55g Stock and Compatibility q's

T

The Alaskan

AC Members
Feb 20, 2006
11
0
0
Hello guys.

I have a 55g tank with a few live plants which has cycled for two weeks. Since then I have added the following

5 otos
3 panda corys (for cleanup duty)
3 Neon Dwarf Rainbows
2 Dwarf Gouramis
1 German Gold Ram

I would like to add 1 german Gold Ram, and maybe 1 Angelfish and a dojo (weather) loach. In addition I was thinking about some smaller schooling fish (any ideas?).

Is my stocking plans too ambitious? Anyone notice any immediate problems?

Also, it seems my gouramis are disputing. If I add a female for them will this increase or decrease the hostility?

Thanks in advance.
Einar
 
Two weeks isn't long enough for your tank to finish the cycle, but you know that right? What are your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

I wouldn't add any more fish until the tank finishes the cycle.

When you do, please note that rainbowfish are schooling fish and need to be in groups at least six. Please bump the praecox (neon rainbow) school to at least six members. More is better.

Do not mix angelfish with rainbowfish. Rainbows are far too active in the middle water column for angelfish. The angels will spend their time staying out of the way of the rainbows and hiding.

I would not add any more schooling fish, especially smaller ones. As I noted, rainbows are very active and smaller schoolers tend to stay near the bottom out of their way. Instead, I would concentrate on buffing up the rainbow school.

Roan
 
Roan:

To be perfectly honest, no I did not realize two weeks wasn't long enough. All the research I have done on the net seemed to point at a two week time frame. A couple sites even stated a fishless cycle was uneeded in a planted tank as the plants use the ammonia and what not. What is the proper time frame?

Here is tank readouts:

Nitrate + 10 ppm
Nitrite + .3 ppm
Total Hardness (GH) + 100 ppm
Total Alkalinity (KH) + 40ppm
pH + 7.2

Thanks for the information about the angel, smaller schooling fish and praecox.

Einar
 
You have to have a lot of plants. But if thats the road you are going then you might want to read about a planted cycle instead of fishless.
 
Thanks for the reply. The planted/fishless cycle is not the road I am going. I was just mentioning I did not realize 2 weeks was inadaquate and wondered what time frame is adaquate in the future.

Thanks
Einar
 
There is no real time frame, but it usually takes 4-6 weeks.

When your ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0 and nitrates are ~10ppm, then the tank is cycled.

Until then your fish are under severe stress and in danger of ammonia and nitrite poisoning. You'll need to do water changes of at least 50% and as often as need be in order to keep the ammonia and nitrites to .25 or lower.

Roan
 
There are many variables when cycling a tank with live plants and fish. If done "right" then you will have what is known as a "silent" cycle, and ammonia and nitrite levels will be undetectable(or close to it) with hobby test kits. This generally requires stuffing the tank full of fast-growing stem plants and making sure that the requirements of the plants are met before adding the fish to the tank.

Since you have a nitrite reading of .3, then you are pretty much doing a "fishy" cycle. This means the plants aren't keeping up with the waste, and you will have to do water changes as needed to keep the levels safe for your fish. You didn't mention what your ammonia levels are, but keeping ammonia and nitrite levels as low as possible will allow your fish to live through the cycling process comfortably.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom