characins and new tanks

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JamesTasker

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A book I read says not to add any tetras until the tank has been set up for at least 3 months. This sounds a little extreme to me. What do you think? I'd like to add some neons and glowlight tetras to my 30gallon which at the moment just has a pair of Dwarf Gouramis. Do you think I could add them in a week or so - it has been set up for about a month and a half and the gouramis have been in there for about a week.
 
hmmmm i would of thought there would be alright but just maker sure u ataleats buy six of each kind, so they fell happy as a shoal! :lol: :thumbs:
 
>>>
it has been set up for about a month and a half and the gouramis have been in there for about a week.
<<<

So you did a fishless cycle and your water parameters are fine are they?

It is certainly true that Neons etc., should not go into a non cycled tank.
 
I did a fishless cycle but not with ammonia (I couldn't find any) so I used cycle and there were a number of snails as well. At first there was nitrite so the tank must have cycled as all the readings are now zero and the fish in there at the moment are doing fine so I think it should be ok.
 
So you are seeing nitrate being produced then, yes? If ALL are zero then something weird is going on. I'm a little confused here...

>>> a fishless cycle but not with ammonia (I couldn't find any) so I used cycle

... how did you cycle your tank?

Many of the small characins are very sensitive to poor water quality. Each time you add fish, you create a mini cycle as the bacteria ramp up to the new ammonia loading - it is for that reason that some advise not putting Characins into newer tanks - longer established tanks tend to have a better bacterial reservoir. However, fishless cycling, with ammonia, generally creates large bacterial colonies.
 
All were zero before fish were added. I was a bit perplexed to. Maybe because I had done a water change. I cycled my tank by leaving the filter to run for a month and I added nutrafin cycle and there were a lot of snails in there as well producing ammonia.
 
Don't tell Alien Anna but I cycled my tank with fish....10 neon tetras to be exact, several months later, those 10 neons are looking fat and happy.
 
>>> nutrafin cycle

Don't know it.

Have you a lot of live plants? They would pull the nitrates down, although I'm really suprised there is 0.

Ah, well, if you think the tank is well cycled, you don't have much in there yet, give them a go. It's not a really small tank, so any impending disaster will come on slowly. Slowly enough for you to notice and react.

I'd be keeping a good eye on my water parameters in the mean time.

Good Luck.

>>> 10 neon tetras to be exact,

It is certainly true that todays farm bred stock are a little tougher than the wild stocks of yesteryear. I guess all the sensitive ones died on the way over leaving just the slightly tougher ones here.
 
JamesTasker said:
A book I read says not to add any tetras until the tank has been set up for at least 3 months. This sounds a little extreme to me. What do you think? I'd like to add some neons and glowlight tetras to my 30gallon which at the moment just has a pair of Dwarf Gouramis. Do you think I could add them in a week or so - it has been set up for about a month and a half and the gouramis have been in there for about a week.
That advice is probably based on a couple of things:

1. The assumption is that you cycle with fish, so the beneficial bacteria need time to build up. This advice could be translated as "Avoid ammonia and nitrite at all costs".

2. pH can bounce around quite a lot in a newly set-up tank but after a couple of months partial water changes shouldn't change the pH much. Unstable pH is a major fish killer.

3. After 3 months of fish care you're probably getting into a routine of water changes, feeding etc. and are less likely to make mistakes or forget (theoretically).

If your tank is cycled but only houses a couple of gouramis, you don't want to add a ton of fish at once and over-load the beneficial bacteria. However, if you add a few tetras one week, and a few more a fortnight later, you should be fine.
 
FanOFish said:
Don't tell Alien Anna but I cycled my tank with fish....10 neon tetras to be exact, several months later, those 10 neons are looking fat and happy.
We all cycle with fish at least once. That's why many of us become fans of fishless cycling!
 
I have quite a few plants but they are not growing very fast and have quite a bit of algae on them. Perhaps it is the annoying amount of algae that I have to keep getting rid of that is using the nitrates?
 

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