y'all said come back

[Iknownothing]

If you read or replied to my post last week then you'll remember me.

The goldfish are now gone, the tank is clean again and I have decided to go with cichlids when I get this cycle thing done.

I took the recomendation of the pet store lady today and purchased some small fish to cycle the tank with (name escapes me). She tested the water for me. She said the ammonia level was normal, with no sign of nitrate or nitrite and the ph level was 8.

I went with 25# of gravel and 30# of crushed coral in the tank, my only dillema now is after having washed the coral before putting it in the tank, it still clouded up the water. Will this resolve itself?

Am I set now? Someone told me to come back when the goldfish were gone. I'm here and ready to learn.

Learned a little since I left. Mainly, ask ten people the same fish ?
Get six different answers.......lol

Thanks for your help.

Hamel

 

[LongTime]

Originally posted by Iknownothing
Learned a little since I left. Mainly, ask ten people the same fish ?
Get six different answers.......lol

Thanks for your help.

Hamel

Only six? Wow, you are ahead of the curve!

 

[Watcher74]

Why did you add coral for? Are you trying to raise the PH?

 

[chkltcow]

Yeah, crushed coral will raise the alkalinity and pH. High alkalinity makes it more difficult to adjust the pH in either direction... and yours is already pretty high... too high for a lot of freshwater fish to easily deal with.

 

[Aric]

The water's cloudyness should go away. The other thing you can try is adding extra netted bags of carbon into your filter. They work pretty well to clean the cloudyness up.

Also...If he's planning cichlids they usually like higher ph levels.. is that why he added the coral?

 

[Iknownothing]

thanks

Thanks Aric, I'll try that on the cloudiness.
Yes, I used the coral because that's what the cichlid people told me to use. The PH needs to be between 8 and 9.

 

[daveedka]

Assuming african cichlids by the crushed coral addition.

I just hope the fish they talked you into using for the cycle can survive the combined stress of the rising PH and the cycle. Hardy fish can usually get through one or the other OK, but both at once makes me wonder.

Anyhow, welcome back. The main thing you should remember is that what you hear from a lot of people is highly subject to urban legend, lack of knowledge, confusion, and in-experience. Combine that with the desire of an LFS employee to sell products whether they are needed or not, and there is a bunch of mis-information floating around. Whatever you hear, think about it, research it and then make your decisions. This Board is really good, I have found it to be the best I've ever encountered, and I still question the replies I recieve. Eventually (usually in less than two days) you will get the real answer and it will make sense. You will also eventually figure out who you can trust the most around here, and elsewhere. Even mis-information is laced with some truth, it's just always fun to figure out what is what.
Dave

 

[Iknownothing]

Thanks Dave, I appreciate the reply.
I'm trying to absorb all of the information, but it is a lot to sort out when you see so many different answers.

I am going with an african cichlid type. We raise pit bulls and cornish game chickens, the cichlids would seem to fit around here.

What would be your suggestion for a fish to run this cycle with? My friend who has cichlids (another source of information) suggested just using a feeder minnow. I lost a dozen of two in several hours. The lady at the pet store didn't have a solid recomendation for me last night, but sold me six small fish with black horizontal stripes. If I need to do something different, I would appreciate any assistance I can get.

Another question I have is about partial water changes during the cycle period. Some here suggested doing so, but at least one other person has told me not to do it. If I remember right from reading the links provided for me here, they all suggested the partial changes. I just have no clue what to believe.

I'm just here to learn. Help if anyone can.

Thanks, Mark

 

[daveedka]

The small guys with the horizontal stripes are Probably Zebra Danios. They are a very hardy fish commonly used for cycling. I've never tried them in a high ph tank but they are essentially a bullet proof fish by all accounts.

As far as reccomendations, I'm not an african guy myself so my experience is limited. Secondly, having done both fishy(countless times) and fishless (3 times), I highly reccomend the fishless. It's a little late for that, since you already have the fish. If I were to do a fishy cycle again, it would be either with a fish I planned to keep or with feeders appropriate to the fish I planned to add later. You will find yourself with some danios you really don't want when this is over with and will have to find a way to get rid of them, hopefully without disposing of them. Just keep that in mind as it will become an issue to deal with at some point.

As far as water changes, they are absolutely necessary during a fishy cycle, and usually every day or every other day. There are many schools of thought on fishy cycling and at least a couple are totally inhumane IMO. Those who say don't change water, tend to beleive that sacrificing a couple of fish to save them a little time or work is the way to go. I don't buy into slowly killing fish with ammonia and nitrite, and from what I've learned water changes should make no difference in total cycle time. I highly reccomend reading the entire cycle sticky and taking some notes, The sticky covers almost every situation imaginable, and has a lot of good info, but please read it all it's worth the time.