10 G cycling

[TheFighterFish]

I just finished setting up my 10 gallon (20' l) this past tuesday. As Froggy Fox told me to do, I put in some filter mediums from my old 5 gallon. This included the wool and activated carbon. I also have driftwood in the tank which gives the water a bit yellow coloration. I checked my parameters this morning it was:

PH: around 6.5
Alk: 100 ppm
Hard: 200 ppm
Nitrite: 0.5
NItrate: 20

However, this morning I decided to put in my male swordtail to see how he would do in the new tank. When I put him in, he was gulping for air and his gills were moving really quick. Worried, I put him back in my safe 5 gallon. I was wondering if there is a problem or if it was just he was tired from running away from my net. I'm really scared to put any fish in the 10 gallon since its so new. I think I'll do a water change today.

Any suggestions on the stocking of fish? Eventually, I want to move every fish I have other than the pregnant platy into the 10 G.

 

[homebunnyj]

How do you have a nitrite reading if you have no fish in there, I wonder? Hmmm. Interesting. And, I think that putting the filter media and such over there works just like adding biospira, you have to feed the bacteria to keep them alive; because if you let a tank sit empty for a while-- I'm not sure how long-- you have to cycle it or seed it again. Just to be safe, I'd do the water change, add some fish, and swish the filter media from the five in it, or if you only have new media in your established tank, transfer some gravel or ornaments, or something, from your established tank to the new one at the time you add the fish.
I suppose the ph is close to the same in both tanks? And you had no ammonia reading in the new tank? (Just wondering, since there was nitrite.)

 

[TheFighterFish]

The old filter material is in the new tank. I even put some rocks that were from the old tank. That's why the readings are so. I don't have an ammonia tester, but you're probably right.

PH from the old tank almost always reads 6.8

 

[homebunnyj]

Well, transfer whatever you can at the time that you transfer some fish... of course, after a water change. Your swordtail's behavior sounded like a reaction to ammonia to me.
You really need to go get an ammonia test pronto. Whenever you set up a new tank, ammonia is the thing that will do your fish in first.

 

[TheFighterFish]

The reaction, I figured out is not a reaction to ammonia, it was a reaction from being out of the water for a few seconds. I transferred my un-pregnant platy to the 10 G and it too was gasping with its gills largely flapping. But after 5-10 min their breathing is normal. Right now I have the swordtail and a platy in the 10 G.

Thanks homebunnyj, I'll get a ammonia test kit soon.

 

[jumpfreak26]

Good luck with your tank! And i hope none of your fish die, and you do need an ammonia kit, in the tim ebeing, just do 10% daily water changes to keep things safe, i cant wait to see your tank on Rate my tank! You should start a journal too.

 

[TheFighterFish]

Cool thanks jumpfreak26. I really hope none of my fish die either. I'm planning to get some neon tetras and maybe a lace gourami as space permits. But then again, I should be saving space for the upcoming platy/swordtail fry.

I wouldn't consider my new setup RMT worthy, so I'm just gonna post a couple here, for fun.

Here's a corycat resting on the driftwood.

And here's the pregnant platy waiting to give birth (I can't take much more suspense!!!!)

 

[TheFighterFish]

Enjoy the pics. I want some fry already!!!

 

[TheFighterFish]

re-stock

Well, I finally found some fry and they now have their own tank. Although I have only 3, I'm quite proud. *thumbsup2

However, I've been thinking about my current adult fish. If I continue to have male swordtail and female platies in the same tank, I'll keep getting fry. Then, either I'll have to buy more tanks, or let them die.

So I was thinking, why not restock?

Current fish in a 10 gallon (20x10):
male red swordtail
2 female high-fin platy (calico and coral)
2 corydoras aeneus (bronze)

I want to add:
at least 6 neon tetras
or
1 tri-spotted gourami
or
1 betta

Do you think I should leave things as it is with my current fish or go wild and buy more fish?

 

[GeraldTheMouse]

I would get some neons, to make it colorful, and wait a while til you get more fish.

 

[TheFighterFish]

the bottom section

One of my corycats died today. That leaves me with another option:

I was thinking about returning my cory to my lfs and find a different bottom feeder/scavenger.

I was think along the lines of Oto or maybe even an apple snail...

The only problem with snails is that I don't want it to overrun my 10 G like my 5 G.

 

[nighthawk17]

ok i have a 29 gallon tank i set up about 6 months ago when i set it up i bought 2 guppys 3 algae eaters and 6 glass fish at first i lost a fish a day till i was down to 2 glass fish and 1 guppy witch made me want to put the tank away but then i went out and bought 16 gold fish and 2 more guppys to repopulate my tank so i had a total of 3 guppys 16 goldfish and 2 glass fish when i bought the last set of fish i bought some dried fishtank plant bulbs 3 red and 3 green plants at first 2 of my goldfish died then my one of my femal guppys then 2 more goldfish so i started looking for a problum when i looked at the bulbs that didnt sink they were rotting so i took them out and that was about a week ago so i had 2 guppys 12 goldfish and 2 glassfish and just earlyer i took out my dead mail guppy so now i have a femail guppy 12 goldfish and 2 glass fish i bought a test kit for the tank and all the stuff i could test came out normal i just cant figure out why i keep losing fish andyone have any ideas or sugestions that may help couse i wanted to take the nasty goldfish out and buy 10 male guppys 20 femails and about 15 neon tetras i know it sounds like alot for the size of tank but the last time i had the tank set up i had bought 5 males and 10 femails and they reproduced so much that when i fed them if you looked through the top of the tank you couldnt see the bottom and never really lost any until i got the bright idea to buy an anglefish .... i just dont want to go down and spend $90 on guppys to watch them all die i wanted to know if there is anything i can do to get the tank beter so i can have a nice tank without the goldfish???

 

[davidmold]

nighthawk17, goldfish can grow to over 12 inches long if properly looked after, so you cannot keep them in a 29 gallon tank. You should take the goldfish back to the shop, or find someone with a big pond who can look after them.

This would leave you with 1 female guppie and 2 glass fish.

As for other fish, the best idea would be to just have a few fish, say 5 more guppies and maybe one more friend for the glass fish. Just concentrate on keeping those few fish alive for a couple of months, and when you have learned how to do that, then you could add more fish. Otherwise you will just kill all the fish you buy.

Fish are not all the same, they eachhave their own needs. You need to learn about them. In addition, you need to learn how to manage the water in your tank so it is healthy, and it is very hard to do with so many fish. Practice with the water test kit, and keeping doing water changes (up to 50% at a time as needed). I have set up a web page here

http://www.lanticmedia.com/aquariums

that will show you when you need to change the water depending on the results from your tests. Test every day, and be ready to change the water whenever you need to, and things will go much better.

 

[TheFighterFish]

Hey Nighthawk, try to use some puncutation signs. It's a bit hard to read your thread. haha.

On the goldfish, I've seen people have a mixture with some low temp. tropical fish, but it isn't a good idea to mix the two. It seems to me you don't want your goldfish. Like Davidmold said, take it back to your lfs.

Oh and with a 29 gallon, you can have a lot more than just 1 f. guppy and 2 glass fish. But until you learn to treat water properly, don't add too many fish at one time. Hope all goes well.

By the way, I ended up buy 2 more corys. Couldn't resist. It's so cool when they swim together. Happy fishing.