i cant take the wait any longer
- Thread starter katuuuz
- Start date
I wasn't around for that, but this thread and several opinions posted within it make me yearn for the same thing. People post nearly everyday about buying a tank and throwing fish in, fish dying, and not testing or doing water changes. Someone posts, follows advice, buys a kit immediately, tests multiple times a day, does massive water changes, gets used media, etc. and they get chased off by the "my way or the highway" approach. Pretty sad state of affairs. Perhaps you should read more of the FW Newbie threads to chase them off.
No one ever said "my way or the highway".. But when you see someone do something so blatantly stupid as throwing more fish into a cycling tank, it's kind of tough to remain positive about that person's chances at ever being sucessful when they can't/won't even follow basic instructions.
4 tetras into a 46G tank that has been cycling for a month and has recently had heavily loaded media added to it is not "blatantly stupid". Allowing the bacteria introduced in the media to die off due to a lack of food source (ammonia from wastes) would be.
AND, the OP DID follow basic instructions to get a good test kit, test daily, do water changes, get media, etc. There would be a heck of a lot less dead fish if more newbs showed that level of commitment.
If I didn't think there was hope for the guy, I never would have offered him advice in the first place. It just bugs me to see someone right on the virge of "getting it" slide back down the hill due to impatience.
Just finished reading this thread. Kat...I think you are safe...good to go. As stated your bioload is virtually nil for that size tank. I also want to give ya kudos in your dilegence of the testing, water changes and such. With the wad of media you got and the said squeezings from established media, not to mention the results of your testing with nitrAtes showing up, your good. The question now becomes adding stock. This should of course as you already know be done slowly so as to not overwhelm your BB. I do not know your final stocking arrangements but I do know that you mentioned cories and angels. Both of these should be added to a well established aquarium. The cories will do much better than angels if the tank is not well established (IME...never lost a cory...knock on simulated wood).
As for cycling....I've done it all except for the plant method. Here lately, the only method I use is by established media. Boom...done. Never had an issue.
I'm in the same boat as you regarding stocking as I am looking at a couple of angels for my 46. A nice school of harley's will work. Small fishies like neons and danios should not be considered. (lunchmeat). Also hyperactive and fin nipping fish like the zebras and tigers can stress the angels out. Please be aware that this is not from experience but from all the researching I've done over the past several weeks. Look over in the Angel forum for stocking recommendations.
Not sure if this helped ya out any...but that's my .02 worth.
Good luck and happy fishing! Enjoy!
As for cycling....I've done it all except for the plant method. Here lately, the only method I use is by established media. Boom...done. Never had an issue.
I'm in the same boat as you regarding stocking as I am looking at a couple of angels for my 46. A nice school of harley's will work. Small fishies like neons and danios should not be considered. (lunchmeat). Also hyperactive and fin nipping fish like the zebras and tigers can stress the angels out. Please be aware that this is not from experience but from all the researching I've done over the past several weeks. Look over in the Angel forum for stocking recommendations.
Not sure if this helped ya out any...but that's my .02 worth.
Good luck and happy fishing! Enjoy!
How is it helpful to call a beginner or their actions stupid? There are ways to help people see their mistakes (if any) in a civil manner. If I had been told that I was stupid or an idiot in my beginning stages of fishkeeping, I would have been disheartened to continue and definitely would have ignored further advice from the offender. A teacher should be patient, even when their student is not. Sorry to further derail this thread of yours katuuz. Good luck in this hobby as you go on 
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Corax, can you elaborate on this?
I know you can seed a tank with water squeezed from a seasoned filter. doing so(squeezing/wringing) the filter will dislodged gunk from a seasoned filter as well as bacteria.
live bacteria in a bottle are not attached to anything yet can seed a tank.
I have cycled tanks in as little as 3 days by squeezing seasoned filter material into a filter on a new tank with fish.
once introduced that bacteria multiply quickly.. in a matter of hours(read as less than 24).. the more bacteria you introduce the quicker the tank filters.
you do not need to have hard material such as driftwood(which also must come from a seasoned tank) tho this method works
