Back from my nightmare - suggestions?

Q

queuetue

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May 17, 2008
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Some of you may remember the LFS nightmare I was here for a number of months ago. That didn't turn out well, but the fish store did take back the last surviving fish at the end of it all. Out of anger and shame, I left the tank sitting there for a long time.

Then, I read, learned, and started over. A few weeks ago, I bought a large number of plants and set up a yeast co2 bubbler, and got a healthy forest growing in my 29 gallon tank. I started a fishless cycle, and was stumped when I couldn't detect ammonia no matter how hard I pushed it. New LFS figures that by leaving my tank with the massive ammonia spike in it, the bacteria came and did what they were supposed to, then went dormant in the gravel. When I started adding ammonia to the tank, they came right back to life, and my tank is pre-cycled. Not wanting to just take another LFS at it's word, I spent a few more days testing and changed out the filter... Yes - ammonia goes in, and an hour later, no ammonia detected , no nitrites detected, nitrates are detected. I guess I'm cycled.

PH is a little higher than 7.4, so, to start out slowly, I got 2 platys. 3 days later, still at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, low nitrate. Looks like it's working.

Now, I'm considering what would be good to add to a community tank. I'd like a) Something interesting - pretty isn't as important to me as interesting. These platys are cute, but they just hide from people. b) Relatively easy to take care of - after killing all of those beautiful koi, I just don't want anything out of my skill level. c) Must be compatable with live plants. I don't mind if they want to eat them, I just don't want them to get sick by doing so. d) Must be able to live with harder water - I don't mind doing some conditioning, but I don't think I want to pay for osmo water every water change (unless this is cheaper than I think it is).

Any suggestions? How slowly should I establish new fish? Thanks for all the help!
 
Well, first I will note that bacteria do not go dormant in your substrate, you either have them or you dont :). My first reccomendation to you will be to stop even asking your LFS what needs to be done and just post up here or do some research using several different sources and comparing the info. What has happened with your tank and the reason for you being unable to detect ammonia shortly after just adding it to your tank is that your plants are using it as fertilizer.

With that being said, you can start to add fish slowly to give he bacteria time to grow and do basically a silent cycle. This can be achieved because you have a live planted tank and will only work if you monitor your water parameters closely and keep your plants in great shape.

If your water is supplied municipally, then you will need to use a water conditioner that removes chlorine and chlormaine. It doesnt actually remove these two chemicals, it transforms them into ammonia and your bio filter "eats" it the same as it does fish waste.

Platies, guppies, sword tails, most all kinds of tetras are all easy to care for. My advice would be to take suggestions from ppl then do some research on the fish type to see if they will eat plants, or are compatible as community fish. For example, buenos aires tetras will eat plants..

Hope this helps,
Blue

To add about the platies, as they get used to ppl and activity around they tank they will probably come out a bit more.
 
To add to the above, most commercially raised fish can be acclimated to most any ph so long as it isnt an extreme one or a fish that needs a specific ph to live. And you arent looking at breeding fish, some fish only spawn at a certain ph.
 
Having a heavily planted tank, the plants will absorb the ammonia directly as well. Be careful though if you remove plants as this may may cause a mini cycle where the bacteria will have to play catch up.
 
I'd say your plants are providing you with your cycle here, which is great.

Slightly hard water - I'd think about rams, and cardinal tetras for a start. Nice cichlid personality, and a wee school of tetras. Then maybe a bristlenose pleco. Not sure after that :)
 
I don't recommend cardinal/neon tetras personally.. They're kind of the "standard aquarium fish," and for some reason, they don't last too long. That's just me, though. Maybe glolight tetras? Or danios, those are usually hardier than tetras.
 
While I've heard that the quality has dropped slightly in recent years, Danios are near bullet proof. They were one of the first fish we had when we set up our first 10 gallon tank and personally they are still near the top of the list when I think of the enjoyment I got from watching them. I personally prefer the long fin variety.
 
I should point out before I get berated for it.. When I say they are bullet proof, I don't mean to imply that they don't deserve the same standard of care as any other fish (some people get the impression that because they are so hardy they can slack on maintenence and I don't want anyone thinking that was my point). Cardinals and neons, while very nice fish, can be somewhat more sensitive and without exhausive acclimation we've all heard many a story about poor survival rates when first buying them.
 
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