Newbie Questions

[DanS]

I'm cycling my first tank (with fish ) but am being very careful with testing the water and water changes etc.

The tank is 60l and has been set up for 2 weeks with fish in for 1 week. I started with 3 platys, but one died less than a day after being put in (she wasn't right from being introduced) I have since put in another female, so am back to 3 platys. They all appear "happy" and are swimming around fine and eating well.

I've been testing water daily and have had no ammonia readings at all, Nitrite seems to be constantly at 0.1 and Nitrate at 10. So I should be seeing some change soon? I'm not being impatient and definately don't want to introduce any new fish until the time is right. So what should i be expecting with the readings? Does the consistent readings seem normal?

Ok, next question on which fish! As mentioned above I have 3xplatys (1 male, 2 female). I wanted to stock the rest of the tank with Corys and some marbled hatchet fish. Since i've been doing the tank maintenance, I'm having a change of heart about the hatchetfish because I think they'll jump out (i have a closed lid, but during all the water changes etc. it ends up being open for a while), so along with the corys and platys I've seen some lovely Dwarf Gouramis at a local fish shop so thought they may be suitable. So onto numbers......

I'm happy sticking with 3 platys. What number of the other fish would you recommend? How many of the dwarfs should be kept together? Alternatively, along with the platys and corys what fish would make a suitable tank "centre piece" if you know what I mean?

And all this is linked with the cycling question above, I want to wait till the time is right and then introduce the corys and then wait however long it takes before any others are added.

Thanks

Dan

 

[rdd1952]

How often have you been doing water changes? The ammonia and nitrite sound good for a cycle with fish. You don't want any nitrite but .1 isn't bad. Have you tested your tap water to see if you have nitrite or nitrate in it? Also, what chemicals are you using? Some of them remove ammonia and nitrite. While that protects the fish from harmful toxins, it also prevents the tank from cycling. Also, are you running anything like nitro-zorb or zeolite in your filter? Those also can remove ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

I've never had a fish jump while I was doing a water change. I'm not familiar with hatchet fish so I can't provide any feedback on them. Just keep in mind that with only about 18 gallons, you can't all a lot of fish. Probably about 8 to 10 total in the 2" range is really all you should have at least until the tank has been running a while. What type filter do you have? Extra filtration helps push the limit on stocking.

 

[DanS]

thanks for the reply. Here's the details....

Its a Tetratec EasyCrystal FiletrBox 300 that came with the 60l Tetra tank. My tap water does have a Nitrate reading - around 20-30. I haven't been using any chemicals other than the Tetra dechlorinator - Aquasafe and I've generally been doing a 10-20% water change every other day.

Yeah i was looking for about 10 fish, but i just want to make sure that I have the right number together - I wouldn't want one fish that likes company of its own kind etc.

 

[rdd1952]

The filter sounds like it will work but it is pretty much the minimum (assuming the 300 means the flow rate) as you need it to process the water at least 5 times per hour. If you have 20-30 ppm of nitrate in your tap water, I'm wondering why it isn't at least that high in the tank as the ony way to remove nitrates (other that with the chemicals I mentioned) is with water changes so you should always have at least what is in the tap water. I guess the other question I should have asked is are your test kit liquid or strips? Strips can be very inaccurate.

Most community fish do prefer company. Since they are small, they generally school. I don't keep gouramis or hatchet fish so I'm not familiar with their preferences. I do know the corys would be better with at least 3.

 

[DanS]

Its the Nutrafin test kit (bottles not strips). I do have some strips as well and that doesn't show up any nitrite - which just goes to show their effectiveness!!

Yes, i didn't quite understand the nitrate reduction from tap to tank. Maybe i should test the tap water again to ensure i did it right. I do have live plants in there so that may explain it.

I do hope the filter is sufficient! It came in a pack with the tank so expected it to be the right one for the tank!

So i think i'll be fine with 3 platys, 3 corys and then maybe 3-4 others depending upon size. I'm very much looking forward to having the fully stocked tank!