Frittercrittern
New Member
Hello!
I am cycling my first tank in forever, and I have a lot of questions and ideas for how it's going to go. Here's the current build:
- black diamond sand
- plastic rock cave hide
- rounded gravel rocks in the middle of the tank
- a larger zebra striped rock
- a medium fake green plant near the front of the tank
- a tall fake grass plant with orange flowers near the back
And of course, the lights, the heater, the filter, etc.! Last night I put in stability and prime and I've kept the light on for the whole night to hopefully help with bacteria growth, and surprisingly after doing two different types of tests, it seems to be cycled? I don't trust that at all, so I will probably wait a while longer before putting anything in there, but if it truly is cycled, that's impressive.
I plan on adding live plants scattered around the mid ground, and also have some sort of drift wood or spider wood. Live plants will probably include...wisteria, anubias. Maybe a sword if there's any cheap. Then I want at least one decoration that looks more human made as a fun touch! I may change it out depending on the holiday, such as a pumpkin for Halloween, something beachy for summer, etc. I think it may be a fun enrichment opportunity for them.
Finally, as far as what's going in the tank! I don't do many community fish, and I really love how friendly they are, so I plan on keeping a betta. They're just very good fish! Other options may include killifish or dwarf gourami, but it depends as I know some of them can get pretty big and I don't plan on upgrading this tank for a long while, if ever.
Other tank mates include a nerite snail or two, potentially shrimp, and otocinclus catfish. I have heard that otos can be kept in a ten gallon, put I want a more experienced opinion-- they're a schooling fish and I'd feel most comfortable getting at least six of them, but I don't know that they would do well in a ten gallon like people claim if there's that many, especially with other animals in the tank. My partner is really excited for them, though, and I also love how they are! They're very cute. If they'd do well in the tank, I'd love their company.
So, what do you all think? Here's the TL;DR:
1. Should I try getting at least the betta early to see how the tank's cycle holds up, since it seems to be level already and bettas have labyrinth lungs that would allow them to be able to tough out most cycling issues? Or should I just wait out the full week despite good readings? Either way, I would be waiting out the rest of the animals, I just want to know if I should test the cycle with the betta to see if the readings are actually going to stay good in the long run.
And
2. Should I go with the oto catfish, and if so, should I keep the school at 6? Or go down to 5-4? Additionally, I'd like to know if you think it would be overstocking to add in shrimp as well-- I love shrimp and was thinking of adding amanos in to really bring out the tank life, but with the otos and snail(s) I don't want to overwhelm the tank or stress any of them out.
Here's a picture of the tank so far. I also may have some questions about the filter system, but that will probably be for later on in the post. She's still a bit foggy from the sand settling.
I am cycling my first tank in forever, and I have a lot of questions and ideas for how it's going to go. Here's the current build:
- black diamond sand
- plastic rock cave hide
- rounded gravel rocks in the middle of the tank
- a larger zebra striped rock
- a medium fake green plant near the front of the tank
- a tall fake grass plant with orange flowers near the back
And of course, the lights, the heater, the filter, etc.! Last night I put in stability and prime and I've kept the light on for the whole night to hopefully help with bacteria growth, and surprisingly after doing two different types of tests, it seems to be cycled? I don't trust that at all, so I will probably wait a while longer before putting anything in there, but if it truly is cycled, that's impressive.
I plan on adding live plants scattered around the mid ground, and also have some sort of drift wood or spider wood. Live plants will probably include...wisteria, anubias. Maybe a sword if there's any cheap. Then I want at least one decoration that looks more human made as a fun touch! I may change it out depending on the holiday, such as a pumpkin for Halloween, something beachy for summer, etc. I think it may be a fun enrichment opportunity for them.
Finally, as far as what's going in the tank! I don't do many community fish, and I really love how friendly they are, so I plan on keeping a betta. They're just very good fish! Other options may include killifish or dwarf gourami, but it depends as I know some of them can get pretty big and I don't plan on upgrading this tank for a long while, if ever.
Other tank mates include a nerite snail or two, potentially shrimp, and otocinclus catfish. I have heard that otos can be kept in a ten gallon, put I want a more experienced opinion-- they're a schooling fish and I'd feel most comfortable getting at least six of them, but I don't know that they would do well in a ten gallon like people claim if there's that many, especially with other animals in the tank. My partner is really excited for them, though, and I also love how they are! They're very cute. If they'd do well in the tank, I'd love their company.
So, what do you all think? Here's the TL;DR:
1. Should I try getting at least the betta early to see how the tank's cycle holds up, since it seems to be level already and bettas have labyrinth lungs that would allow them to be able to tough out most cycling issues? Or should I just wait out the full week despite good readings? Either way, I would be waiting out the rest of the animals, I just want to know if I should test the cycle with the betta to see if the readings are actually going to stay good in the long run.
And
2. Should I go with the oto catfish, and if so, should I keep the school at 6? Or go down to 5-4? Additionally, I'd like to know if you think it would be overstocking to add in shrimp as well-- I love shrimp and was thinking of adding amanos in to really bring out the tank life, but with the otos and snail(s) I don't want to overwhelm the tank or stress any of them out.
Here's a picture of the tank so far. I also may have some questions about the filter system, but that will probably be for later on in the post. She's still a bit foggy from the sand settling.