Finally Made The Plunge And Will Be Stocking Soon

[Nik00117]

I'm preparing to stock my tank, it's a 55 gallon and I'm going stock it slowly. I can't for the life of me find ammonia in Korea. My wife looked, I looked can't find it anywhere. Korea is also a country where you need a doctor to prescibe tyleon for a headache before the phramacy will sell to you.
 
So this puts me in a position of being in a fish in cycle (my wife is Korea and we spent the last 2 weeks searching) 
 

So heres what I have now
 
55 Gallon
Got all the test kits
3 heaters (two 150 watts, and one 75 watt)
3 Filters for a grand total of 289 GPH
Unplannted/unlite (the cost of lighting in Korea for fish tanks is expensive)
 
My plan is to do a simple community tank centered around a Beta. I'm going to purchase the Beta on week 1, watch the water levels etc. and then start adding in friendly community fish, thinking Neons, and Tetras and things along those lines.
 
However I was wondering does anyone have any other suggestions?
 
One thing in Korea that had really frustated me is their is VERY little out there for my size of a tank. I talked to a fish store owner and he said most poeple in Korea don't get anything bigger then a 10 gallon, maybe a 20 gallon and sometimes even a 29 gallon but a 55 gallon is SUPER RARE. And apparently only rich people keep fish tanks. So I get to pay their prices.

 

[TooManyChoices]

For a fishless cycle you could've just put a prawn in the tank. Simple as that. No need to hunt for pure ammonia.

 

[JellOh]

Feel free to yell at me if I'm wrong, but can't you do a fishless cycle using decaying matter like raw shrimp? I've eard it mentioned once or twice, but I Donets know home effective it would be. So, justo correctg me if I'm wrong. Regardless, you might want to cycle your tank with something a bit more hardy.

 

[McCool]

Feel free to yell at me if I'm wrong, but can't you do a fishless cycle using decaying matter like raw shrimp? I've eard it mentioned once or twice, but I Donets know home effective it would be. So, justo correctg me if I'm wrong. Regardless, you might want to cycle your tank with something a bit more hardy.

I've done it with the shrimp method, and although it does take awhile, it does work! Worth it in my opinion.

 

[attibones]

What about fish food? Couldn't you just use flakes or pellets or whatever?
 
Also, if you want tetras in with a betta, I'd avoid neons. They are prone to diseases that cardinals and other tetras seem more able to withstand. You'd also do well to remove the betta from the tank, add in the new fish, break up territories by moving around decor, and then adding the betta back in, just to make sure there is no aggression.

 

[JellOh]

Oh good, so the shrimp thingy is fine.


As for stocking, with all that room you could add a betta large sorority with maybe a Bristlenose or Clown pleco. Or, you could get a gaint or king betta. I've even heard of people have a sorority of regular females with a gaint or two.

 

[DerpPH]

How about wild betta splendens? they are not as colorful but they are beautiful in their own way!   

 

 

 

 

 

[Nik00117]

So your saying I should not do betta at first? Maybe last? This can be arranged and that's not an issue. 
 
I've read the reports on people doing prawns/non ammonia way...takes too long

 

[DerpPH]

So your saying I should not do betta at first? Maybe last? This can be arranged and that's not an issue. 
 
I've read the reports on people doing prawns/non ammonia way...takes too long

Yep it takes some time... But another option is bottled ammonium!
Anyways betta splendens are the same as the common betta. Same species.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'm trying to picture a poor betta in a 55g with no plants and 289 gph flow. 

 

[JellOh]

I've read the reports on people doing prawns/non ammonia way...takes too long

Why not just order a bottle or two of ammonia off Amazon/eBay/DrFostersAndSmith/PetCo/PetSmart. You could probably even find it on AquaBid.

 

[Nik00117]

Wow....Living overseas I didn't think they'd ship but they do...LOL With amazon prime I got a bottle shipped to me for $5.99
 
I don't think a 289 GHP is that bad it's going be spread across three fitlers.