Cycle Ending : Quick Question

[flash22]

hi all

my cycle is finally near the end. I had my first nitrite drop this morning its gone from off the scale to 0.50 in 10 hours and my nirate has risen from 7 to over 40. ammonia is droping from 5ppm to nothing in 8 ish hours

The question is........

once every thing is down to 0 how long before i can stock the tank and to what level ???

btw its juwel rio 180 with standard filter and heater combo

 

[JamieBailie]

Stock straight away or else the bacteria will die. Once it's fully cycled, and if you can't add fish for a few days, Keep feeding the bacteria with ammonia.

 

[flash22]

I thought as much thanks. ive just read so much over the last month or so my head is spinning

re. stocking levels not sure wether to stock 50-75% or 90-100% just concerned about the inital bioload "shocking" the tank/bacteria

think i am going along the lines of 2 small plecs (king tiger, brisslenose or maybe a butterfly plec) 2-3 clown loaches not sure on the rest yet depending on the remaining tank space. iirc 1" of fish per gallon ??? is that uk or us gallon ???

 

[JamieBailie]

I've seen people saying you can fully stock when its cycled, But I've never done that. It wouldn't be fair on the fish to fully stock it straight away I think, Would be quite stressfull traveling home from the shop alone.

What size is your tank as clown loaches grow very big very quickly They also need to be in groups of 5 (A recommended minimum)
I've never kept them, So can't say more than that!

I've always wondered if it's in US or UK gallons too, No idea! My tank is always understocked though

 

[flash22]

rio 180 is near the 40 gallons mark but its more like 36 with the substrate and stuff in. been reading and loaches can get to 6"+ so not to sure. Anyway i have plenty of time to research some more

 

[JamieBailie]

You should have a read of this: http/www.loaches.com/species-index/clown...ia-macracanthus

THEY CAN GROW TO 16 INCHES!!!!

Alough obviously they won't grow that large in a small aquarium, Their growth will be stunted but the internal organs continue to grow, Meaning they almost explode themselves (That's all I know about stunting fish, It's probably not exactly like that)

 

[flash22]

i just did a google and come up with that myself hurrm i think i will give them a miss them well untill i get a bigger tank. there so much misinformation on the net tho


edit. i may go for the smaller yo-yo loach http/www.loaches.com/species-index/botia-almorhae looks a better fish for my size of tank

 

[JamieBailie]

They are nice! But they are semi-aggressive from what i've read, So not great for a community tank, But you might get away with it as some can be peaceful. I've had semi-aggressive fish in with guppies and other peacefull fish and it's been fine, Just give him plenty of hiding places



EDIT: I've just read a few more sites and they say it's fine in a community tank.... Proves what you said eariler about misinformation lol!

I think they are the loaches you see in most tanks in fish shops along with community fish to clean the tanks, Alough i'm not sure as i'm not really into loaches