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GRJ

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Hi all, i know this is a bit controversial and a lot of experienced aquarists dont agree, but i have started my cycle with fish. I have lost 3 fish now in 7 days and have just the two platy males left. They seem fine, very playfull, showing off and chasing each other ect but i was just wondering about getting a couple of female platy for them. Will they start acting agressive towards each other now there are just the two of them? My tank hasnt fully cycled yet and i am doing everything i can to keep them happy by doing aily 20% water changes and testing water parameters every day. My tank s 108ltrs and i put the fish in after a week, they have been in there now for a week. My parameters are Ammonia 0.50, Nitrite 0.25, Nitrate 20ppm and PH8. I have grown very attached to my two little platies and want to do everything i can to help along the way. I have read all the articles on fishless cycling so i know the factors involved. So, the question remains, should i put in a couple of females or just leave the two males in untill the cycle has finished and add a few fish every few weeks? Also, before the one female platy died, she left me some fry, i have counted around 6. Does this affect anything? I started off with 2 zebra danios, both died and 3 platies, 1 died. I hope thats all the info you need. I would be gratefull for any advice.GRJ :crazy:
 
i'd be inclined to just leave the two platy's and the fry for now. if the cycle stalls you may need to consider adding more to increase the bio load.

if you haven't already have a read of the link in my sig 'what's cycling?'
 
i'd be inclined to just leave the two platy's and the fry for now. if the cycle stalls you may need to consider adding more to increase the bio load.

if you haven't already have a read of the link in my sig 'what's cycling?'


I know this sounds silly, but how will i know if the cycle stalls? What kind of readings should i be getting? :good: GRJ
 
if the readings stay constant and don't go up or down then it's stalled, now you can expect slow movement so you may not see any difference from one day to the next, but if readings remain the same for a prolonged period it may have stalled. if this is the case the first port of call for me would be a really big water change like 75% and see if that does anything, if not it may just be there isn't enough ammonia being created to keep things ticking over and therefore you need more fish in there.

and also - the only silly question is the question not asked. were here to help so fire away even if you think it's silly! :D i have been accused of moderate silliness myself from time to time
 
I wouldnt worry about any females until your tank is a stable Environment....
 
With just 2 fish, as mentioned, you won't see major changes in the parameters from day to day, especially if you feed lightly. For now, I would suggest a water change to get the ammonia back below .25 ppm, ESPECIALLY at your pH of 8.0. The higher the pH, the more toxic ammonia becomes so the .5 you have is probably equal to about 5.0 at a pH of 6.5. Here is an article that gives more information on ammonia toxicity as it's related to pH. It actually says that a reading of .1 is dangerous at a pH of 8.0.
 

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