kissing gouramis, dwarf gouramis, and bettas
- Thread starter usacutie81
- Start date
Alot of tetras are hardy. What kind were you thinking about getting? Harlequin rasboras are also hardy. I don't think I'd use dwarf gouramis to cycle the tank. I'd add them later on when the tank is fully cycled.
Its good to come up with a rough stocking list before you get the tank started. Then you can queak it along the way, but have an idea of what direction you are going in.
Also, like mentioned before, if you didn't add an ammonia source (fish, pure ammonia, fish food) when you added the established gravel, then the bacteria most likely died off. They need food to eat which is the ammonia source. How long has the gravel been in the new tank? A day or so may not hurt but more than that and its probably died off.
Its good to come up with a rough stocking list before you get the tank started. Then you can queak it along the way, but have an idea of what direction you are going in.
Also, like mentioned before, if you didn't add an ammonia source (fish, pure ammonia, fish food) when you added the established gravel, then the bacteria most likely died off. They need food to eat which is the ammonia source. How long has the gravel been in the new tank? A day or so may not hurt but more than that and its probably died off.
Alrighty, here's the update. Went to the lfs and the guy agreed, cardinal tetras are woosies and would prolly die during a cycle. So we got rosy barbs instead. They're alright, but I'm prolly giving them away once we have all our other fish. On the other hand we also got 2 blue lobsters and they are soooo cool! One of them only has one claw (which the lfs guy insisted will grow back) and we're calling him Uno. He's already staking out territory, it's pretty neat.
The ammonia is already climbing, haven't checked the nitrites yet. When do I do my first water change? I was gonna research it at work today (I have an awesome step-by-step book) but figured I'd ask you guys as well. That's the next step, right? Water change once the nitrites get too high? Until the ammonia gets back down to 0, then I get to add more fish?
The ammonia is already climbing, haven't checked the nitrites yet. When do I do my first water change? I was gonna research it at work today (I have an awesome step-by-step book) but figured I'd ask you guys as well. That's the next step, right? Water change once the nitrites get too high? Until the ammonia gets back down to 0, then I get to add more fish?
Free Image and Video Hosting - Photo Image Hosting Site : Photobucket.com
Click that link and sign up for an account. It will show you how to upload pics and it provides the IMG code for you at the bottom of the pic so you can just copy and paste it into the message body.
Click that link and sign up for an account. It will show you how to upload pics and it provides the IMG code for you at the bottom of the pic so you can just copy and paste it into the message body.
You probably won't have to worry about nitrites for at the very least a week, the ammonia will spike first. Watch the ammonia levels, and as soon as they start going up, do your first water change. Your goal at this point is to keep the fish alive with low enough ammonia levels that they can survive. Watch the ammonia, I'd say as soon as it starts registering on your indicator, do your first water change.
Alrighty, here's our lobsters First we have the one with only one claw, aka, Uno. Don't feel sorry for him, though, we think he's a bully.
And next we have poor little Flipper, who shed his skin the first night we got him home. Don't know if that's good or bad, but Uno is chasing him around the tank, as you can see since the only pic I could get was him clinging to this plant.
BTW, thanks to Nealio for showing me how to upload the pics, I will be forever grateful*twirlysmi
First we have the one with only one claw, aka, Uno. Don't feel sorry for him, though, we think he's a bully.
And next we have poor little Flipper, who shed his skin the first night we got him home. Don't know if that's good or bad, but Uno is chasing him around the tank, as you can see since the only pic I could get was him clinging to this plant.
BTW, thanks to Nealio for showing me how to upload the pics, I will be forever grateful*twirlysmi
Okay so we ran the tank for a week, then we got 3 rosy barbs and 2 blue crayfish. We've had them for almost 2 weeks and now I'm wondering if it's too soon to get my dwarf gouramis? I know the tank prolly isn't fully cycled, but I was hoping to give away the barbs and get my first 2 dwarfs and the first 3 cardinal tetras. Is it too soon? Should I wait?
I don't know what "Prime" is, but I suspect that it might not be helping your tank to cycle.
This is coming a bit late, but you might want to get the book:
A Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums
It gives a very good description of the Nitrogen cycle in almost plain english. It also explains that dumping chemicals into your tank that claim to rid it of Ammonia or whatever serves only to mask the real problem in your tank and how they could increase the stress to your fish. It is quite a good read, and I highly recommend it.
I am just starting out too, but by educating myself here, and with this book, I hope to avoid many of the pitfalls that beginners fall into.
I will have to admit though, it was hard to wait for my first tank to cycle before putting any fish in.
This is coming a bit late, but you might want to get the book:
A Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums
It gives a very good description of the Nitrogen cycle in almost plain english. It also explains that dumping chemicals into your tank that claim to rid it of Ammonia or whatever serves only to mask the real problem in your tank and how they could increase the stress to your fish. It is quite a good read, and I highly recommend it.
I am just starting out too, but by educating myself here, and with this book, I hope to avoid many of the pitfalls that beginners fall into.
I will have to admit though, it was hard to wait for my first tank to cycle before putting any fish in.
Well prime is just going to treat your tap water. You could use it to try to get rid of nitrites in emergencies, but I think it’s better to just keep up with regular water changes and keep an eye on levels. Adding chemicals to your tank isn’t a good idea unless you need to treat sick fish or de-chlorinate tap water.
As for the reason not to add the fish right away; you just started a cycle, a cycle meaning that one substance is going to live off another substance, and so on. This is a three stage cycle. Right now what you are trying to do is get the ammonia to a high enough level so nitrites will start to break them down. When your ammonia level starts to decrease by its self, the nitrite level will increase. Once that begins the nitrites will start to be eaten by the beneficial bacteria a will cause nitrates which is the less toxic to fish. Once all of this has finished your tank has now been cycled, meaning your tank has a fully functional bacterial colony that will help filter the excess waste of your fish.
Why not to add fish quickly? It will increase the bio load on your tank. This will cause your ammonia levels to spike first, then your nitrite levels. When adding more bio waste into your tank without the beneficial bacteria to devour it, it starts to decompose adding to the toxic levels of your tank, some fish are hardy enough to be able to live thru it, some fish aren’t. Even though your tank might seem like its fine, adding two or four fish could really screw up the cycle process and prolong it. I’m telling you this from experience it’s better to wait to add fish, rather than to watch a tank with cloudy white water for three to six weeks.
As for the reason not to add the fish right away; you just started a cycle, a cycle meaning that one substance is going to live off another substance, and so on. This is a three stage cycle. Right now what you are trying to do is get the ammonia to a high enough level so nitrites will start to break them down. When your ammonia level starts to decrease by its self, the nitrite level will increase. Once that begins the nitrites will start to be eaten by the beneficial bacteria a will cause nitrates which is the less toxic to fish. Once all of this has finished your tank has now been cycled, meaning your tank has a fully functional bacterial colony that will help filter the excess waste of your fish.
Why not to add fish quickly? It will increase the bio load on your tank. This will cause your ammonia levels to spike first, then your nitrite levels. When adding more bio waste into your tank without the beneficial bacteria to devour it, it starts to decompose adding to the toxic levels of your tank, some fish are hardy enough to be able to live thru it, some fish aren’t. Even though your tank might seem like its fine, adding two or four fish could really screw up the cycle process and prolong it. I’m telling you this from experience it’s better to wait to add fish, rather than to watch a tank with cloudy white water for three to six weeks.
correct. I have heard that you can get false positives with nitrAte levels, but not nitrite.
Stocking more fish right now will spike the ammonia levels. You have a pretty large tank, you might be able to get away with it, but its up to you. If you add more fish there is a good chance that you will spike the ammonia levels, There is a good chance for white cloudy water, and there is a good chance if you got a dwarf gornami it could die from the stress. I added 6 Pricilla tetras in my tank during the cycle process and that is exactly what happened (besides the dead fish). I cycled with the 6 tetra and 2 goldies and I had white water for about 5 weeks.
If you REALLY want to add some fish what you can try to do is do a 25% water change and see if that drops your ammonia down to 0.00 and then add Bio-Spira to the water. It is supposed to work like an instant cycle. I used stress-zime and I didn’t really see a difference in the speed of the cycle, but Bio-Spira is supposed to work differently. You can find some of that HERE
If you do plan to use some, make sure you ammoina levels are 0 before you do or it will just kill the benificial bacteria
Stocking more fish right now will spike the ammonia levels. You have a pretty large tank, you might be able to get away with it, but its up to you. If you add more fish there is a good chance that you will spike the ammonia levels, There is a good chance for white cloudy water, and there is a good chance if you got a dwarf gornami it could die from the stress. I added 6 Pricilla tetras in my tank during the cycle process and that is exactly what happened (besides the dead fish). I cycled with the 6 tetra and 2 goldies and I had white water for about 5 weeks.
If you REALLY want to add some fish what you can try to do is do a 25% water change and see if that drops your ammonia down to 0.00 and then add Bio-Spira to the water. It is supposed to work like an instant cycle. I used stress-zime and I didn’t really see a difference in the speed of the cycle, but Bio-Spira is supposed to work differently. You can find some of that HERE
If you do plan to use some, make sure you ammoina levels are 0 before you do or it will just kill the benificial bacteria