We have a Cycled tank now folks!!

I am soooooooooo excited!! Today's parameters: Amon 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5 PH 7.2. My 75gal tank has been cycling (fish in) since August 8th and this is the first time getting 0 for Amon YAY!! I had planned on doing a partial wc later today. Out of curiosity I tested this morning and got these amazing results. Questions, should I still do the wc? Now that it's cycled, how often should I do them now? How many new fish can I safely add? Here are some of the fish I would like to eventually add: Angel Fish, Neon Tetra, Black Skirt Tetra, Harlequin Rosbora, Silver Hatchet Fish, just to name a few. All feedback is welcome! TIA

First on the cycling, yes, do a water change, 60-70% of the tank volume. Once you begin adding fish, a regular schedule of a water change once a week should be fine, and I would do 50-60%. Provided the parameters, being GH, pH and temperature, are basically the same between tap and tank water, you cannot cause any problem with water changes.

Do you have live plants? This will impact the fish additions.

As for the fish, you have serious problems. Angelfish are sedate and long fin fish, and cannot be combined with fish that have the tendency to nip...Black Skirt Tetras are notorious for this. There are better tetras. Neon tetras are risks as angelfish frequently eat them; this applies to linear fish. The disk-shaped tetras like the Rosy Tetra, Black and Red Phantom, are better tankmates.

There are serious issues with angelfish however. How big is this tank, the dimensions as well as volume. Angelfish are shoaling and need a group, at least five or six, never two, three or four, due to their inherent behaviours, and they get large. Body length of six inches, vertical fin span of 8-9 inches.

Please see the attachment for the tank dimensions. Right now I have 3 Dojo Loaches but no live plants. I'm a little intimidated by those only because I have never had them before. I have had tanks before (Oscars) but was never educated on water parameters and so forth (I know poor Oscars). With that being said, trying to keep the fish happy and healthy is a huge task to maintain and I would hate to get too overwhelmed and kill the whole tank! As it is, as much as I LOVE these Dojos, they give me a heart attack almost every day due to their antics!! Maybe I just need to stop trippin and just dive in . Any suggestions or ideas as to where to start would be much welcomed!
Sounds like a no on the Angel Fish, which is fine. I had one with 2 Oscars in this same tank before and it was pretty cool. I've never had a community tank and am looking forward to stocking this one with some small schooling fish and some other cool fish. Which do you feel would be the first ones to introduce? Thanks again!!

Coolysd said:

Please see the attachment for the tank dimensions. Right now I have 3 Dojo Loaches but no live plants. I'm a little intimidated by those only because I have never had them before. I have had tanks before (Oscars) but was never educated on water parameters and so forth (I know poor Oscars). With that being said, trying to keep the fish happy and healthy is a huge task to maintain and I would hate to get too overwhelmed and kill the whole tank! As it is, as much as I LOVE these Dojos, they give me a heart attack almost every day due to their antics!! Maybe I just need to stop trippin and just dive in . Any suggestions or ideas as to where to start would be much welcomed!
Sounds like a no on the Angel Fish, which is fine. I had one with 2 Oscars in this same tank before and it was pretty cool. I've never had a community tank and am looking forward to stocking this one with some small schooling fish and some other cool fish. Which do you feel would be the first ones to introduce? Thanks again!!

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Here's a pic. Don't mind the decorations, still working on it lol

My black skirt tetras would get nipped by the angelfish rather than the Angelfish nipping at them. But had them together for years without major issues.
I once added 5 neon tetras and the Angelfish immediately attacked them and killed one of them. I had to removed the neon tetras and put them in another tank.

Are the three dojo loaches in this tank and staying in this tank?

Byron said:

Are the three dojo loaches in this tank and staying in this tank?

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Yes sir! The tank ran empty for a few weeks prior to adding them. I had initially intended to do a fishless cycle due to everything I had read. But when the owner of the local fish store said that I could put fish in right now, of course I got excited and asked him what he would recommend, that's how I even became aware of Dojos. He said that they are a "hardy" fish and they would be fine. So I brought 2 home and about a week ago when I was returning something to Petco, I saw this lone Dojo and just could not leave him there cuz I knew how horribly miserable he had to be. So I have OG 1&2 and Lil Man and I love them! I have been trying to choose my stock around them.

This significantly limits/affects suitable tankmates. These loaches (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) are not tropical so do best at room temperature (low 70'sF). Having three is good, and in a 75g (4-foot length presumably) is also good. But the fish in post #1 are not good.

Misgurnus spp. are peaceful both with one another and otherspecies though they may prey on eggs/fry/very small fishes. They can be kept singly but seem more at ease/active when in the presence of conspecifics. M. anguillicaudatus does best alongside medium-to-large sized, active fishes that swim higher up in thewater column than itself.

This from SF, more data here:

Interesting reading thank you! Something that is confusing to me (and frustrating) is when researching various fish, I often find conflicting information. 1 Example is in the above article, it states that you can have just one Dojo. Everything else I have read states a minimum of three. Another example is some state okay to leave the blue light on at night while others state absolutely not. There have been other contradicting info that I can't think of off the top of my head. I appreciate you passing along your wisdom!!

Coolysd said:

Interesting reading thank you! Something that is confusing to me (and frustrating) is when researching various fish, I often find conflicting information. 1 Example is in the above article, it states that you can have just one Dojo. Everything else I have read states a minimum of three. Another example is some state okay to leave the blue light on at night while others state absolutely not. There have been other contradicting info that I can't think of off the top of my head. I appreciate you passing along your wisdom!!

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Seriously Fish is one of the most reliable sources of information. Not perfect, and one could probably find slip-ups, but it is frankly the best overall site we have for freshwater fish data. There are other reliable sites, dealing with specific groups/families, such as Planet Catfish, CorydorasWorld (paid site but also a free FB page), and Loaches Online come to mind. Then there are some FB pages like the Characins of the World group that has just about every major specialist on these fishes among its membership. And specific forums which have varying degrees of reliability, depending upon who runs it or who posts the data. A real advantage with this forum is peer review. Anything I post is out there and may be challenged by others with as much or more knowledge than I have. If anyone goes way off-base, you can be sure several of us will point it out.

There is way too much misleading and inaccurate information on the internet. One has to learn the source behind any site and if it is reliable, accept that information.

SF does actually say that three are preferable:
I read this as saying one alone is not likely to die, but for the well-being of the fish it is best to have three.

Time and time again new members here point out the contradictory information, but there is a belief among many that if it is on the internet it must be true. No, nothing could be further from the truth. Those who have studied fish (ichthyology or biology) for six or more years, those who have been to the habitat collecting species "x," or those that have spent years not just keeping an aquarium but doing research into various aspects...these are the sources that know.

Thank you so much for this info! I am super excited to learn as much as I can. It definitely makes me feel more at ease knowing that I can come here and get the TRUTH from folks who have tons of knowledge and experience and who genuinely care!! So glad I found y'all!!

Coolysd said:

I am soooooooooo excited!! Today's parameters: Amon 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 5 PH 7.2. My 75gal tank has been cycling (fish in) since August 8th and this is the first time getting 0 for Amon YAY!! I had planned on doing a partial wc later today. Out of curiosity I tested this morning and got these amazing results. Questions, should I still do the wc? Now that it's cycled, how often should I do them now? How many new fish can I safely add? Here are some of the fish I would like to eventually add: Angel Fish, Neon Tetra, Black Skirt Tetra, Harlequin Rosbora, Silver Hatchet Fish, just to name a few. All feedback is welcome! TIA

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Yay! Newly cycled tanks are always exciting!

I remember when my tank finished cycling... I was so hyped.
Congrats man!