Which? Small Hardy Fish After First Cycle

[GARZX9R]

Hi all it's my first time on here, just about coming to the end of my fishless cycle, tests readings are just about what is recommended, the tank is only small, 18" long by 12" by 12", fluval 1 filter with sponge and carbon media, heated and air stone etc, what would you guys think would be good small hardy fish to start off with and how many, as i don't want to over populate it to quick so what bacteria that has formed can't cope and mini cycles are needed, the reason behind me wanting hardy fish is that i'm brand new to all this and if i get high readings again for some reason i don't want any fish to suffer, your help and views will be much appreciated, cheers stu

 

[london_kev]

Guppies are pretty hardy and inexpensive invade your not fully cycled. Try get them when thy are young babies or just one sex otherwise they breed Luke rabbits! Fast!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hi all it's my first time on here, just about coming to the end of my fishless cycle, tests readings are just about what is recommended, the tank is only small, 18" long by 12" by 12", fluval 1 filter with sponge and carbon media, heated and air stone etc, what would you guys think would be good small hardy fish to start off with and how many, as i don't want to over populate it to quick so what bacteria that has formed can't cope and mini cycles are needed, the reason behind me wanting hardy fish is that i'm brand new to all this and if i get high readings again for some reason i don't want any fish to suffer, your help and views will be much appreciated, cheers stu

What readings are you referring to, specifically?


If you have indeed completed a true "fishless cycle" as defined by the procedure in the link in my sig, then you shouldn't have to worry about adding "hardy" fish, nor overpopulating the tank too quick. If you have indeed been adding 4ppm ammonia daily and have been getting zero ammonia and nitrite readings for a full week (the qualifying week, as we call it here) then you should have no worry. There are some fish that do not cope well with an "immature" tank, but your tank shouldn't hit any mini-cycles, even if you added a full bioload at once, in theory.

 

[StandbySetting]

As you're probably aware 18*12*12" is quite small in terms of tank volume, I'd recommend members of the Boraras genus, not all are commonly available but they're pretty hardy, B.briggitae seems to be the most common at the moment. Hyphessobrycon amandae is a good hardy tetra too. Guppy's would be okay, but you'd need to keep all males to prevent over stocking your tank as live bearers can reproduce at an astonishing rate. Endlers might be better suited due to their smaller size again if you keep all males.

 

[Kwiddows]

The first fish I put in my new tank were 6 zebra danios, they are pretty hardy and constantly on the move so they add a lot of action to the tank. If the tank has already cycled and you want something small and colourful, how about a school of neon tetras?

 

[Miles_hot]

If the tank has completed the cycle (4ppm to double zero in 12 hours) it can cope with a very full bio load (i.e. about 1" of adult fish per USG) so will have no problems with a full load of young fish. Why let all those bacteria you've spent growing die back because they've only for 6 fish to feed them?

 

[GARZX9R]

Hi all thanks for the imput, i did indeed try the fishless cycle, and my ammonia and nitrite readings are now zero, the PH reading is around 7.0 though my nitrate readings are not much above zero, i've had these readings for about four days now and if everything was ok by the weekend which would be about ten days i was going to start intoducing some fish, i've also just bought some bog wood and have steeped it in water to get any tanning out, will adding this change my readings to a dangerous levels for fish or is adding bog wood normally ok. i intend to check my readings every week or so at first while adding fish at regular intervals, should i just do water changes depanding what levels i get or is it important to do regular water changes regardless, once again thanks for the help, i'm trying to learn fast.

 

[Louiseness]

i've also just bought some bog wood and have steeped it in water to get any tanning out, will adding this change my readings to a dangerous levels for fish or is adding bog wood normally ok.

Bog wood is usually fine. It may soften your water a little but you'll probably just notice it can turn your water yellow/brown. Harmless to fish.

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi all thanks for the imput, i did indeed try the fishless cycle, and my ammonia and nitrite readings are now zero, the PH reading is around 7.0 though my nitrate readings are not much above zero,

Have you been adding a source of ammonia?

i've had these readings for about four days now and if everything was ok by the weekend which would be about ten days[/i]

So, this tank's been set up for 10 days altogehter? Is that right?

i was going to start intoducing some fish,

I'm not sure that you've done a proper fishless cycle.
You could get fish now, but I think you'd be doing a fish-in cycle then. Please have a read of the articles on fish-in and fishless cycling in the beginner's resource centre (the link is in my sig), so you know exactly what cycling entails, as I'm not sure you've quite understood it.
A fishless cycle involves adding an ammonia source over a matter of weeks to build up a bacterial colony; just running the tank with no fish for 10 days will not be sufficient.
If you do decide to do fish in, then you should be very aware that this involves a lot of water changes and testing for you and you do run the risk of killing fish if you don't get it right.
Most people who've done fish-in cycles would recommend fishless; it's a lot safer and less stressful.

i've also just bought some bog wood and have steeped it in water to get any tanning out, will adding this change my readings to a dangerous levels for fish or is adding bog wood normally ok. i intend to check my readings every week or so at first while adding fish at regular intervals, should i just do water changes depanding what levels i get or is it important to do regular water changes regardless, once again thanks for the help, i'm trying to learn fast.

Adding bogwood is fine and safe for fish; in fact many fish, like tetras prefer the acidic, tannin stained water that bogwood produces as it replicates their natural enviroment.
If you had done a fishless cycle, you would not need to be worrying about your levels as you would know that you had enough bacteria to deal with the potential bioload, and you could add the entire stocking for your tank in one go if you wanted to.
If you do add fish now, then you would need to test every day for ammonia and nitrite (unless I'm mistaken and you have done a proper cycle) and if you get any reading at all, you need to do enough water changes to get it as near zero as humanly possible; certainly under 0.25ppm.
In a normal, cycled tank, regular water changes of between 30 and 60% weekly, depending on stocking. are normally enough.