About To Start Fishless Cylcle.....

[eaglesaquarium]

I don't know that it is necessary. Instead, just keep up with your regular testing. Things look fine, just high nitrites, which is perfectly normal. Keep an eye on your pH. If it starts to fall, you can do a huge water change to remove the nitrates again. If the nitrites don't come back onto the scale in the next week, I would do the water change anyway, as your nitrites might be way too high for the right bacteria to thrive.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Tbh, I wouldn't test for nitrites for now, maybe every couple of days. Just to see if it has come down, doubt it though, and you may aswell stop testing for nitrates too, as these will be off the scale shortly.

Now wait for your ammonia to drop to 0 then redose the tank to about 2-3ppm. This will give the nitrite detoxifying bacteria to catch up. Once the nitrite has gone down to 0, up the dosing to 4-5ppm of ammonia, and wait for both to drop to 0 in 12 hours.

You are well on your way though and doesn't look like you did too much damage, as with your nitrates going up quickly, it won't take long for your nitrites to get to 0

 

[Mowbz]

You are well on your way though and doesn't look like you did too much damage, as with your nitrates going up quickly, it won't take long for your nitrites to get to 0

Im glad it appears i didnt do too much damage when i swapped the substrate! I just need to get some ideas on what to put in when im done now!

Thanks again!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sand and corys are a great combo!

 

[Mowbz]

Sand and corys are a great combo!

Have been looking more towards Corys (above posts somewhere) purely because they're the biggest i can really get away with in my tank. Any views on putting a few in with a Clown Plec? Really like the look of them, and have read they grow to about 5 inches, which i would imagine to be top end for a 2ft?

Any ideas of numbers? Ive read they prefer to be in groups of about 6. Would i get away with two groups of 6, and a plec, or just the two groups, 1 group and the plec, etc?

Also, am i likely bearing in mind a predominatly cory community, and then a clown plec, to have a very active tank floor, and an empty top?

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Maybe look at getting 6-10 cories and then maybe a betta or a few male guppies.

However I'm not great with stocking levels, better await eagles and who ever else's views

 

[Mowbz]

Of the same species, or could i for instance, get 5 of one, 5 of another? Would they be happy living with each other?

I also really want this plec, there such a nice colour, and the one at the LFS is quite a character..... lol

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I think that getting ONE variety of corys is best, unless you can get the numbers up to 10-12 each. Your tank isn't big enough for that though. If you are looking for different looking cories, I suggest you get C. aeneus. These come in both "bronze" or "albino" varieties. These are actually the same species, so they do shoal together.


For my money though, nothing looks better than a LARGE group of corys that are all the same (the same goes for most shoaling species) species.

How big is your tank exactly? A 10 gallon tank can support 8 dwarf corys (C. Habrosus). If you have a 20 gallon, 10 regular cories should be fine in that size - don't go with the "Jumbo cories" actually Brochis spp. They look very similar but grow to 3+".



I appreciate the deference fishy, but I am far from an expert. I understand the basics of cycling and the basics of stocking. I've researched fishkeeping greatly, but have much less experience than a lot of folks on this board.

 

[Mowbz]

The tank is 72 litres, 16 gal. 8 with good room maybe? Could i still put a pleco and a betta in with them?

From going through this forums details on fish i would like to have;

Some Cherry Shrimp
Some Corys (of yet unknown description!)
A Clown Pleco
A Male Betta

If its possible to keep these together, how many of each could i keep. I think i read somewhere that you cant shrimp with corys in case they nip them. (Or am i going nuts? If this is the case, ill not get the Shrimp!)

Better get a move on and test my tank....

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

I have got some predatory shrimp with 6 cories, I am looking to up the number of cories to 10, I have only 'seen' one instance where the shrimp went for a corie, probably not good. Ooops.

But cherry shrimp would be fine IMO. And I think that stocking would be fine, an maybe a school of tetras. Ones that don't nip, will have to check but I think 6-8 bleeding hearts will go in there, but double check as they do get a little bigger.

Why not post a projected sticking plan in general discussion, or in this part, and you will be able to get some direct advice

Sorry eagle lol, I just know you have done a lot more research than me lol. But yeh good to point out your still just as new as me really

 

[eaglesaquarium]

With only 16 gallons, you are looking at about 16 inches of fish (you never want to overstock a new tank, you can get away with a little extra bioload after about 6 months with a strict water change regimen). A betta, 8 pygmy or dwarf cories and the plec (not sure about this, but I've never heard of a problem, but you might want to make sure) should be fine. But, I would add that the tank would be pretty well stocked at that point. Bleeding hearts can grow to 3 inches long and are also fairly stocky fish, which means a larger bioload than a "mere" 3 inch fish.

I don't think that any extra tetras would be a good idea though. Plecs are an extremely messy fish, so I wouldn't go with any extra stocking, especially in such a small tank.

 

[Mowbz]

Ok, so Ive been a bit lazy recently on the readings uploads, BUT that doesn't mean Ive not been testing, and today we have;

pH - 8.3-8.4
Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm

Everything has been a steady drop since the last readings (on 13th/14th, Not sure if i posted; 2ppm Amm, Off Scale Nitrites, 120ppm nitrates) i posted.

I think the ammonia will be at 0ppm by tomorrow night, so i hope to re-dose tomorrow. Nothing else interesting happening on the tank front tbh...

Still looking at Cory's though. Such a pants selection most of the places within a 20 mile radius, which is up to an hours drive in most cases due to location. Any ideas on a "safe journey" time for fish? I would happily drive 3 hours to get good fish, but dont want to risk lives....

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Fish can be sent through the mail for several days at a time. There is no concern for the fish after a few hours. If it helps, ask for a little more water, and make sure that they fill the bag with oxygen. Put the fish into a cooler (still in the bag). This will help to maintain their temp and keep them in the dark. Just be sure to float the bag for a little longer in your tank before you get into the rest of the acclimation process.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Yeh I would agree with that, also just another thing, fish the fish out of the bag with a net, don't just pour them into your tank, otherwise you will get a fair amount of ammonia/nitrites and maybe even nitrates, that you are putting into your tank.

 

[Mowbz]

Cool, cheers guys, ill venture further afield!

Today's vitals are;

pH 8.2
Ammonia 0ppm (Re-dosed to 4ppm)
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

Not sure what happened to all my nitrates. I was putting it down to the plants, but they're out and Ive done a water change after putting sand in (messsssy) since then.

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