Cycling, Plants, Driftwood.

[dredgy]

Yea I'm going to see how much of the cycled media I can cram into the filter. I have loaded the thing with fish food an the ammonia reading is 3ppm, so I'll give it time to shrink and then give a big clean and get going.

One question I have is that my filter contains many different types of media (these round black balls, charcoal and some white cylinders).I have replaced the white cylinders with the pebble-type cycled media, but would like to replace some more media if that was possible. The rest of the cycled media for the moment is suspended in my tank in the area with highest waterflow.

Thank you

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd pull the carbon next.

 

[dredgy]

Okay done. Ammonia has dropped quickly though some remains as do some nitrates. Nitrites are a perfect 0.

Going to do a water change and get out this gunky fish food which will inevitably be fun and then throw in a couple of whiptail catfish to start the tank off. I've run some stocking solutions through Aquadvisor and decided on the following fish:

• Rummynose Rasboras
• Melon Barbs
• Kuhli Loaches
• A Bristlenose Pleco
• Whiptail Catfish
• A mixture Cherry and Crystal Red Shrimp

Which will give me a nice community, and according to Aquadvisor I will be understocked and over-filtrated which is great. Unfortunately it also says the PH should be kept at around 6.4-6.8 and the temperature at a flat 24 degrees Celsius, which might be a bit of a problem. At the moment its the middle of summer in Australia, and my room temperate is about 26 degrees (which is also what my heater is set at, and the heater works well when I am running the aircon. The temperature barely wavers). My PH out of the tap is 6.9-7. So in both of these fields, I am just out of the requirements which is unfortunate. The fish will be able to live happily though won't they?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yes, the fish will be fine. First, the fish can acclimate to slightly different conditions than the "ideal". Second, as nitrates build up, the pH will drop slightly. You can also add some driftwood, and as the tannins are released into the water (as tannic acid) the pH will also lower a bit. Did you test your tap water after 24 hours just sitting out? Generally the pH will show up slightly different after sitting out 24 hours.


As far as your choice of fish... nice selection. Add them slowly and add the hardiest varieties first. Personally, I'd wait to add the BN until you have already have a nice supply of algae for the fish to eat. BTW, BN's require wood in the tank for their digestion. Mine LOVES to sit under a big piece of driftwood that I have sitting on the substrate (sand). In fact, he's dug out a cavern under there for himself and just hangs out there for most of the day. I see him when I feed the tank in the evenings, but not much other than that. I know he's around because there's NO algae in my tank, anywhere. Before I got him, I'd have a few patches build up on the glass at times, especially in the one corner that gets about an hour of direct sunlight during parts of the year. But, since he's been added. ZERO! I feed him algae wafer regularly. He's a bit territorial about his food, and chases the other fish away, but I wouldn't qualify it as aggressive. The other fish just move away and then come right back after he's distracted eating. ;-)

The temp is also not that overly important. 2 degrees for a portion of the year being a bit higher is natural. In nature, the temp of the water these fish live in can fluctuate a bit. Mine love a nice cold water addition to the tank during water changes. I don't add it quickly, but I don't worry about the temp of the water when I add it. I have the heater fully submerged and just slowly trickle the water in via a hose connected to the kitchen sink. The temp is normally 74F, or 23C, but during water changes the temp will drop as low as 66F or 19C. The fish LOVE it. They hang out in the fresh water as it is running into the tank, and generally my cories will get very active and start spawning afterwards.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

BTW, the nitrates will ALWAYS remain, and can only be removed by regular water changes. Keep the nitrates under 50 ppm, and everything should be fine.

 

[dredgy]

Thank you for your input, what would you recommend I put into the tank first? I was going to go with 2 Whiptails due to immediate availability (and probably shrimp as well). And then since I'm going on holiday in a couple of weeks I would probably wait 8 weeks or so before putting anything else in. There will be someone in my apartment to feed them.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'm not as familiar with these fish as others, but I'd say the rasboras would probably be the best to start with. Beyond that, I'm not sure it matters. I would say that in general, adding inverts early is not a good idea. I'd add them after the 8 week delay. Start with the whiptails should be fine, I suppose. I never heard of them in a new startup tank, but if that's what you can get first, then that's where you start.

 

[dredgy]

Okay me again.

With the tank definitely cycled I have added my first few fish and plants. I am off on holiday soon so won't be able to look after the tank so started with some 10 neon tetras and 6 khuli loaches. The plants is a sword, a green rush and a few vals. I emptied the tank, gave everything a clean and refilled, let the fish slowly acclimatise and released them into the tank.

PH is also 6.5-7 which is great.

I haven't fed the fish today, and all I have is goldfish flakes, will that be alright for the tetras? The Khulis have all gone bananas over some of the (apparently dead) algae that I was unable to clean from the sand. What do they usually eat? The tank looks great and everyone seems to be happy and settled already.