Cycling The Tank And Deciding On Fish

[BFG]

Hi all, I've just started cycling my tank using rdd1952's article from his sig.

I'm just trying to decide what to go for, and as I'm going to have a load of bacteria ready to process the ammonia, whether I stock the tank fairly well to begin with.

I would like a community, peaceful tank, and as I can't forsee getting another tank in the near future, I don't want to overstock / keep rehoming fry.

I've got a Juwel Rio 180 (180 litre / 40 gallon) and I'm considering getting a secondary filter, but haven't decided yet.

I'm looking at:
4ish corys (peppered or bronze - not a mixture of the 2)
6ish guppys (all male / all female?)
6ish platys (all male / all female?)
6ish tetras
and a partridge in a pear tree... ... I mean a bristlenose catfish (male so that it's smaller)

As far as I'm aware, non of these fish should go above 5 or 6". Is this right? (Just concerned about the catfish)

If the tank is fully cycled (I'm willing to be as patient as necessary, so I'm not in any hurry) can I introduce them into the tank within a short space of each other, and if so, how short?

I've also noticed at my LFS they advise only introducing corys to an established tank. Is this due to the cycle, and that they're sensitive to this (which I will have hopefully been through) or due to something else.

Apologies for all the questions, but I want to get this sorted before I bring any fish home!!

Cheers,

Andy.

 

[rdd1952]

Hi Andy, I hope the article on cycling works for you. I don't see a problem wiht your stocking list other than you are going to have lots of fry to deal with unless you just let nature take it's course and let the other fish eat them. From a compatibility standpoint they will be fine together. As for sixe, nothing there really get over about 2 to 3 inches so you're ok there too.

Once the tank is cycled, you should be able to add all of your fish at once. You should definitely have enough bacteria to handle the bioload. If you don't add them all pretty quickly after cycling is done, your bacteria will start to die off from lack of food. So start with at least 75% of the load. As for the corys, you are right. Some of them aren't very hardy and can't handle a cycling tank. They should be fine one the tank is cycled. If you have any questions about the corys you want. Check in the Catfish section or PM Inchworm. She is the resident cory expert.

 

[BFG]

Good to know I'm on the right lines - v. good info on tank cycling by the way

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The bristle will eventually grow to between 4 and 5 inches. The rest will stay about 3.5 or under. Most common livebearers spawn like rabbits so unless you get all males or very very young females, you will be overrun fast. Some folks say that there is no such thing and a non-pregnant fm livebearer what is old enough to spawn. most of them store the mael's sprem and wil have 4-6 spawns from one encounter- sometimes more. Corys are very sensative to ammonia and nitrites as are plecos.