Fish in-tank cycle question...

[nealio]

What would be the highest you would want the ammonia to go when your cycling with fish in the tank while your cycling it. I'm using stress-zime and I have a penguin with a bio wheel from a cycled tank so I hope that helps, but if it does spike what would be the highest I would want it to go. And if it does go to the highest level, do I just add something like prime to the water to get it to drop?

Thanks

 

[FroggyFox]

I wouldn't let it go much above 1 or 2ppm, and if it goes above that you need to do a water change to get it to go back below the level you want it at. You might try buying some stabilize, made by hagen?? I've heard lots of good things about it and not many things great about stress zyme. Wouldn't hurt to use them together either.

 

[TheFighterFish]

I'm not sure what level ammonia you need the keep the water from reaching, but I do know that you should NOT add Prime or conditioners to lower your parameters. Instead, do a water change.

Also, in addition to ammonia, I think the Nitrite level is quite important as well.

 

[RISK2123]

it really depends on the fish. some can take a little more than others. sorry i dont read these forums everyday, what fish are in there? if u have some gravel from another tank that helps out ALOT in cutting down the time of cycling.

 

[nealio]

thanks guys!

It's at .050 ammonia and nitrite and nitrate are both at 0 still. I'm trying to get my hands on some Bio-Spira, but none of the LFS's have it out here.

 

[nealio]

Fish: two goldies, a molly, 6 tetra, and a sucker.

 

[TheFighterFish]

Two goldies=uh oh

a molly=up to 4 inches

6 tetras=kinda like saying 6 fish. What kind of tetras?

and a sucker=A Pleco (???)

What size tank do you have and what is your setup?

Edit: I just read your other thread. Your tetras look like a medium size (I can't ID it). The sucker you're refering to is some kind of algae eater. Your setup is a 29 G bowfront planted. It looks pretty nice actually.

 

[nealio]

lol yes my daugther brought home the goldies SOO I'm stuck with them.

The tetra are these little guys they are maybe a 1/4" and you can kinda see the molly on the right hand side of the pic:

Can anyone help me identify what kind of tetra these are?


The Molly is barley an inch, you can kinda see her here:

I think the name of the sucker is a siemese sucker fish? Hes a little guy right now, maybe 1.5" .

The tank is a 28G bowfront with a 30g pro-fin filter that came with the tank and a penguin 100 that I had on my 10G that was fully cycled. I kept the filter media and the bio wheel in the penguin, so hopefully that will help a bit. I can't use the rocks from the old tank because I switched colors, so it would look odd.

The ammonia has been under 1ppt for now, I just hope it stays that way.

 

[Seleya]

The tetras are Pristella tetras (Pristella maxillaries or riddlei) they're also referred to as X-ray tetras. If your "sucker" is a Siamese algae eater (not always easy to come by). you should be good -- if it's a Chinese algae eater, you're in for trouble as they get more aggressive as they mature.

The goldies really need a 30 of their own -- preferably a 30 long+. They can also be kept in all sorts of containers/stock tanks and other things which can actually be fun to work with. You may be able to find pond/water garden stuff quite cheaply this time of year if you wanted to go in that direction.

One thing you can do with 'seasoned' gravel which will not remain in your tank is stuff it into pantyhose or other, similar things. Then, you can just tie it off and drop the gravel in without having to sift it out later. Usually, with any seeding, you want to seed a surface for at least a month (this goes for filter media, transferred gravel or anything else you may wish to use when dealing with multiple tanks)

 

[micah2012]

If you do get Bio Spira do not add it to your tank if the ammonia is anything above .5 If it's above that you can do a bunch of water changes to get it down that low. Bio Spira is meant to be added at the same time as you add the fish, when the ammonia is 0. Anything higher than .5 would just kill the Bio Spira and it wouldn't even have a chance.

 

[nealio]

Great advice guys/gals, THANKS!

Yeah I'm planning on getting at least a 65g for the living room and keeping the goldies in that 28g tank. I really want to start a discus tank with the 65g+ so I want to learn more about the Discus before I throw the tetra and the molly's in there.

Would mollys and tetra's be ok in a tank with some discus?


oh and...
Why can't I stop buying fish stuff now!?!? My wife is going to kill me!!!

Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[FroggyFox]

Yep We fondly call it MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome)

 

[RISK2123]

yeah the tetras and mollies would be ok to stick in ur discus tank. just make sure when doing it you acclimate them really good because the ph will most likely be alot diff. i was reading another thread u made about ur ph dropping. with discus just make sure ur ph is steady before u stick them in because they are very sensitive to ph change. they can live in a variety of ph (although around 6.5 is ideal) just as long as its steady.

 

[nealio]

yeah the tetras and mollies would be ok to stick in ur discus tank. just make sure when doing it you acclimate them really good because the ph will most likely be alot diff. i was reading another thread u made about ur ph dropping. with discus just make sure ur ph is steady before u stick them in because they are very sensitive to ph change. they can live in a variety of ph (although around 6.5 is ideal) just as long as its steady.

Awsome thanks! I read that they should be in 50G+ tanks so I'm gona wait until I get the bigger tank and cycle it without fish this time. The only reason I moved them so soon into this tank was because they were sooo over populated in the 10G I had. (the LFS near my house told me I could have up to 15 fish in that 10g, could you imagine???)

I'm not spending $60 on a fish to have it die, I want to make sure its done 100% right this time

 

[RISK2123]

15 fish in a 10 ga??, uhhh. atleast u did research and figured out its not right. theres PLENTY of people that dont do research and stick that many fish in a small tank, then wonder y all thier fish died.

it depends what type of discus ur looking for but most stores are over priced and if u look around u can save alot of money. most discus are hybrids, which makes them cheaper by that fact alone. i picked up my snow whites, id say medium to small sized, for $30 each. but my snakeskin and other ones were around $20 each because they are basically hybrids. they are definately expensive fish, but if u dont look around u could end up paying over double the price. of course quality is a big issue also so i would get to know ur lfs guys/girls so u can see how thier tanks are being kept and if thier fish are in good condition. u can tell what stores care aobut the lives of fish and whichones are there just to fatten thier pockets. 65 g would be great for 5-6 discus. good luck, they are awesome fish. post soem pics when u decide to get it all setup.

 

[nealio]

I found this link today:

Locally-bred Discus frys for sale

$7 for a hybrid isn't bad in my book, Would I be able to keep them in my 28 gallon for a month or two after it has finished cycling? I was hoping to start with two.

I have a 10G and a 23G sitting out back right now, I was thinking about putting the goldies in the 23G and moving them to my daughters room or our bedroom, and putting the fry's in the 28G.. Is that a possibility?

 

[yav1n]

oh and...
Why can't I stop buying fish stuff now!?!? My wife is going to kill me!!!

Does anyone else have this problem?

I have often wondered if people who keep fish have a tendacy towards minor compulsion related to fish keeping. We should start a 12 step group I am yav1n and I cant stop buying fish

 

[RISK2123]

I found this link today:

Locally-bred Discus frys for sale

$7 for a hybrid isn't bad in my book, Would I be able to keep them in my 28 gallon for a month or two after it has finished cycling? I was hoping to start with two.

I have a 10G and a 23G sitting out back right now, I was thinking about putting the goldies in the 23G and moving them to my daughters room or our bedroom, and putting the fry's in the 28G.. Is that a possibility?

only problem id have getting them that small is u have no clue what the patterns will look like. even if u saw one with the exact same species parents each fry will look different. at that price its kinda hard to beat though. im sure folks will yell at me for saying its cool, but a 28g will be fine for 6 months or so. after that i would really suggest putting them in atleast a 55g. no matter what u read, discus are territorial and will fight with eachother, ALOT. i almost lost one of mine from constant chasing and nipping. thats y its best to save up money and buy all the discus u want all at once. that way they grow up together and u wont have to deal with the dominant male releasing aggression on new fish u add to the tank. however they are only aggressive towards thier own species so ur molly and tetra wont be bothered by them.

i think thats a good idea for those goldfish, i personally dont like goldfish because of the waste they produce and size they become but im sure ur daughter would love to have a tank in her room with the goldfish she picked out.

 

[nealio]

only problem id have getting them that small is u have no clue what the patterns will look like. even if u saw one with the exact same species parents each fry will look different. at that price its kinda hard to beat though. im sure folks will yell at me for saying its cool, but a 28g will be fine for 6 months or so. after that i would really suggest putting them in atleast a 55g. no matter what u read, discus are territorial and will fight with eachother, ALOT. i almost lost one of mine from constant chasing and nipping. thats y its best to save up money and buy all the discus u want all at once. that way they grow up together and u wont have to deal with the dominant male releasing aggression on new fish u add to the tank. however they are only aggressive towards thier own species so ur molly and tetra wont be bothered by them.

i think thats a good idea for those goldfish, i personally dont like goldfish because of the waste they produce and size they become but im sure ur daughter would love to have a tank in her room with the goldfish she picked out.

Would it be a better idea to just get one for the time being? The only reason I wanted to buy two is so they weren't lonely lol.

 

[RISK2123]

depends when ur gonna get that 65g. i would say 3 or so like u wanted would be fine for a while. they wont really start picking on eachother for a few months anyways. ive never bred discus but have read a little about it. i forget how llong the fry HAVE to stay with the parents (because they eat the mucas off of the parents) but just make sure that time period has passed and find out what this person has been feeding them. also find out what ph they are being kept in. being that small they are VERY sensitive to pretty much everything. u want to keep the conditions as close to the breeders as possible when putting them in ur new tank. u dont necessarily have to keep the ph at that level, because that can be a pain, but at first id try to keep things as close to "home" as u can. they are very active fish and alot of fun to watch. hope u enjoy!!