African Dwarf Frogs And Bala Sharks?

[dwarfgourami]

Two platys are just about the right quantity to cycle a 10 gallon tank, not sure how frogs count here. Keep a close eye on the water stats for the next 4-6 weeks. If you haven't already got a test kit, THAT is what you have to spend money on first. Liquid kits are best. Monitor ammonia and nitrites closely and be prepared to do a 20% water change whenever they go over 0.5 ppm. It's a myth that you can't do water changes during the cycle: your first concern should be to keep those frogs and that platy healthy even if it does slow down the cyle (debatable).

During this period you should be careful not to overfeed. If you feel the need to have a bottom feeder to clean up, this may mean you are feeding too much. 3 flakes a day is quite enough for a platy, but at this time you may want to experiment with less. There are no bottom dwellers hardy enough to cycle a tank. Corys can go in a tank once it is cycled, but don't know how well they would fit in with the frogs. Remember corys are schooling fish, need to be at least 3, more is better (but limited room in your tank). Plecos can never go in that tank, they are just too big.

Once your readings show that both ammonia and nitrites have spiked and gone down again, you may add another few fish, but take it slowly. I would get a few more platys at this stage as being alone is not that good for them. Just watch gender ratio carefully: either all males (but more than 2 in that case), all females or a ratio of at least 2 females per male (in the last case, be prepared for fry).

 

[sylvia]

So you know about cycling? Waste from fish contains ammonia, ammonia is converted to nitrIte by good bacteria, more good bacteria convert that to nitrAte and nitrAte is removed via weekly water changes?

Ammonia and nitrIte are highly toxic and should be 0 to be safe (and this is also when a tank is considered cycled) whilst nitrAtes need to be kept under 20-40, which is easy enough if you do a weekly partial water change.

Right now, your fish aren't doing all that well because they are doing what would be the equivalent of you living in and breathing your own pee. That's also why you should always try to fishless cycle instead of putting the fish through all this suffering and risking their lives.

Anyway, if you are insisting on doing a cycle with fish... Have you de-chlorinated your tap water? Make sure you are using de-chlorinator. From this day onwards, for about 2 months, you're going to have to do a 25% water change every other day (starting today) to keep these fish alive. The frogs will not do well with high ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte readings most likely and they also need to be fed live bloodworms daily.

The reason the tank does not 'un-cycle' when you clean out the tank is because 'cleaning out the tank' does not involve the killing of all those good bacteria that are responsible for the cycling process. Basicaly, 'cleaning' (once the tank is cycled) is going to be the occasional algae scraping if necessary, a weekly 25% partial water change using DE-CHLORINATED tap water and a gravel vacuum at the same time (buy a vacuum). The good bacteria grow in your gravel and filter and would be killed if you ever added tap water that has not been de-chlorinated to the tank or if you exposed them to chlorine (from the tap).

It'll take about 6 weeks for these good bacteria to grow in your tank and complete the cycle. Once there are enough to handle the waste being produced by your current fish, ammonia and nitrIte will have fallen to 0 and should remain that way. NitrAtes will be higher but water changes will keep them low (like I've already said several times). You can then gradualy add more fish (one by one or two by two), week at a time, until the tank is fully stocked (which won't take that many fish considering it's only 10 gallons).

I should add that undergravel filters are a pain because, under the plates, a great deal of gunk and sludge accumulates and starts rotting. Every now and then, you need to take out all the fish, gravel, ornaments and clean out that mess. When you do this, you'll realise how much better it would be if you would just get yourself a hang on the back power filter now and dispose of the undergravel. You could always use it in a fry tank or isolation tank or some other non-permanent set-up. I guarantee you will regret doing otherwise later. A power filter would also provide better water circulation and aeration than an undergravel filter - not to mention superior mechanical filtration and the option of using chemical filtration as well.

I realise all this stuff can be very confusing to begin with but you realy do need to try to learn and understand all of it. You'll eventualy realise why this is all so very important and your fish will be happy for it.

 

[sylvia]

Can I just add that what Fish Mike said about bottom feeders interfering with the cycle is not the case. Rotting fish food also produces ammonia, just as fish themselves produce ammonia. If the fish eats leftover food from the gravel (if there is any, BTW, you are over-feeding) it'll still produce the waste from having eaten that food. You still get ammonia. In fact, by adding more fish, you are encouraging yourself to feed more (as bottom-feeders will not survive off leftovers alone) and that, obviously, increases the amount of ammonia in the tank. Increasing the amount of ammonia in the tank is NOT a good thing. It's true that removing ammonia (via water changes) decreases the rate by which the cycle completes - that's why fishless cycles are so much faster - but it's also absolutely necessary to keep ammonia and, subsequently, nitrIte low as fish are poisoned by even tiny amounts of these substances. The amount of bacteria that colonize your tank also depends on the amount of ammonia present - so the number present after a cycle with 1 fish is much smaller than the number that would be present if you cycled with 10. That does actualy mean that it takes longer to cycle a tank with high ammonia levels than it does to cycle one with lower levels. It's just that the removal of ammonia via water changes is only temporary (therefore does not speed up the process as enough bacteria may grow for the amount left but not for the amount that the fish are actualy producing). That last sentence is not all that important so don't worry if you don't understand that. My point is simply that, like Fish Mike did comclude, you shouldn't add any bottom-dwellers (or any other fish for that matter) until after the tank is cycled. It's just that it's for a different reason than was given (mainly the fact that the fish would die should be considered though - and we both said that).

 

[hives]

well... i added a bit of amonia and chlorine remover last night (the recomended amount for a 10g) and was told this would get rid of any amonia and it was a safe thing to do, i dont yet have a tester kit to test my water till monday so i cant say my levels. Shame i lost the platy thou.. by the way i think the chemical was caled ADDALL not to sure thou as im not at home.

ps could you paste some links for filters on ebay i cud get on a 10g tank, thnx ppl

 

[hives]

well... i added a bit of amonia and chlorine remover last night (the recomended amount for a 10g) and was told this would get rid of any amonia and it was a safe thing to do, i dont yet have a tester kit to test my water till monday so i cant say my levels. Shame i lost the platy thou.. by the way i think the chemical was caled ADDALL not to sure thou as im not at home.

ps could you paste some links for filters on ebay i cud get on a 10g tank, thnx ppl

sorry the chemical i added was ammo lock 2