Check out my post in the ER section if you need to know the backstory. http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=126862
My tank is 4 weeks old and after introducing 4 corys I am getting sudden tank die off. 3 corys, a betta, and a White Cloud in the past week. A co-worker is giving me a "I told you so". Basically, after I told him I added some corys he said they were going to die because my tank is too young and it doesn't matter that it has cycled. Yet I hear of people doing fishless cycling and putting an entire bioload in at once.
So I am confused. I read almost everywhere that you just add a few fish at a time, which is what I thought I was doing. Is fish death just a part of starting a new tank until the full bioload is established?
Is my coworker right? Does my tank need to establish something else besides the nitrogen cycle? Or could my tank not be done cycling? I started with a Betta and 5 White Clouds and watched the ammonia and nitrite levels rise and fall back to 0, though I never got any spikes like I hear about so often. I still get 0's on both readings. Nitrates have always been around 10-15 ppm.
Correct me if I'm wrong. I understand there might be a mini-cycle whenever you add more fish since more bacteria has to grow to compensate for the new load. In the 11 days I've had the corys I have never had an ammonia or nitrite reading.
I do have a few live plants too if that affects anything.
Thanks,
Karl
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=126862My tank is 4 weeks old and after introducing 4 corys I am getting sudden tank die off. 3 corys, a betta, and a White Cloud in the past week. A co-worker is giving me a "I told you so". Basically, after I told him I added some corys he said they were going to die because my tank is too young and it doesn't matter that it has cycled. Yet I hear of people doing fishless cycling and putting an entire bioload in at once.
So I am confused. I read almost everywhere that you just add a few fish at a time, which is what I thought I was doing. Is fish death just a part of starting a new tank until the full bioload is established?
Is my coworker right? Does my tank need to establish something else besides the nitrogen cycle? Or could my tank not be done cycling? I started with a Betta and 5 White Clouds and watched the ammonia and nitrite levels rise and fall back to 0, though I never got any spikes like I hear about so often. I still get 0's on both readings. Nitrates have always been around 10-15 ppm.
Correct me if I'm wrong. I understand there might be a mini-cycle whenever you add more fish since more bacteria has to grow to compensate for the new load. In the 11 days I've had the corys I have never had an ammonia or nitrite reading.
I do have a few live plants too if that affects anything.
Thanks,
Karl
