Hi
I'm sure this is something that has been discussed time and time again on this forum so I apologise if this is foolish or boring post. I also thank anyone who reads this in advance for their time!!
I've recently bought myself a small (15l) tank and began setting it up. The book I have mentions nothing about "fishless cycling" and although I did quite a lot of research (speaking to a lot of shop workers/ surfing Internet etc), I did not hear about this technique until I came across this site. This was unfortunately since I had spoken to a very credible shop worker who advised me to put 4 Danios in my tank to begin cycling. My wife wasn't that impressed with them as fish so the guy told me that I could take the Danios back when they had done their job. We have since changed our minds and decided to keep them but reading this forum I am wondering if I should change it back. They do seem to have done their job so to speak. I introduced them into the tank on Sunday. I had what seems to me a small amount of ammonia in my tank on Monday (0.5 ppm) which dispersed to nothing by Wednesday. Also, the nitrite level rose to 1ppm on Tuesday falling to zero by Friday.
The thing is I have two Zebras and two Leopards and one of the Leopards is very aggressive. The experienced heads on this forum I'm sure would tell me that this is because I neither have enough water (20l being the minimum) nor enough Danios (I have read 5 as a minimum - is this 5 of the same type?). In hindsight I should have started using this "fishless cycling!" technique, but I can't turn back time and the guy at the shop's advice still seems to have worked so far. I have added Mollies today still following his advice (again before I discovered this forum).
My questions are these:
1/ Should I take the Danios back to where they would presumably be happier with more of their mates?
2/ I understand that bacteria grow in my filter to cater for the amount of ammonia produced by my fish and presumably will die back if less fish are present. Given this, if I do take them back now, what will be the effect on the cycling "equation"?
3/ If the above is true, might I use this to my advantage? I have been told that Clown Loaches are more susceptible to fin rot when stressed as they have skin, not scales and should not be introduced till later when ammonia will be less of a problem. I'm not suggesting introducing them any earlier, but if i swap the Danios for the Loaches, will this not "balance my equation" so to speak, meaning no ammonia spikes at this time?
I'm sorry this post is so longwinded, but I'ma longwinded kind of person and this seems liek an excellent forum popluated by knowledgable people.
Many thanks!
Sime
I'm sure this is something that has been discussed time and time again on this forum so I apologise if this is foolish or boring post. I also thank anyone who reads this in advance for their time!!
I've recently bought myself a small (15l) tank and began setting it up. The book I have mentions nothing about "fishless cycling" and although I did quite a lot of research (speaking to a lot of shop workers/ surfing Internet etc), I did not hear about this technique until I came across this site. This was unfortunately since I had spoken to a very credible shop worker who advised me to put 4 Danios in my tank to begin cycling. My wife wasn't that impressed with them as fish so the guy told me that I could take the Danios back when they had done their job. We have since changed our minds and decided to keep them but reading this forum I am wondering if I should change it back. They do seem to have done their job so to speak. I introduced them into the tank on Sunday. I had what seems to me a small amount of ammonia in my tank on Monday (0.5 ppm) which dispersed to nothing by Wednesday. Also, the nitrite level rose to 1ppm on Tuesday falling to zero by Friday.
The thing is I have two Zebras and two Leopards and one of the Leopards is very aggressive. The experienced heads on this forum I'm sure would tell me that this is because I neither have enough water (20l being the minimum) nor enough Danios (I have read 5 as a minimum - is this 5 of the same type?). In hindsight I should have started using this "fishless cycling!" technique, but I can't turn back time and the guy at the shop's advice still seems to have worked so far. I have added Mollies today still following his advice (again before I discovered this forum).
My questions are these:
1/ Should I take the Danios back to where they would presumably be happier with more of their mates?
2/ I understand that bacteria grow in my filter to cater for the amount of ammonia produced by my fish and presumably will die back if less fish are present. Given this, if I do take them back now, what will be the effect on the cycling "equation"?
3/ If the above is true, might I use this to my advantage? I have been told that Clown Loaches are more susceptible to fin rot when stressed as they have skin, not scales and should not be introduced till later when ammonia will be less of a problem. I'm not suggesting introducing them any earlier, but if i swap the Danios for the Loaches, will this not "balance my equation" so to speak, meaning no ammonia spikes at this time?
I'm sorry this post is so longwinded, but I'ma longwinded kind of person and this seems liek an excellent forum popluated by knowledgable people.
Many thanks!
Sime
Dammit! I've just realised that I put 15 litres - I meant 15 gallons!! It's a 60 litre tank. (Can you even get 15 litre tanks?). Sorry about that!
