48Ltr (14Gallon?) Stocking Help

[willowstwin]

Hi all...

After reading the excellent guides on here I think Ive decided what I want to have in my 48ltr trop tank...

2 male guppies
5 spotted rasboras or neon tetras
1 honey gourami

Does this sound ok?

Thanks
Willow

 

[Wills]

That sounds pretty good to me though I think you could still add some more in Maybe a small group of pygmy cories or cherry shrimp for the bottom?

Wills

 

[Bengilbey]

Yeah I reckon you can get away with a few more in there

 

[willowstwin]

ooh really? I didn't want to over stock. Gonna introduce the shoalers first (2 inch of fish a week hehe) and then the bigger ones.

ooooooh just looked at cherry shrimp... if I can find a good stockist I'll hae a few of those they're amazing!!

Hmm.... I never thought I could put more in there...

 

[Wills]

How are you planning to cycle the tank?

If you go down the fishless route you will be able to add more than 2 inches per week.

I would add the fish in groups, so I would add all the schooling fish a school at a time and then its upto you if you wanted to get the Gourami and Guppies in one go or get them seperately.

Wills

 

[willowstwin]

I'm currently cycling fishless (as a noob I thought it was the most humane way). I got a becterial source liquid with my tank and filter set up (called filter start) which claims to have the good bacteria required for proper cycling. I'm leaving it another couple of days then I'll test the water, then add plants, leave to settle and test thee water again. Once it's all ok, I'll start adding fish.

So excited!! Just wanna get the little swimmers in there... but I know to be patient Cherry Shrimp look awesome by the way. Definitely going to look into those!

 

[Wills]

Ah those products dont really work, have a read of this page

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/113861-fishless-cycling/

thats the best way to start a tank off

Wills

 

[hanny93]

To cycle fishless, which is definately the best way to cycle, you need to be adding ammonia which you can get from shops like boots etc, to provide a food source for the good bacteria in the filter.

Those additives are just a waste of money, they have npo proven effect really, the only way to speed up your cycle is by using mature filter media, either from your lfs or from another person with a fishtank either family/friends or on here

 

[willowstwin]

hmmm, came in from work after dosing again with the stuff that came with my tank, and the water is a bit murky now... is this normal?

will get some pure ammonia from work tomorrow, even though that stuff scares me (I'm a lab technician and only 2 chemicals actually scare me lol)

 

[fluttermoth]

It is quite normal for new tanks to cloud up a bit; it's a bacterial bloom (although not the bacteria we want unfortunatly!).

The ammonia most people use for fishless cycling is called 'pure' ammonia, but only because it has no other ingredients; it's actually a 9.5% ammonia/water solution, so it's not really that scary!

 

[willowstwin]

glad you pointed out a 9.5% solution... here I was about to get some 99% stuff from work >.< I'll make some up with pure distilled water and our concentrated ammoonia

 

[fluttermoth]

glad you pointed out a 9.5% solution... here I was about to get some 99% stuff from work >.< I'll make some up with pure distilled water and our concentrated ammoonia

lol! Yeah; you need only 4 or 5ppm in your tank for a fishless cycle you know! If you have the concentration too high (above 7 or 8ppm) you'll get the wrong species of bacteria growing

 

[willowstwin]

thanks ever so much for clearing that up! Tank was really cloudy this morning. Gonna make up my ammonia solution in a sec, and then head into town after work for some plants (Will the plants be ok with the current bacteria?)

I just want things to be right for the little swimmers. Maybe I should have tried cycling with fish, getting just a few at a time I may work with chemicals and pH's etc, but when it comes to the welfare of the fish I overthink and scare myself that I'll do something wrong and they'll suffer

 

[Louiseness]

Well maybe it's good that you're doing a fishless cycle then It's easy to kill/harm the fish if you get a spike or something goes wrong during a fish-in cycle, no worries if there's literally just water in there!

 

[willowstwin]

any tips on clearing the bacteria bloom? water looks well disgusting this morning