MikefromNH
12-12-2004, 8:06 PM
My tank finished cycling about a week ago and lucky for me, NO DEAD FISH.:dance
DISCLAIMER- To all newbies, like myself..........by no means am I suggesting that my method is safe!!!! I, unintentionally, totally went against what the "fish gurus" suggest here.
Anyway, I set up my 90 gal 5 weeks ago. Here's how I stocked it.
Day 1) 2 swordtails 2 angelfish
Day 2) 4 head/tail light tetras
Day 3)
Day 4) 3 more angelfish
Day 5) 4 platys
Day 6)
Day 7) 2 serpae
Day 8) 2 opaline gourami 2 pearl gourami
Day 9)
Day 10)
Day 11) 2 more serpae 2 powder blue gourami
Day 12) 2 shark catfish 2 rainbow catfish
29 FISH total!!
That is how the tank remained til' the end of the cycle. In addition to the fish listed above there is now a clown pleco. I believe it is maxed out now and I understand I'll have to take steps in the future to relocate some fish as they grow. I got 90% of the fish at my LFS. The woman there, after the first 15 fish, kept telling me to keep an eye on the water because there would be ammonia and nitrite spikes.
I checked the water every day and up until the end of the cycle the test results never showed more than 2ppm nitrite and 1ppm ammonia. I used 2 different tests to eliminate any question there. At one point my only filter, a Mag 350, broke (imp shaft) and the tank was unfiltered for 24 hrs. I replaced it with a Filstar xp-3 and used the filter sleeve from the Magnum in one of the media baskets of the xp-3 for a jump start.
I did partial changes no more than 6 times equaling no more than 200% of the total capacity. In other words 33%, 33%, 50% 33% 50%.....or something along those lines. The fish never showed signs of stress or general unhealthyness.
The only chemical used was Start-Right water conditioner from Jungle Labs, no Bio-Spira, Stress-Zyme, etc....
I understand I took a chance here. I went with the advise of my LFS. I didn't become a member here til' 2 weeks after I set up the tank but if I had joined earlier I definately wouldn't have stocked it so quickly.
Why did my cycling go so well? Tank size? Fish size? Rate of fish introduction? While it took 4 weeks:( , it seemed to go too easy for me. What gives???
To the "fish gurus"- Please don't take this post as an attack on your knowlege. After joining the forum I read soooo many posts that made me think my fish were going to die. I'm just writing this because, according to most related posts here, it seems like an unusual situation and I'm excited to tell all.
Maybe there is nothing unusual about my cycle but, again, NEWBIES please don't do what I did. I don't want to be the guy people point fingers at if something goes wrong!
Later....
DISCLAIMER- To all newbies, like myself..........by no means am I suggesting that my method is safe!!!! I, unintentionally, totally went against what the "fish gurus" suggest here.
Anyway, I set up my 90 gal 5 weeks ago. Here's how I stocked it.
Day 1) 2 swordtails 2 angelfish
Day 2) 4 head/tail light tetras
Day 3)
Day 4) 3 more angelfish
Day 5) 4 platys
Day 6)
Day 7) 2 serpae
Day 8) 2 opaline gourami 2 pearl gourami
Day 9)
Day 10)
Day 11) 2 more serpae 2 powder blue gourami
Day 12) 2 shark catfish 2 rainbow catfish
29 FISH total!!
That is how the tank remained til' the end of the cycle. In addition to the fish listed above there is now a clown pleco. I believe it is maxed out now and I understand I'll have to take steps in the future to relocate some fish as they grow. I got 90% of the fish at my LFS. The woman there, after the first 15 fish, kept telling me to keep an eye on the water because there would be ammonia and nitrite spikes.
I checked the water every day and up until the end of the cycle the test results never showed more than 2ppm nitrite and 1ppm ammonia. I used 2 different tests to eliminate any question there. At one point my only filter, a Mag 350, broke (imp shaft) and the tank was unfiltered for 24 hrs. I replaced it with a Filstar xp-3 and used the filter sleeve from the Magnum in one of the media baskets of the xp-3 for a jump start.
I did partial changes no more than 6 times equaling no more than 200% of the total capacity. In other words 33%, 33%, 50% 33% 50%.....or something along those lines. The fish never showed signs of stress or general unhealthyness.
The only chemical used was Start-Right water conditioner from Jungle Labs, no Bio-Spira, Stress-Zyme, etc....
I understand I took a chance here. I went with the advise of my LFS. I didn't become a member here til' 2 weeks after I set up the tank but if I had joined earlier I definately wouldn't have stocked it so quickly.
Why did my cycling go so well? Tank size? Fish size? Rate of fish introduction? While it took 4 weeks:( , it seemed to go too easy for me. What gives???
To the "fish gurus"- Please don't take this post as an attack on your knowlege. After joining the forum I read soooo many posts that made me think my fish were going to die. I'm just writing this because, according to most related posts here, it seems like an unusual situation and I'm excited to tell all.
Maybe there is nothing unusual about my cycle but, again, NEWBIES please don't do what I did. I don't want to be the guy people point fingers at if something goes wrong!
Later....