My 1st 29 Gal Tank Set Up, Please help?

K

Kaburan

Registered Member
Jul 18, 2006
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Why I find a great site like this after I make purchases always bites me in the arse. However, Id like some comments and helpful advice as admittedly I am a newbie in the aquatic department.

I just purchased a wide 29 gal, washed everything, and put a nice layer of gravel and then decoration down. Got a good temperature of about 80f and took a test for ph,ammonia,nitrate nitrate. All checks good and stable.

So I loaded the tank up with 5 tiger barbs and 2 pictus catfish adjusting their bag temp to tank temp and slowly releasing them into my new community.

Is this too overcrowded or just fine for my fish? After a few hours of observation, my 5 tiger barbs are doing very well, schooling together however I noticed something. 2 barbs were huddled up and looked like they were kissing. Is this a mating ritual?

My two pictus catfish seems to be doing fine now, theyre both squirming around at the bottom of the tank, but earlier one of them was flipping out all over the glass wall.

Any Pointers and advice would be great, thanks :)
 
Just so you know you are now doing a fish cycle. You do not have an established tank so you do not have any good bacteria built up. You will need to keep an eye on your water levels (ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates) and plan on doing frequent water changes.
 
Yeah I never heard of that until I read the help archives and read about cycling. Looks like I have no choice now, ill do my best, and I do have a kit so ill keep an eye on all my levels and prepare for spikes and ensuing water changes.
 
Don't feel bad, I never knew of a fishless cycle and have never done one. I have always had fish in my tank and I did a lot of water changes to keep the fish alive. Now I just use filters from my established tank to set up new ones.
 
You can also buy Bio-Spira if you have a good fish store near you to help with the cycle. IMO after the tank has cycled, you should add a few more barbs, get the school up to 7 or so (tiger barbs like to be in schools bigger than 6, which also greatly reduces any aggression). Also, it is perfectly normal for pictus to "flip out". They are just basically sort of spastic fish from what I have observed with my 3. My pictus never seem to stop moving. I wouldn't add any other types of fish to the tank, just up the tiger barb school by a few more, at least once you have cycled the tank. tiger barbs can be aggressive toward other fish and you are pretty well stocked at this point as it is.
 
The key to this is gonna be patience. My parents did the same and loaded a 29 before cycling it. I went and tested it every few days and it took about a month to fully cycle. That was also with filter media and rocks from my established tank. Don't be suprised if you lose a fish or 2, but good luck!! Let us know your numbers as things go along.
 
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