A Cycling Question & A Stocking Question

Amberleaf · Dec 25, 2009

All righty; so, tomorrow is Boxing Day. :lol:

I *MAY* get another 10-gallon, sooooo.... Here's my question:

Do you think if I plant it up, like, 50% or something, and add 1/3 of my filter media from the 10-gallon (you CAN cut filter media with scissors, right?!), how fast will it cycle? All I'm gonna have in there is two guppies at the start.

Also, my current 10-gallon stocking is this:
-3 female Bettas
-2 cories

Now, the cories are spazzfests & very nervous; since I'm switching to sand do you think I could get maybe 3 more of those? Around how stocked would my tank be then (I might wanna add a few platies)? THANKS!

rebrn · Dec 25, 2009

You probably can get 3 more cories but I think you will be close to the limit with that. What type of cories are they?

As for the filter media, yes you can cut it with scissors, just make sure they are clean. As for how fast it will cycle, that I can't answer, but it will be faster then with out the mature media.

OldMan47 · Dec 25, 2009

If you are busy dividing up your biofilter to support a new tank, hold off on adding any fish. In the long run, a few more cories would probably work out but give the filters a chance to recover first. A few platies would get both tanks fully stocked after that but wait before adding them too.

Amberleaf · Dec 25, 2009

Okay, also, forgot to mention that I have one other Betta girl who needs to go back into the tank in about a week or so.... >.<;

Okay. Thanks for that, Oldman.

I guess it depends on Big Al's cory prices tomorrow.... And just how cute the little things are. XD And I could always keep them in a bucket for a couple of days.... ^_^

; Would that work? I really wanna take advantage of the prices; $100 kind of limits what you can buy. 0_o;

rebrn · Dec 25, 2009

I don't know if I would keep them in a bucket. I understand wanting to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales but how much are you really going to save if the fish die? I know when I lived in Canada, a friend of mine managed a Big Al's store and they used to keep pre-purchased fish there for a week until people were ready to pick them up, espically over Christmas time. I don't know if this is a policy for all the stores or if it was just something that she did in her store. But why don't you ask them if they would do that. You would most likely have to pay for them tomorrow, but see if they are willing to keep them for a week or so until your tank is ready. That way you will get the sale price and the fish will be kept healthy. The worst they can say is no.

Amberleaf · Dec 25, 2009

OMG that's an excellent idea. I hadn't even thought of that. XD

I'll see.... I just hate paying $4-5 for one cory. XD I'm awful, I know. ;-;

Hmm.... Don't some people keep fish in a bucket w/ an airstone for like a day or so? But it would most likely take my filters around a week to catch up. ;-; But yeah, I'll ask tomorrow. :3 I really want some more cories, though. The ones they have are so tiny and so adorable. XD

rebrn · Dec 25, 2009

I don't know about that (bucket with an air stone), might be OK, but if it was me I wouldn't want to risk it unless I had absolutely no other choice. Do you have a small sponge filter or an internal filter that you could spare? If you do then maybe you could keep them in the bucket with the sponge filter and an air stone, that would probably work better. Just a thought. I mean essentially keeping them in a bucket with no filter (or no cycled filter) would be the same as keeping them in an uncycled tank. I mean if it was me, and I just couldn't wait, I would just put them in the tank. At least in the tank, they have some sort of filter and more room to swim around. Your going to have to do water changes weather they are in a bucket or in the uncycled tank, so I would just put them in the tank where they have more room and get used to the tank set up. In my opinion it would be the same, only if you but them right into the tank then at least they aren't getting moved twice. But ideally, if the store will hold them for you for a week or two that would be the best.

Amberleaf · Dec 25, 2009

I'm probs just going to ask them to hold the fish for me; as I am going away on the 27th 'til the 30th and it makes no sense to have the completely new tank up and running. >.<; Hmm.... If they say no, then I'll.... I can't think of anything that doesn't sound too bizarre. XD