My Tank Is Cycled, Now What?

[cegha]

Ok so i have had my tank up and running for a month now, i finally got everything cycled.

My ammonia is at 0, and so are nitrite and nitrate.

I want some small fish that i could put many of (mabye mix 2 different species that don't fight), in my 10 gallon tank.

I would also like to plant my tank. I currently hate my ugly blue rocks i got in there, and was thinking about getting a sand substrate for my tank.

Now i got to thinking, besides i got no idea how i would change out gravel to sand without killing off all the bacteria. How in the world do you add water into the tank, because any like water i would dump in the tank due to evaporation, would go down to the bottom and the like pressure from the water would hit the sand, and then the tank would get all cloudy as crap, then get sucked up into the filter and clog up the filter and waste your substrate.

So should i mabye get these kind of brown/tan rocks that i saw that might look ok, or is sand not as hard as im making it out to be?

Also how would i go about changing gravels without killing all my bacteria that i have built up?

Also i would have to goto my LFS (petsmart), and write down a list of the plants they have. They have this one that kind of look like a tall grass that was like a $1 i think.

Also how do you plant plants in the tank, like stick them in there, and cover there roots with substrate?

Also how does the lighting for plants work. I have 2 little i BELIEVE 25 watt lightbulbs (total of 50 watts). There just light bulbs though. Are there any special bulbs i need for plants?

 

[phonebox]

For small fish, neon tetra are active, colourful and small.

They like to be in groups of 6 or more. Also there are many other types of tetra that would look great in a small tank.
a school of about 4-6 albino/bronze corys are also a good addition

 

[littlelegs]

double check your nitrate readings, there never usually read at zero. Anything under 40 is ok.

 

[cegha]

i did all 3 tests, and they all came up zero.

I will run all 3 again real quick though.

Edit:

For small fish, neon tetra are active, colourful and small.

They like to be in groups of 6 or more. Also there are many other types of tetra that would look great in a small tank.
a school of about 4-6 albino/bronze corys are also a good addition

i like how cory's look, but wouldn't like 5 corys and 6-7 neon's be too many fish for a 10 gallon tank?

Edit 2: My nitrate seems to be around 5ppm.

 

[Glod]

Bronze/Albino corys are really too big for a 10 gallon they grow to a couple of inches each and since corys like to be in reasonably sized groups they would stock the tank on their own. I'd think the only way to get a large enough group of corys in 10g would be C. Pygmaeus (Pygmy Corys). A School of Neon or Cardinal Tetras looks nice in a planted tank. Other options would be Harlequin Rasboras which are a similar size and quite pretty.
Adding water to a sand based tank it's a case of pouring the water slowly, or placing a saucer or flat rock on the substrate and pouring onto that to try and minimise the disturbance.
Most of the beneficial bacteria are in your filter, changing the gravel should have a minimal effect, especially if you do it now before you finish your cycle and add fish.
If you do choose to go for sand make sure you rinse it thoroughly so it won't cloud the tank too badly, the sand should settle in an hour or two once you're done.

 

[littlelegs]

The only reason i ask is that you have to make sure you follow the instructions very carefully to test the nitrate. When i tested mine it kept coming up at 0, then another member kindly told me i may be doing the test wrong, and once i done is correctly the readings were coming up at around 40 max.

The guide is an inch per gallon for a fully grown fish (i believe( correct me if im wrong please.

 

[cegha]

The only reason i ask is that you have to make sure you follow the instructions very carefully to test the nitrate. When i tested mine it kept coming up at 0, then another member kindly told me i may be doing the test wrong, and once i done is correctly the readings were coming up at around 40 max.

The guide is an inch per gallon for a fully grown fish (i believe( correct me if im wrong please.

looking at the lil card on the back it shows
1. add 10 drops of bottle 1 to test water
2. add cap, and turn upiside down and vice versa a few times to mix up the water
3. shake bottle 2 for 30 secs
4. add 10 drops of bottle 2
5. mix for 1 min
6. let sit for 5 mins and compare to card.

thats what i did, and now i have 5 ppm.

 

[littlelegs]

That sounds right to me.

Have you also tested the water from your tap?

 

[cegha]

That sounds right to me.

Have you also tested the water from your tap?

what do you mean have i tested water from my tap?

Why would i need to test tap water out of my sink, and what would i be testing it for?

 

[xoedusk]

Were you doing water changes to keep the nitrates that low?

 

[zoekin8yg]

def test the tap water for all the levels, our tap water has 35ppm nitrate in already!

Have you added ammonia to the tank to make sure that the bacteria really are there?

 

[cegha]

Bronze/Albino corys are really too big for a 10 gallon they grow to a couple of inches each and since corys like to be in reasonably sized groups they would stock the tank on their own. I'd think the only way to get a large enough group of corys in 10g would be C. Pygmaeus (Pygmy Corys). A School of Neon or Cardinal Tetras looks nice in a planted tank. Other options would be Harlequin Rasboras which are a similar size and quite pretty.
Adding water to a sand based tank it's a case of pouring the water slowly, or placing a saucer or flat rock on the substrate and pouring onto that to try and minimise the disturbance.
Most of the beneficial bacteria are in your filter, changing the gravel should have a minimal effect, especially if you do it now before you finish your cycle and add fish.
If you do choose to go for sand make sure you rinse it thoroughly so it won't cloud the tank too badly, the sand should settle in an hour or two once you're done.

Can you mix neon and cardinal tetras? If so how many of each.

Ok, if i was to remove all the gravel out of my tank, and add sand, how exactly do i wash the sand in a bowl.

Then how i would i add it into the tank. You can't just dump it in or it's going to make a HUGE mess. Also how do i level it out, because trying to make it even with my hand will probably stir it all up.

def test the tap water for all the levels, our tap water has 35ppm nitrate in already!

Have you added ammonia to the tank to make sure that the bacteria really are there?

unfortunatly i didn't do a fishless cycle, i did a fish cycle.

I have had 4 tiger barbs living in there for a month, and they have all died (yes it happens with cycle fish). So i know that there was/is ammonia in there, and that it is established.

 

[zoekin8yg]

oh no poor fish

Add some ammonia or some fish food or something and monitor the levels to make sure the tank actually is cycled.

 

[cegha]

ok so i'll make sure that everything is completly cycled.

Now i need to decide what fish i will add.

I want something easy, small, schools, and that i can have quite a few of.

I would prefer to have like 2 species to make it look nicer, if not that's still fine.

What fish would you all reccommend that are in this branch.

 

[zoekin8yg]

yeah just best to make sure so that the poor things dont die!


Generally you can have one inch of fish per gallon, so small fish if you want a school. 6 is usually the minimum for a school