New fluval edge - need cycling & stocking suggestions

[Newman]

also note that if you like Dario dario, you can probably have one male and around 4 females in here. thats in addition to the 5 cherry shrimp. your stocking will be at a very comfortable less than 70% which means your system would remain rather clean and wont need large water changes weekly.
so if you want to consider Scarlet badis over chili rasbora, I think OrangeCones might agree that they will also be a good candidate.

 

[OrangeCones]

Good luck even finding female Dario dario, but a 1M to 4F ratio would be good. I wouldn't put two males in that size tank. If they are wild-caught, they are not known to take commertial foods at first, so be prepared with live foods and a slow acclimation to captivity. If you can find captive-bred, they should hit on flakes and frozen foods (check with the breeder).

As for the Chili Rasbora getting 1.5 inches! I've kept/bred them for years, and I've only seen one (a female) get over 1inch long. Most stay 3/4 inch. Whether wild-caught or captive-bred, they seem to eat about anything offered.

 

[Newman]

all this fluval edge talk has got me thinking of someday having my own haha! I'll make a thread about it.

 

[OrangeCones]

I'd like one as well, but would put a colony of Indostomus crocodilus in it *BOUNCINGS

 

[Alex2290]

Looks like my tank is going through a bacterial bloom. Blargh. The particles are annoying me.

 

[Newman]

what particles? what baterial bloom? you mean white cloudy water?

 

[Alex2290]

what particles? what baterial bloom? you mean white cloudy water?

Very fine white particles floating around in the water. I've read that it is common when starting up a tank.

 

[Newman]

could be anything, just keep taking care of the tank like you normally do.

 

[Alex2290]

could be anything, just keep taking care of the tank like you normally do.

Well it's only been a week or so, so... Lol I've only done a couple water changes (I rinsed out my gravel for like half an hour before I put it in the tank and it STILL had a bunch of crap in it. Only a gravel pump gets it out...).

Well, I started with like 7 ghost shrimp, I'm down to 2. Fail. I'm not too worried about it, though. I didn't really expect them to thrive.

 

[Newman]

are you cycling with them?

 

[Alex2290]

are you cycling with them?

Yeah. It couldn't hurt, right?

 

[Newman]

certainly hurts them, but i can see you dont care. are you testing the water now?

 

[Alex2290]

certainly hurts them, but i can see you dont care. are you testing the water now?

It's only a few ghost shrimp. They would have been food, otherwise. Hey, I was rooting for them, though.

I was planning on testing the water regularly starting tomorrow.

 

[Newman]

good call on testing

 

[Alex2290]

I finally bought the API freshwater master test kit today and I tested my water earlier. Results:

PH 7.9ish
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate between 0 and 5 ppm. The color was closer to 0, but I may have just shook the water too long before I looked at the result.


What's the best way to lower PH to 7.0-ish quickly? I have no fish in the tank yet, but expecting 12 red cherry shrimp on Monday. I actually may put a few amano shrimp in there tomorrow or the next day, though, since my LFS is trying to get rid of them at $2 each. They're so tiny, though....

 

[Newman]

ok so youre cycled it seems. what do you want to do next?

 

[Alex2290]

I wanna lower the PH I was working late tonight and I forgot to buy some stuff to do that before the registers closed.


Do those products that stabilize the PH to 7.0 work? I can get a little bottle of the powder stuff that says it treats up to 50 gallons, and it seems like a good deal. I do not remember the name of it.


Also: advise please. How much is a "golfball size" of Taiwan moss? I can buy it from the guy I am buying the shrimp from for $3 extra. He is supposed to include a "starter size" Taiwan moss (1/8 to 1/4 golfball size, according to him) and I don't know if that would be enough. I want to put it on driftwood or a rock, or maybe the current driftwood I have since I'm not liking it very much with the plant on it. The shrimpies need something to hide in! Especially with chili rasboras becoming their tank mates (when I can find them, that is...).

 

[Newman]

dont lower your pH...why is it a problem for you?

 

[Alex2290]

I keep editing my other posts right when you reply. Pssh

I think chili rasboras need lower PH than 7.9, right? I'd just like to be ready for them. Also, from what I read, the shrimp are 6.8 to 8.0 PH and 7.9 may be pushing it and if it goes up for whatever reason I don't want to deal with that. o.o

 

[Newman]

shrimp will be fine at that pH just acclimate around 40 min or so.

thats a small amount of moss. wont cover the driftwood. but its better than nothing, you can grow the moss if you know what youre doing (really you just give it shrimp and light and water lol)


the chili rasbora are the problem as i see it then. ask Orange about what she thinks is good for them. she probably keeps them in soft acidic water too if she breeds them. she will give you pointers on how to achieve the right kind of water.