It's Finally Here!

   Yeah, yeah I'm in my pajamas.  Don't judge me.  Lol!  This OBVIOUSLY isn't finished.  Not even close. 
Still to come:
CO2 Defuser
Background
More Gravel
Fresh Water Plants
Drift Wood
A new thermometer (We screwed up the one we had...)
And of course Fish (you people are going to kill me when you see them)

We got it set up last night.  I'll try to briefly try to describe the steps we took...

First of all this was not the first place we put the tank.  It was originally placed on top of my roll top desk.  It was way too high for me to be able to take care of it, so we moved it on the TV stand. 

We installed the filter.
We cleaned the inside of the aquarium and the gravel with water only. 
We inserted the gravel, then began adding water. 
When the water was about halfway up we installed the heater.
We filled the tank up the rest of the way, and turned the filter and heater on. 
We then added two and a half boxes (which was the correct amount) of a cycle starter. 

As most of you aquarium owners probably know, you have to cycle your tank before you add your fish.  This is a process that developes ammonia eating bacteria in your filter media.  If you do not have this bacteria the ammonia put off by the waste from the fish can be deadly.  The cycling process can take up to 4 weeks.  The boxes we added are SUPPOSED to help speed this up.  We shall see. 

Our PH last night was 'Acidic', and our ammonia level was 'stressed'. 

This morning the PH was at an 'acceptable' level, and the ammonia level was 'dangerous'.  This is good on both points.  The ammonia level in the water has peaked, which will actually speed up the development of the good bacteria.  When the ammonia level finally reads 0, we can begin adding other fish. 

On another note I have added my Betta to the tank.  He will help to keep the ammonia levels low, but stil feed the bacteria when they start to grow.  Bettas are extremely tough fish, so don't worry.  He's okay in there.  Not to mention the fact that we tested his water in his tank and it also read 'dangerous'.  This has made me seriously consider buying him a tank with a filter.  I hate for him to be in that small tank with the levels constantly like that.  Anyway, he is currently enjoying the big tank, and seems to be hanging around the heater.  Poor little guy.  :( 

There's my little buddy!  He still doesn't have a name people, and I haven't gotten any suggestions yet. 

So let's see... My time line.

5/17 set up tank
5/18 ammonia peak, and added betta

I'll update that as we go. 

That's about it for now! Please comment if you have any questions.  Thanks for reading!