Doc7's Fishless Cycle - 20 Gallon

[Doc7]

here are fish i liked today at the store...no pygmy cories but i imagine they're like mini pandas which were pretty cool, i definitely like cory cats...he gets fish on fridays and usually stocks the pygmies...

Black Phantom Tetra

Panda Cories

Pictus Cat [Researched - off list due to tank reqs]

Cherry Barb

Dennison Barb

Ruby Red Pencil [aka Peruvian Red]

Ruby Scat [RESEARCHED - OFF THE LIST DUE TO TANK REQS]

Cory Punctatus

Cory Sterbaii

German Blue Ram

Bettas (male, female, like'em all)


I already know the basics such as that a betta male is best kept alone and if with other fish, not bettas, not fin-nippers, not fish he could see as threats, etc. Any suggestions or things I can immediately cross off because they need a mature tank, larger than a 20-High, etc? I didn't do other research on these fish yet but will read up on all of them shortly.


I also bought a black background so I will be changing out the coral reef one (what was i thinking! it's a freshwater tank!)

 

[Doc7]

pH was dropping so i did 2 consecutive 25% water changes to get it back up

 

[OldMan47]

Have a look at the scats they are offering. If I recall correctly, the ones that are common in the hobby require brackish water for good health as they mature. They are often offered as freshwater fish when they are juveniles though.
You should choose one of the cories that you like and get a fair sized group of that one kind. In my book, a tank can look just fine with nothing but a large group of a single cory species, but people do think I have funny ideas sometimes. Cories always do best if kept in groups of no less than 6 but do even better in groups of 20 or more. In your size tank, only the pygmies could be kept in such large numbers though. Avoid the panda cories and the GBRs in a newly cycled tank. Both are best in more mature settings. The phantom tetra and Betta splendens are not good tank mates. The tetras would tear the betta apart with their constant nipping.

 

[Doc7]

You're right about the Scats and I took them off the list.

Jeez it is overwhelming to try to decide. I really am interested in having cories for the tank and think maybe it would be best to have a separate betta tank later down the road [when my media is mature via 6 months of fishkeeping, it'll be useful to break off media to cycle new tanks and also to add the more sensitive types of fish]. I did all the work of adding sand so I don't want to back off on the cory idea.

I can't decide what type of cory and what other fish though! Maybe I do want a "medium size" fish after all such as a Dwarf Gourami sized fish that is compatible with the same flow, temperatures etc as cories. Additionally my pH of 8+ is unsettling for some of the gouramis I read about though.

 

[Doc7]

pH was starting to drop again and probably only a day or so from a crash so I did a down-to-substrate water change and re-dosed to 4 ppm. I'm still getting nitrites to 0 before the 24 hour test but not the 12 hour test.

 

[Doc7]

Here is the latest picture as I have swapped in a black background and taken out the ornament which was chipping paint and I didn't personally purchase it so not 100% confident on it's suitability for the aquarium. (removed it back when i swapped out the gravel)

When I did my down-to-substrate W/C today, i noticed that there was stuff on the air line and also on the heater, which i could rub off and then it floated around, i guess most of it settled or is now in the filter. Is this algae? Can I expect enough algae growth to be able to support one tiny pleco that stays small or is a 20G High not good for that? I don't actually really like plecos that much but I don't like the stuff I see on the hose, cords/heater and filter intake either! There is an extra picture attached of filter intake...not that I expect a fish could actually get up there to eat that stuff lol!





Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[OldMan47]

In a simple 20 gallon, you can expect to feed any pleco. The few that are suitable for a tank that small will do fine fed on regular fish food and algae wafers. The tanks I have that have my plecos get algae wafers every few days and I feed enough regular fish food that they get some left overs to eat every day. If you decide to get a pleco, be surer to research the species you intend to keep because many get far too large for even a 4 foot long tank. All plecos need some wood in their diet so a pleco also means adding at least one piece of decorative real wood to the tank.

 

[waterdrop]

Are your nitrites still looking pretty high at the 12 hour test? WD

 

[Doc7]

yes and the holidays have set back my ammonia eating rate as well. oh well i'll keep at it!!!! i am so looking forward to adding fish that i'm not even close to giving up this cycle plus it's kind of fun!

(excited because of NFL results today sorry for the exclamation points)

 

[waterdrop]

Doc7, I suspect the film you have seen come off your airlines (etc.) is whiteish/grayish looking and if so, it is a temporary thing that often happens to new tanks, especially during cycling and is variously described as bacterial biofilms or fungus of various types. Cleaning it regularly gets it mostly sucked up into the filter media and during the weeks/months after cycling it invariably just goes away, usually forever.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Doc7]

pH crash AGAIN. is it possible that frequent small water changes will prevent this?? I guess I'm going to do a 100% tonight while waiting for the lotto numbers...

 

[waterdrop]

You could dose baking soda at 2 teaspoons per 50L to stabilize that somewhat. Then of course you stop after the big water change, which takes the excess sodium out of the tank. I forget whether you have some reason for doing small water changes? Normally, partial water changes have no meaning during fishless cycling, basically might as well get your full worth out of dragging out the gear and change it all the way down to the substrate. That way you get rid of the most of the substances that are messing things up towards the end of cycling.

WD

 

[Doc7]

OK. Just annoying that i've had to do 3 100% water changes so far

 

[Doc7]

I am now on Day 59 of cycling.......................i'm getting 0s at 24 hours but not at 12.

Is it ever OK to put in a small load of fish (such as, half-a-school of cories) with which the biological filter should be more than capable of handling at this point, and then slowly adding fish every week or 2 after that, once we get to this stage??

 

[Skins]

I am now on Day 59 of cycling.......................i'm getting 0s at 24 hours but not at 12.

Is it ever OK to put in a small load of fish (such as, half-a-school of cories) with which the biological filter should be more than capable of handling at this point, and then slowly adding fish every week or 2 after that, once we get to this stage??

Hello Doc7,
What are your water parameters at the 12hr test?

Keith.