advice for my new tank

[francois]

Hi everyone,

I've recently decided to reactivate my old 10 gallon aquarium that has been inactive for 5 years or so(used to be home to my turtle) and since I've never kept fish before I need some advice.

I started by introducing some live plants on April 13th and bought a pair of Dwarf Gouramis (1 male, 1 female) 3 days later. I later realised they might not be the best fish to cycle with but it was kinda too late and the fish seem to be doing great. I also put some Cycle and some plantgrow in the tank at the same time as the fish and invested in a test kit yesterday.

My readings intrigue me a little though. They are as follow: Amonia: 0, nitrite: 0.3 pH 7.8 (7.6 out of the tap)

I'am just wondering whether or not its normal that I'am already not reading any amonia (6 days after introducing fish). Isnt it a little fast? Then again maybe its because of the Cycle I put in.

Also I'am looking into some possible tank mates for my gouramis. Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

[caz]

i cycled with 2 dwarf gouramis, and one ended up dieing. i think he was just a sick fish to begin with, but the LFS said that gouramis are sensitive to ph, i use a ph neutralizer that you can pick up anywhere, its a peice of cake to add to your tank as well. as far as tankmates though, somepeople say these guys are agressive, but mine is very shy. so i guess it depends on how aggressive yours are.

[silver_leaf]

i havent kept gouramis, but if they are a bit agressive, then i would say you could probably get away with some danios, they're beautiful fish, very hardy, and very fast. i would say they could hold their own with gouramis...
peace
anna

[OrionGirl]

As far as cycling goes, two small fish in 10 gallons will be slow to increase, especially since you have plants. Plants will use both ammonia and nitrates, preferring ammonia. In a well planted tank, you may never see an ammonia spike, and the bacteria bed will develop (though to a smaller size than in an unplanted tank). My advice is to continue monitoring the tank, and be ready to do water changes if needed.

I would not use the pH adjusting chemicals. They tend to come with a large quantity of unintended consequences--such as high phosphates and algae blooms--in addition to being a very short term fix. Altering water chemistry is not an easy matter, and those chemical additive cause massive swings that are deadly to fish.

For tankmates, I would add 4-5 cories, and call it good. The gouramies will have much better and outgoing behavior if not kept with zippy fish like most danios and tetras. I think harlequin rasporas are a slower fish, so you could swap the cories for 4-5 of them, and then add a small bottom feeder, like a dwarf bristlenose.

[TKOS]

I would second the idea that a small school of cories would be great. Not only are they a fun fish to watch in their own right but it would be nice to have 2 different levels of fish, both top and bottom. I have a school of 3 in my 10 gallon and they are a blast to watch.