Fish In Cycle Data

[cowboy507]

yeah, i just did a quick search on the net because i wasnt too sure so those are close but no cigar.
if you do want a shoal though, neons would be alright. as your tank matures and you become more comfortable with taking care of them you can extend the general rule to 1.5-2 inch of fish per gal.

and i am not too sure about the gourami i dont know to much about them, maybe post a pic and someone could id if they are male/female?

 

[mattlee]

have found out the gourami is a male. and rescued 2 albino buenos aries tetra yesterday from pets at home, they looked lonely and im a sucker so they came home with me......

 

[cowboy507]

yeah that can happen. ive done it once or twice.

 

[mattlee]

have taken the betta back as he wasnt getting on too well with the gouramis and it wasnt fair on them, also gave one of my gouramis away to try n make it a more peacefull tank........ added 3 platties instead.

 

[waterdrop]

You have at least one male dwarfG? Did you determine the sex of the other? Usually you can tell the sex with dwarf gouramis simply by looking at them, especially if you can see examples of both sexes at the same time to learn. The males are much more red and blue striped, whereas the females tend to have less emphasis of the color, although its there, but the silveryness is more prominant. The males often seem thinner side to side, more rectangular from side view a bit and generally sharper darker features overall, whereas the females seem fatter side to side, generally of a more rounded oval overall when looking from the side and are just more "roundy" and less rectangulary if you get my attempt at a description. The color difference and the bit of bulgy silvery stomach that's often seen on the females eventually become two things that often help you almost instantly identify the difference, in addition to the other things mentioned.

Its been many years since I bred any gouramis so I may be forgetting other helpful details...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mattlee]

i was told that they were both males by numerous people and 2 different lfs, but still was not convinced 100%. i have kept the orange/blue striped one and the other i gave away so problem solved now anyway. i have just tested my water with a higher ph test kit (api) and found out that my ph is now at 8.2 but the tap water is 7.2!!!!! does anyone know whats happening to my water ph?

 

[waterdrop]

pH will often go up when gases escape that have been in higher concentration due to being in the pipes.

 

[mattlee]

is this a problem or will the ph level be ok at about 8?

 

[waterdrop]

Most people would love to have pH 8 during cycling, 8.0 to 8.4 is optimal for bacterial growth.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mattlee]

my test results have not risen above 0 for ammonia or nitrite and my nitrate levels have not risen above 20, i did a 70% water change on sunday as the gravel needed a good clean and the nitrates were at 20 and they dropped to 5 after the change and today they are at 10 but i now have my quota for fish stock so i guess this is to be expected..... i dont know if i have even got a couple too many in there now as i keep getting told different quantities by different people!!!

in there now are -

4 x blue rams
2 x orange laser corys
1 x sterbai cory
1 x bandit cory
1 x polkadot loach
1 x dwarf gourami
3 x platties
2 x buenos aries tetra (looking to give these away as they are a bit too nippy)

just to remind you that my tank is a 90L aquaone ar620. what do you think? have i over done it or am i about right, bearing in mind the 2 tetras are to come out?
one of my lfs took tank measurements (24x17x14 wxhxd) and divided it by 12 or something and said i have a max of 34 inches of fish. which going by my max sizes told when purchased all my fish puts me about right but i have noticed different places stating varied sizes on max fish lengths so am getting confused again..... i am looking for a second tank maybe slightly smaller to put in the spare room and if i have too much in then i will swap some over when its bought and cycled.

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, you might be a tad over but I wouldn't sweat it, looks fine to me, especially since you've done a good job cycling and know a lot more about what you're doing now. Certainly keep an eye on the stats, perhaps at water changes and don't slack off on filter cleans. Maybe you could have a nice little "buenos" species tank with lots of plants in your other room... hey, you could put soil in there under the gravel and do a "Walstad" tank, lol.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mattlee]

please excuse my lack of knowledge but whats a walstad tank...? i was thinking of moving my corys and adding a couple more with a few guppies and a coule of shoals of small tetras of somekind/ similar. then adding a couple more polkadot loaches to my current tank to give him some friends as i think he is a bit lonely at the minute... although he does hang out with the corys sometimes i think i have got the bug for fish... how did this happen? i only set up the first tank for my daughter to look at now im hooked!!!!! as for the buenos tetra, they have calmed down a bit but do get wound up very easily and have a tendancy to snap out they are also greedy little buggers and eat most of the food......

 

[waterdrop]

walstad (from Diana Walstad's last name) is a low-tech planted tank with a 1 inch soil bottom substrate layer beneath an inch of gravel or sand. She actually likes to use the term NPT, natural planted tank. The soil is of a type that doesn't have organic fertilizers and the plants are added from the beginning, ideally a wide variety in pretty large numbers. Water is changed pretty often the first two or three months after which fish can begin to be introduced. The plants derive a greater amount of carbon because of the soil layer although not as much as if it were artificially introduced via fermentation or pressurized cylinders. Diana's book, The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium, is one of the few hobbyist books I've seen that is well documented with references.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

When she wrote her book, Diana Walstad was suggesting that a newly set up tank could have fish added the same day as the big planting. That is a trick that I have never tried but it was once her perspective. From what WD says, she may have learned since that it is not ideal. He has heard her speak since the book came out and I have not. All that I have to go by is her book and sometimes the plant forum that she is active on at another forum.