31g Community Tank

[Stefan3289]

No, I am aware I could do that. But I'd rather not do a fish-in cycle. A big difference between the fish-keeper me now, disabled and 40, and the fish-keeper me from her early 20s is that I have so much more patience, lol

Considering that your ammonia from tap is .5-1, this could also be chloramines that are used to treat the tap water. I had this same issue where no matter what I did my ammonia would be at .5, and turns out it was from my tap. I turned my tank planted and i haven’t had ammonia go over .1 (I was not able to clean the tank for 2 weeks when it hit that). So definitely do get some plants for the tank it’ll help a lot.

 

[WestCoastChelle]

Huzzah! Seeing movement!

Current water stats:
Ammonia: Between 0 and 0.25 (honestly it can be so tough to tell the small differences)
Nitrite: 2ish

Dosing with ammonia today.

 

[WestCoastChelle]

Hoo baby, it's happening! Having never done this method before it's interesting. At first I thought the TSS+ didn't do anything, but I'm thinking maybe it did as we're moving along a smidge faster. Definitely not nearly as much as it claims it does (for sure should not have just dosed and added fish) however I think it gave a boost.

Current water stats:
Ammonia: 0 (YEAH BABY!)
Nitrite: .25

Unsure if this calls for a snack dose or a full dose and test in 24h. Have posted over in the forums for advice.

 

[WestCoastChelle]

Thanks to TwoTankAmin for chiming in and giving me some help over on my post! Given they were both basically 0 yesterday I decided to tweak it a little and test today instead of every other day. Maybe I'm not *quite* as patient as I'd hoped to be. But in part because with no nitrite and no ammonia I didn't want the bacteria going to sleep.

Current water stats:
Ammonia: 0 (heck yeah!)
Nitrite: 0

Have now done the 1/3 snack dose (Dose #3).

 

[WestCoastChelle]

Alright, I got excited and tested earlier today than I did yesterday. So sue me, I'm excited for fish (but I am still 1000% committed to a fishless cycle).

Current water stats:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .1

Honestly the nitrite was BARELY above 0. So following the schedule I did a full dose (Dose #4) of ammonia. And will test again in 24h. Thinking my first step will be some Sterbai Corys. My reading on them suggests they're a little hardier, so *if* something goes squiffy in the new tank hopefully they could handle it better. I know with this method the tank is fully cycled and could fully stock. However the wallet says nope, lmao.

 

[Essjay]

Since you need to add fish a few at a time (wallet permitting), make sure you get the whole shoal of any shoaling fish at the same time rather than a couple of one, a couple of another. They'll settle in much better.

 

[WestCoastChelle]

Since you need to add fish a few at a time (wallet permitting), make sure you get the whole shoal of any shoaling fish at the same time rather than a couple of one, a couple of another. They'll settle in much better.

Yup! That much I do know. I'll definitely be getting all the shoals together for each kind.

 

[WestCoastChelle]

Okay, patience isn't my strongest suit. I have to run a bunch of errands this afternoon so I wasn't going to be able to test at 2pm PST. Figured I would test this morning to see if there's any chance.

BABES WE ARE CYCLED

Current water stats:
20hrs after full dose of ammonia
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0

I'll be doing the large water change this morning and then making the fish store my last stop today in my errands to hopefully bring home some FEESH.

 

[sharkweek178]

Yup! That much I do know. I'll definitely be getting all the shoals together for each kind.

What are you getting?

 

[WestCoastChelle]

What are you getting?

Hoping for sterbai corys, normal lampeye, and threadfin rainbowfish along with at least a trio of honey gourami.

My first shoal I'm hoping for is the sterbai, but seems like they aren't too commonly stocked around here. The LFS has requested a dozen for me with tomorrow's order so we'll see if the supplier actually has them. Otherwise I'm thinking pygmy.

 

[sharkweek178]

Hoping for sterbai corys, normal lampeye, and threadfin rainbowfish along with at least a trio of honey gourami.

My first shoal I'm hoping for is the sterbai, but seems like they aren't too commonly stocked around here. The LFS has requested a dozen for me with tomorrow's order so we'll see if the supplier actually has them. Otherwise I'm thinking pygmy.

I have pygmys and a honey gourami. The nice thing about that pairing is that they both like water without much movement. So they're compatible that way. Sterbais are like that too. Which is a bit unusual for most corys that like some current.

 

[WestCoastChelle]

I have pygmys and a honey gourami. The nice thing about that pairing is that they both like water without much movement. So they're compatible that way. Sterbais are like that too. Which is a bit unusual for most corys that like some current.

Yup, that's why they're on my list. You had recommended them to me on a previous thread

 

[WestCoastChelle]

So, I had read that Sterbai Corys are shy, and that I could maybe only expect to see them a little in the evenings.

Not so with my fellas! A little shy at first but very quickly started shoaling all around the tank. Exploring the rocks, branches. Have absolutely LOVED watching them this evening. And my dog absolutely ADORES watching them. He has spent hours tonight sitting beside me at my desk, watching them swim around (no worries, he's never in this room without me).

Tank decor is not in final position, the rocks are still needed to hold down the driftwood. Hopefully they will eventually sink and I can set things up a bit more how I want. Although I confess the sort of haphazardness is growing on me a bit.

I think the next ones I'll be on the hunt for are the norman's lampeye. Next payday I'm also thinking that I might want deeper sand. May do that this week's water change.