some chlorine remover, or else your plants are toast. If you did the cycle has already started.

Those are two different things. You will need to use a water conditioner to treat your tap water but that's not what's going to kick start your nitrogen cycle, ammonia will. Your ammonia source will vary depending on weather or not you're going with a fishless (pure ammonia, fish food, etc...) or fishy cycle (using a hardy specie of fish and WCs to keep them safe). Using some dirty filter media or substrate from an established tank will speed up the whole process of cycling your tank.

I recently switched to using Prime as a water conditioner and it's been working well for me, haven't lost a fish yet and recommend it. Good luck on cycling the tank and keep us updated 

Eric

[Saltcreep]

Hello, and welcome.

Another thing to remember is that depending on where you live, you maybe dealing with chloramine rather than chlorine. Two very different chemical treatments and two different water conditioners need to be used. Water from either City of Ottawa treatment plant will have chloramine in it.

[Lurch1]

Welcome, the site is full of info and people willing to share.

[Nataqua]

Wow, what a nice welcome! Thank you!

I have used Nutrafin BettaPlus as a water conditioner and will most likely be switching to Prime, I'm just waiting until I know what else I will need to make an online purchase, like fertilizer and fish food. I am on my second bottle of BettaPlus so I think Prime would be more economical.

I am in Gatineau (Hull sector) and I think we do not have chloramines bu not sure, I think the nutrafin takes care of those as well? What concerns me about the water is the PH, I've posted a question in the General Freshwater section. Out of the tap it is at 6-6.5 and after about 8 hours, in my tank it drops to the 5-5.5 range 

As for cycling, I'm not sure yet which method I will use. I was thinking fish food (I have shrimp pellets that came with the ebi) or, and I am not sure of this, by using feeder shrimp from lfs, as I was thinking of housing some eventually, but I am not sure if they would survive.

I really like the clean lines of the ebi, I just set up the light today and have to figure out the timer on my power bar  The cat seems intrigued by the water movement and little pieces of ...not sure what...floating around.

Thank you all for the great replies and advice, its really great to have such support

Nat.

[bizfromqc]

FYI, Prime takes care of both chlorine and chloramine (check below for snippet from Seachem's website)
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

I'm also from Gatineau 

Prime® is the complete and concentrated conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Prime® removes chlorine, chloramine and ammonia. Prime® converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank's biofilter. Prime® may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. Prime® detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels. Prime® also promotes the production and regeneration of the natural slime coat. Prime® is non-acidic and will not impact pH. Prime® will not overactivate skimmers. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water.

[Nataqua]

Thank you for the link bizfromqc!

Good to know you're from Gat as well!

Cheers,

Nat.