My First Ever Tank
- Thread starter creg
- Start date
Aqua Tom
Fish Gatherer
I love the fighter in there.
In order for us to help you make it a success we need to ask a few questions.
What make of tank is it?
How big is it? (volume in litres or sizes in cm please)?
How are you planning to cycle it?
What are your tap water test results.
Have you read our Begineers Resource Centre? It has a wealth of knowledge & advice for you.
Good luck & welcome to the world of fishkeeping.
In order for us to help you make it a success we need to ask a few questions.
What make of tank is it?
How big is it? (volume in litres or sizes in cm please)?
How are you planning to cycle it?
What are your tap water test results.
Have you read our Begineers Resource Centre? It has a wealth of knowledge & advice for you.
Good luck & welcome to the world of fishkeeping.
OP
OP
creg
Fishaholic
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- Nov 18, 2010
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fluval 95 litre
eheim 2036 external filter
doing the controversial fish-in cycle
only the ph of my water has been tested so far - 7
fish im planning on geting
6 glowlight tetra
6 cardinal tetra
6 corydoras
2 bolivian rams
1 small plec
eheim 2036 external filter
doing the controversial fish-in cycle
only the ph of my water has been tested so far - 7
fish im planning on geting
6 glowlight tetra
6 cardinal tetra
6 corydoras
2 bolivian rams
1 small plec
JoshuaA
Fish Herder
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Love the choice of substrate
Why don't you fill the water to the top?
I' not sure if the fish choice is ideal if you want to take a fishless cycle as remember you've got to use some fish you want and most if not all of the fish in that list are quite delicate, I'm not so sure whether a small plec is suitable for a 95 litre, perhaps someone will fill you in on that later. However if you could possibly get someone to help with mature media from one of their tanks, perhaps a friends? Most fish stores won't offer anything but its worth a try. Mine for some reason refused to give me some as he "did't have any" and didn't even suggested his magical instant cycle.
If you do get mature media before you get fish I would recommend a fishless cycle even if you were not to fully complete the cycle, I have stumbled across numerous articles on other forums where members only partially cycle their tanks. For example they keep adding ammonia and wait until the nitrite is being processed, once the nitrite is at 0 they do a 100% water change then fill it back up and place fish in and treat it as if it was a fish-in cycle. That way the bacteria is there and won't be as dangerous as a full on fish-in. Fish-less cycles tend to have the majority of the time waiting for perfect stats of 0,0.
Good luck with what ever method you chose, though if you do take the route of fish-in please do not go over board and stock too much. Bacteria takes more than a week to form which your LFS will likely claim differently.
Why don't you fill the water to the top?
I' not sure if the fish choice is ideal if you want to take a fishless cycle as remember you've got to use some fish you want and most if not all of the fish in that list are quite delicate, I'm not so sure whether a small plec is suitable for a 95 litre, perhaps someone will fill you in on that later. However if you could possibly get someone to help with mature media from one of their tanks, perhaps a friends? Most fish stores won't offer anything but its worth a try. Mine for some reason refused to give me some as he "did't have any" and didn't even suggested his magical instant cycle.
If you do get mature media before you get fish I would recommend a fishless cycle even if you were not to fully complete the cycle, I have stumbled across numerous articles on other forums where members only partially cycle their tanks. For example they keep adding ammonia and wait until the nitrite is being processed, once the nitrite is at 0 they do a 100% water change then fill it back up and place fish in and treat it as if it was a fish-in cycle. That way the bacteria is there and won't be as dangerous as a full on fish-in. Fish-less cycles tend to have the majority of the time waiting for perfect stats of 0,0.
Good luck with what ever method you chose, though if you do take the route of fish-in please do not go over board and stock too much. Bacteria takes more than a week to form which your LFS will likely claim differently.
Depending on what sort of corydoras you are having all of those fish are generally reccomended for mature tank due to being sensitive to water chemistry changes. If you do decide to go the fish-in cycle please be very careful to keep both ammonia and nitrite to 0 and stock very slowly.
A nice looking tank you have there Creg. Welcome to our forum.
As long as you monitor your tank chemistry it is indeed possible to cycle a tank using a fish-in situation. The down side to it is more about the amount of work involved in a fish-in cycle to do it right than being about the health of the fish. There is no such thing as an unacceptable method for cycling a tank except the approach of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.
As a complete sucker for new fish, I must say that many of my new fish end up in a fish-in cycle in my tanks. You buy a fish at auction and find you need to set up a new tank for them. In that case, I do not hesitate to do 90% or larger water changes while the fish ride out that first week. Since I have lots of other tanks with mature filters, my new filters always get a huge jump start on a cycle and end up fully cycled after about a week. During that week, the water in a 10 gallon tank may get daily 9 gallon water changes in order to keep the tank's water pristine. It is no big deal if you know it will end soon, but a new tank without an established filter to spike it with the right bacteria, can mean doing those 90%+ water changes for over 6 weeks. That can quickly become a burden, especially for a new fish keeper.
It is completely up to you how you go about cycling that tank with your betta. A single betta in a large tank does not give you much biological load so the water changes will probably be smaller than mine and may even be done every other day. The down side of such a nice fish-in cycle is that you will not be cycled to a very high bioload when you are all done. You will need to add your other tank occupants very slowly over several weeks to avoid a "mini-cycle" with them.
As long as you monitor your tank chemistry it is indeed possible to cycle a tank using a fish-in situation. The down side to it is more about the amount of work involved in a fish-in cycle to do it right than being about the health of the fish. There is no such thing as an unacceptable method for cycling a tank except the approach of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.
As a complete sucker for new fish, I must say that many of my new fish end up in a fish-in cycle in my tanks. You buy a fish at auction and find you need to set up a new tank for them. In that case, I do not hesitate to do 90% or larger water changes while the fish ride out that first week. Since I have lots of other tanks with mature filters, my new filters always get a huge jump start on a cycle and end up fully cycled after about a week. During that week, the water in a 10 gallon tank may get daily 9 gallon water changes in order to keep the tank's water pristine. It is no big deal if you know it will end soon, but a new tank without an established filter to spike it with the right bacteria, can mean doing those 90%+ water changes for over 6 weeks. That can quickly become a burden, especially for a new fish keeper.
It is completely up to you how you go about cycling that tank with your betta. A single betta in a large tank does not give you much biological load so the water changes will probably be smaller than mine and may even be done every other day. The down side of such a nice fish-in cycle is that you will not be cycled to a very high bioload when you are all done. You will need to add your other tank occupants very slowly over several weeks to avoid a "mini-cycle" with them.
the biffster
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bluedevil94
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Looks like a good set-up you have there.
What else are you going to stock your aquarium with?
What else are you going to stock your aquarium with?
OP
OP
creg
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ive added a couple more silk plants and moved a few things around since those photos
i keep changing my mind on what fish im geting, lemon tetra and gold rams are the next fish i want
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