What's next

LesbianChap

LesbianChap

Don't ask, I'll tell.
Jan 2, 2006
188
8
18
Florida
Well, it looks like my tank is finally cycled with the betta...ammonia and nitrites have been 0 for a few days now (saw my ammonia spike end a week ago, and my nitrites were showing up regularly since)...so it looks like it's time to add another few/school of fish and let the tank mini-cycle...

So here's where I'm at a choice, and I hate 'em. The tank's planted, but not all the plants are rooted in yet (still waiting for some of the anacharis to form their root thingies) and some of the ones that are rooted aren't in solid yet...and I have a few more plants I wish to add over the next few weeks as I find them...all that's to say I'm thinking about a few cories, but I don't want them to uproot everything before they're planted.

I could also probably use some Otos...I hear they might help take care of the non-algae diatoms and such growing on the glass...it'd also be good to have an algae clean-up crew already in the tank if it decides to boom.

Then we get into the colorful schools I hope to add to the tank...I was thinking a school of Serpea Tetras and a school of either Neon or Black Neon Tetras...kinda jumping back and forth over which one to add, Neons or Black Neons...

I'm only planning on adding one set at a time, to keep any mini-cycle under control and manageable...I'm just at a loss at which I want to add first. Any suggestions or ideas?

And yes, they're all going in the 29g in the signature. Here's a link if you want to take a look at it, as it stands right now.
 
Serpaes with the betta would be a no-no, she could be shredded.
 
I've found that Oto cats don't tend to do well until a tank is well past the cycled stage. They tend to be the last fish that I will add to a tank when it's new. They just don't seem terribly hardy when it comes to the "mini" cycles that occur with a new tank, especially one that has only been up and running for a few weeks.

I will normally add them after I hit the 6 month mark.

This is just me though. :)

Perhaps others have had better luck with them in newer tanks, but I've never had good luck with them that way.
 
add otos to an established tank they tend to be picky eaters they can be trained to eat wafers and zucchini .

they love diatom algae.

a bit of a dilemma for you.. do not add too much at a time.. you may cause a mini cycle.
then you have to be careful as it is usually recommended to qt new fish for 4 weeks.
 
You might want to try the black neons next and even those could go in half at a time over 2 weeks. The otos don't do well in a new tank and cories don't either. As Dwarf Puffers said, the serpaes are not the best tank mate for a fish with flowing fins be it angels, bettas or whatever else. You might want to consider something like rasboras instead. They seem to get along OK with everybody except big fish that want to eat them.
 
So Otos probably won't do well...consensus taken...Cories would probably both dig up the plants and might not do well either, so they're probably out...and point taken about the Serpae's and the betta...

So now...Black Neons or Neons...*scratches head* hard choices.
 
Well I figure I should tell everyone what I ended up doing...I used Petco's 5 for 5 deal to get a handful of neons...While there I also found an unmarked Crypt(<-pic) which I picked up, and a pygmy chain sword, or at least that's how it was labeled, and it had a pretty good length runner I half-buried across half the length of my tank...I hope that's how you handle runners without any roots and few leaves on them, if not, let me know.

OH! And I got a herbal hitchhiker on the pygmy chain sword...A single strand of Java Moss. Isn't it cute?
 
Don't worry that single strand will grow to a big ball soon enough! Good deal on the neons - now let's see more pics!
 
LesbianChap said:
Well I figure I should tell everyone what I ended up doing...I used Petco's 5 for 5 deal to get a handful of neons...While there I also found an unmarked Crypt(<-pic) which I picked up, and a pygmy chain sword, or at least that's how it was labeled, and it had a pretty good length runner I half-buried across half the length of my tank...I hope that's how you handle runners without any roots and few leaves on them, if not, let me know.

OH! And I got a herbal hitchhiker on the pygmy chain sword...A single strand of Java Moss. Isn't it cute?
Click to expand...

Correction...What we once thought was a crypt is looking more and more like a Java Fern to me...I'm gonna let the filter catch some of the gunk in the water from what I stirred up during the waterchange and planting the new plants...maybe some pics tonight :)
 
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