Stocking Tank

[redevilman]

Can anyone give me some advice on these fish for a newly cycled tank they are the black finned tetras also known as black widow tetras and the bleeding heart tetras my local LFS has plenty of both in stock and look in good condition their water is pretty much the same as mine

i am looking at stocking my tank over time and these are the fish i would like.

zebra danios. How many?
cherry barbs or black widow tetras or bleeding heart tetras. How many?
and can someone recommend a good cory. How many?

API MASTER TEST KIT
tap water stats

ph 7.8
nitrates 20-40mg/l
kh 10 dkh = 179ppm
gh12 dkh= 214.8ppm


my tank holds 75/L
ph 7.6
ammonia0mg/l
nitrites 0mg/l
nitrates 80mg/l-100mg/l will be doing a water change before i go get my fish
kh doesnt turn blue at all so not sure whats going on here would be gratful for some advice.
gh 12 dkh=214.8ppm

 

[rabbut]

zebra danios. How many

6 minimum

cherry barbs or black widow tetras or bleeding heart tetras. How many

Six minimum for everything but the rosy barbs that need a trio or more. Aim for one male to two females, or a group of all male or female.

and can someone recommend a good cory. How many

For that sized tank, any dwarf corry (pygmy e.t.c) should be fine. Need a group of 6+

I vaguly remenber that you are just finishing a fishless cycle? Correct? If so, you want to stock to 1 inch per gallon off the bat, or you basically wasted your time waiting so long. If you planned to stock only a few at the start, you could have been cycled long ago using less ammonia to cycle the tank. 5ppm ammonia dropping in under 12 hours is something a tank stocked to 3 inches per gallon with very messy fish would need to do, so it is designed to allow you to fully stock after the cycle. I'd mebe add;

6 Zebora Danios
6 Black Widows or 6 Bleeding Hearts or 4 Cherry barbs. Note, the Black Widows are very nippy and will limit future stocking. I have never kept bleeding hearts, and I hear mixed reports about their agressiveness. Untill another member comes along, I'd assume that they have the same level of agression as the Black Widows. Cherry barbs have long fins and will get nipped by anything nippy.

Then after 6 months, to allow the tank to mature, I'd mebe add a group of 6 dwarf corry. This would bring you to an eventual stocking of 1.5 inches per gallon, which, so long as you keep on top of maintanance, would be easily managable

HTH
Rabbut

 

[redevilman]

RABBUT Could you give me some advice on my kh in my tank. My tap water kh is 10dkh couple of weeks ago it was 8dkh but my tank water goes straight to yellow were as my tap water goes blue then yellow after 10 drops

 

[rabbut]

KH is the buffering capasity of the water. As acidic chemicals are added to the tank, it bonds with them, holding the pH stable, thus KH reduces with time. Nitrate is acidic, so the "missing" KH is bonded to that

Levels in tap water will vary according to how long it has been since it last rained. Rain water dilutes the KH and GH, which then build up again as the source flows over limestone and other rocks

HTH
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

The KH test is saying that your KH is 0 to 1, extremely soft. That's very odd since your pH has not crashed (tap pH=7.8 and only dropped to 7.6 during fishless cycling, right?) And also odd because your tap water KH is so high (KH=10 for tap water, right? If so, that's quite high and it would take a lot even for fishless to bring that down to zero I would think.)

 

[rabbut]

I see what Waterdrop and yourself mean now..... very strange. Is that as high as you nitrate test kit measures? Try doubling the sample, add the drops and measure the KH, then half the value

I'd 90-100% waterchange, and monitor it over a few days... It could be that the KH was lower out of the tap when you started the cycle, and has since risen, making it apear that KH in the tank has dropped considerable....

All the best
Rabbut

 

[redevilman]

Will do a large water change. my nitrate test goes up to 160mg/l but mine is just a shade darker than the 80mg/l i have recently changed my substrate to playsand and i also added a small piece of bogwood would this have any effect on the kh

 

[rabbut]

Bog wood will drop the KH, but not anywhere neer that much..... Unless you tank looks more like a giant cup of tea...

 

[redevilman]

The tank is as clear as day i boiled the bogwood and left it in a bucket of water for a week

 

[rabbut]

so not very then....

 

[redevilman]

Just done a ph test its at 7.4 in the ph high test and around 7.2 in the ph test
just to confirm rabbut it did rain alot yesterday

 

[redevilman]

I done a 80% water change stats are back to normal well normal as can be
topped of with ammonia again not sure if i should of.

tank stats
ph 7.8
kh 9dkh
nitrates still high 40-80mg/l

 

[rabbut]

aye, you wanted to add ammonia. What are nitrate's out of the tap? Also, what test kit are you using?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[redevilman]

I am using API master kit and tap water nitrates are between 20-40mg/l

 

[rabbut]

Looking good for now. Update us on pH and hardness after a week

All the best
Rabbut