My 1St Post, My 1St Tank And My 1St Stock List

[neilp4]

Hi

I've been reading this excellent forum for a few weeks now, and as my tank is probably mid-way through it's fish-less cycle I'm starting to think about what's going in it. I hadn't even heard of a fish-less cycle before I read about it on here, so that just shows how valuable this site is. Thanks for all the great advice I've been getting without you even knowing.

The tank is a Juwel Rekord 800, 110 litres with standard pump/filter (Bioflow super 400), Ph is 7.0. I have a fairly fine gravel substrate which is pretty rounded (not sharp - thinking about the cories I want). I'll also be planting it once the cycle is over with a variety of plants.

What I'd like is:
2 Dwarf Gouramis (M & F)
2 Apistogamma (M & F)
8 Harlequin Rasbora
5 peppered Cory

What are people's thoughts? will they all get on, are there too many fish, what order do I add them ??? So many questions but I'm hoping someone can help me out.

Thanks

 

[Knox213]

I like the stocking. it sounds great..

They should get on along with eachother

and it sounded cool how you sound "This excellent Forums "

im Knox the forum Spammer

Anyway.


Yes. They should get along perfectly. And i think you can add them all at the same time?

 

[Truck]

If you choose to do the fish in cycle, start off with the 8 harlequin rasboras, after the rasboras have cycled the tank, double the numbers and then leave it a week or so, for the filter to catch up, then add the cories, then the Apistogrammas and then the gouramis.

Which species of apistogramma are you thinking of keeping?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Neil.
You stocking looks good to me if you have fairly soft water. I would start the stocking with the harlequin rasboras followed by the cories. Then wait a while and add in the dwarf gouramis and finally add in the Apistogramma.

 

[loraxchick]

you are doing a fishless cycle, right? if yes, then you should be able to add all your fish at once.
cheers

 

[waterdrop]

Gee, not a problem to be found in this thread! Welcome to TFF!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[onebto]

Gee, not a problem to be found in this thread! Welcome to TFF!

~~waterdrop~~

LOL waterdrop no disaster to sort out here

Welcome to TFF neilp4 and good choice on doing the fishless cycle

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, slim pickins right after holiday... the mass of beginners are busy dumping hoards of fish into the fresh tap water they've just filled their new aquariums with and this first stocking hasn't died yet, so the onslaught of questions hasn't yet begun...

 

[OldMan47]

Give it a week WD. That is when the rescue posts will start in earnest. Thank goodness there are lots of folks here that have learned the basics and can help them navigate the hazards.

 

[waterdrop]

we need two little smiley guys with hardhats and a hazard sawhorse between them...

 

[neilp4]

Thanks for the advice everyone, you may also like to know that this place helped with a problem this week.

My fishless cycle slowed right down a few days ago, and searching on here taught me about stalling, and what to do about it. I wasn't really watching my Ph value, after the 1st week or so it hadn't changed so I was really only testing Ammonia and Nitrites. Then I bought a nice bit of bogwood on one of my frequent trips to look at fish in the shop. In the tank it went and a few days later my ammonia level stopped reducing.

I solved it with a full water change (as read on here) and the Ph value is now back to normal, actually it's higher than normal as I've added Bicarbonate of soda to help things out. My ammonia is now reducing from 4ppm to zero in 24 hours again, and my Nitrite value is 2 (API test kit).

I'm very happy I found this site before I started buying fish as I really didn't know any better than to follow the shop owner's advice and just put fish into an un-cycled tank to fend for themselves.

Cheers everyone and a happy new year to you all.

 

[OldMan47]

It sounds like things are starting to work for you now Neil. Since you are in the nitrite spike, you could even back off the ammonia to maybe 2 ppm. That should slow the pH drops as nitrates start to build..