Got 37 gallon Aqueon setup

Is the other option to "fishless cycling" to put the fish in after a few days and a bacterial treatment?

NO. You need to be sure your tank has cycled before adding fish. A few days is not long enough. Jemi39 is right... adding plants helps speed the cycle. Lots of fast growing stem plants will help you out by slowing or even eliminating ammonia spikes.

Got some old decor or plants from a well established tank around... throw those in too. give your old filter media a squeeze right into the tank too... sounds gross, but it jump starts bacteria.
 
Cool everyone! I'm excited. Think I am going to use this as a learning experience with my kids too.

The LED lights are set up; it looks really nice. Is there an optimal place for the filter and the heater?

I read that the testing strips are not accurate? What testing kit should I get if any?
 
Cool everyone! I'm excited. Think I am going to use this as a learning experience with my kids too.

The LED lights are set up; it looks really nice. Is there an optimal place for the filter and the heater?

I read that the testing strips are not accurate? What testing kit should I get if any?

I dont think theres any optimal place for a filter as far as i know. As for the heater its good to have in an area with the most water movement such as underneath or near the output of the filter. For a test kit, you should look into The API master test kit. I use it and so do many other on this forum.

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I'm with ktrom on this one, API test kits seem to be the best means of water testing and pretty much universal on this forum. Also, it reads really easily, so harldy any difficulty on the results. Good luck! :)
 
An AC110 would have been fine. It's all up to you. Are you using one filter or two? I always use and recommend 2 on 4 foot and longer tanks. Heater vs filter placement doesn't really matter. What does matter is the heater vs thermometer placement. They should be at opposite ends of the tank.

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Do you mean two filter units at opposite ends of the aquarium? So 2 70s would be best? Uggh, this is getting expensive. Can I start with one? I am exceeding my budget...
 
Yea I put them one on each end. You can get away with just one but when you start to add more and more fish you might want to get another filter or a circulation pump.

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So I set up the tank last night, got the filter working (Aquaclear 70) and heater and gravel and water primer in. Next step is to add the ammonia.

I didn't rinse the gravel (I got good quality aquarium gravel) and of course the water is cloudy, though it is starting to clear. I am hoping with the filter running and the water changes involved in the cycling that that will clear up. The heater (150w Aqueon Pro) seems to be having a little trouble getting the tank up to temp, but maybe it just needs more time (it's been on for 12 hrs or so). I have it placed on the other side of the back side from the pump. Maybe I should move it to be next to the pump.
 
kahuna, the heater will take some time to get the tap water up to temp. Once it does, it will cycle with a more normal pattern. You're going to need the tank very warm if fishless-cycling by adding houshold ammonia is what you want to do (88-89degF). Make sure your ammonia has no dyes, perfumes or surfactants in it. I had a hard time finding this when I did my FLCs. Found it at the dollar store of all places. "Austins" brand ammonia. Anything other than ammonia and water in the product you're using and you'll be completely changing the water in your tank to replace it with the right stuff.

Personally, the only way I'd do an ammonia/fishless cycle again is if I had ABSOLUTELY no access to used decor and/or media. Like suggested, if you can, skip the ammonia, load your new tank with a pound or three of used gravel in a panty hose from a healthy established tank. Also add some used bio media from the established tank's filter too, then add some fish. Like any cycling method, this will require daily water parameter measurements in ppm for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and can require more than weekly water changes.

The last 3x I've done the used decor/media thing with a "fish-in" cycle, I never saw even a fraction of a ppm of ammonia or nitrites. Nitrates slowly came up. Regardless, I still did my weekly water changes of 30-50%
 
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