Fishless Cycling In Progress

[DebraAustin]

To all of you that held my hand through the fishless cycle just wanted to let you know that I got my first two fish yesterday. I got a pair of dwarf sunset platys. They are pretty tiny right now, but are a couple nice bright orange spots in my tank. They seem happy and active. It is great it finally have something swimming in the water. I'm glad I waited, though, because they seem so happy.

Debra

 

[wheelyfeet]

To all of you that held my hand through the fishless cycle just wanted to let you know that I got my first two fish yesterday. I got a pair of dwarf sunset platys.

Woo hoo! I think the dwarf sunset platies are cute. If you happened to get a mixed pair -- watch out! They are good reproducers!

 

[DebraAustin]

Woo hoo! I think the dwarf sunset platies are cute. If you happened to get a mixed pair -- watch out! They are good reproducers!

Good to hear from you. I was very careful to get two females. They are doing great. I am going to add some sort of cory this week. I'd love a leopard, but don't know if anyone has one in the area and am not ready to try ordering fish online. I named them Beezus and Ramona from the Beverly Cleary children's books. They already know the feeding lady (me). As soon as I come over to the tank they race to the top waiting for food. I am only feeding them once a day, but they want it all the time. They also have gotten comfortable coming close to the front of the tank when I'm peering in. They are fun and I'm looking forward to adding a few more fish over the next couple weeks. Was going to get marble hatchets as my last pair, but found out they have special feeding needs and since I travel fairly often I think I need something more hardy and less picky. I'll get some marble hatchets someday, though. I think they are absolutely amazing to watch, the way the marbling changes and shimmers with the light.

It sounds like things are finally drying out in your area. We keep getting a threat of snow, but it has gotten so warm already that it looks pretty, but doesn't stick. People here are total whimps though. As soon as snow is even mentioned in the forecast they run to the store to stock up on two or three weeks worth of food. Makes me laugh since the longest we've had snow on the ground here (in the last seven years) is five days and the road were clear after one.

Have a great week and say hi to your fishies.

Debra

 

[wheelyfeet]

Cory cats are great little fish. They are so amusing. They just go all the time, and they seem oblivious to everthing. We have 3 varieties in our 75g. tank: albino C. aenus, green C. aenus, and speckled C. reticulatus. Just be sure you vacuum your gravel when you do your water changes since they are bottom feeders and susceptable to bacteria that may be in uneaten food, etc. We use Hikari sinking wafers for our cories and they love them. In fact all of our fish love them, so I put them in the tank after the lights have been out for awhile so the other fish don't compete for them.

We are back to normal drizzle now, instead of torrential down pours. Things are still a bit soggy though. Ahh, Seattle.

Debra P

 

[DebraAustin]

Cory cats are great little fish. They are so amusing. They just go all the time, and they seem oblivious to everthing. We have 3 varieties in our 75g. tank: albino C. aenus, green C. aenus, and speckled C. reticulatus. Just be sure you vacuum your gravel when you do your water changes since they are bottom feeders and susceptable to bacteria that may be in uneaten food, etc. We use Hikari sinking wafers for our cories and they love them. In fact all of our fish love them, so I put them in the tank after the lights have been out for awhile so the other fish don't compete for them.

We are back to normal drizzle now, instead of torrential down pours. Things are still a bit soggy though. Ahh, Seattle.

Debra P

Picked up one julii cory, but will get another next week, as we will be gone this weekend and don't want a new fish when I'm not going to be here. Didn't know they needed friends, but this one seems very lonely. Hides most of the time, but is healthy and gets out swimming around once in awhile.

I seem to have a lot of algae growth but my stats are right on. What is causing this?

Debra

 

[Squid]

i think they like to be in groups of 5 upwards...

Is your tank near a window?

Squid

 

[DebraAustin]

i think they like to be in groups of 5 upwards...

Is your tank near a window?

Squid

No my tank is not near a window. I do run the light all day, because I have a few plants in the tank. Will be adding more plants soon, but need to find a good supplier as we have very little to choose from in this area. Most of the plants look like they are on their last legs, at the lfs that is, or they are covered in brown algae which I have enough of already.

Debra

 

[wheelyfeet]

No my tank is not near a window. I do run the light all day, because I have a few plants in the tank. Will be adding more plants soon, but need to find a good supplier as we have very little to choose from in this area. Most of the plants look like they are on their last legs, at the lfs that is, or they are covered in brown algae which I have enough of already.

Planted tanks seem to be another whole category in the aquarist hobby. I have one tiny 3 gallon tank with live plants and all the others have silk or plastic plants. I can definitely see the advantages of the artificially planted tanks! They are much easier to clean. I just pull the plants and decor out, vacuum the gravel, rinse the plants and "plant" them all again. I put way more work into the planted tank than what I am getting back from it; it just isn't what I picture a planted tank to be.

I would love to have one of those beautiful, lush aquariums that I've seen pictures of, but it does seem to be it's own art form. There is a discussion area on this board about planted tanks that may be of some help to you.

I don't have a good source for aquairum plants in my area either. I did manage to find a couple of decent looking plants at a local big box store and ended up with a pond snail infestation that I am still battling. Do you know of any fish that eat baby pond snails?

Here is a website for ordering plant packages that seem to be a good price, and they seem to be responsive to questions Freshwater Aquarium Plants . Com

The cory cats may help with some of the algae.