New 25G Aquarium - Cycling

[letsgophillyingeneral]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post, and it is in regards to a 25G aquarium I setup on 2/4/12. I'm in the midst of doing a fish-in cycle. The filter is a Penguin 200.

I have an established aquarium and kept pieces of sponge in the filters to build up beneficial bacteria. So far, I moved a plant decoration, a cup (or so) of gravel and spongey filter media from my established aquarium to the new 25G aquarium.

1 piece of sponge was added around 2/10/12. Another piece of sponge, along with the plant and gravel (and some water), were added yesterday [2/19/12] after I completed a water change. I let the aquarium sit for several hours before testing the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. When I finally tested, I found small amounts of ammonia, no nitrite and SOME nitrate! I was very surprised to see the nitrate tests show up positive.

So, my question is, how quickly can an aquarium's bacteria colony build up if filter media, decorations, substrate, etc. were transplanted from an established tank?


Stocking:
- Did not stock anything for the first few days
- Added 3 Silver Mollies ~2/7/12
- Added 4 Male Guppies ~2/11/12
- Added 2 Black Mollies and 8 Female Guppies 2/19/12


I understand that this is probably overstocked due to the Mollies. I've read that they grow to 4" in length, but they're less than 3" right now and can be moved into a larger aquarium in the not too distant future.

I'll test the water again tonight and post the results. Thank you all in advance!

 

[letsgophillyingeneral]

Bueller....Bueller..

 

[letsgophillyingeneral]

One of the Black Mollies had her babies!

And I came home to baby Convict Cichlids last night woohoo.

 

[letsgophillyingeneral]

The 25G just finished cycling! Woohoo. I guess it took just under a month.. not bad. (Seeded with mature filter media, substrate and decorative plant)

The 25G currently has:
- 1 Black Molly (f)
- 3 Silver Molly (I think 1 is F and 2 are M, hard to tell)
- 3 Male Guppy
- 6 Female Guppy

I was thinking of getting 6-8 Pygmy Cories or perhaps 1 Bristlenose Pleco. Thoughts? Should I give it another month or two before adding the Cories or BN Pleco?



And here's a clip of my Convict parents watching over their new fry.

 

[FishFanatic04]

awesome babies!

 

[CezzaXV]

It won't make any difference to your bacteria whether you add more fish now or X time into the future, assuming you're fully cycled and it's dealing with the fish you already have. When you do add fish (especially with what you're considering), you'll need to monitor the ammonia and nitrite for a few days afterwards as you may get a mini-cycle and you'll need to do water changes until your bacteria catch up.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to our forum Lets go. As Cezza has said, the real restraint to your stocking is letting things get adjusted to your present conditions. You may well experience a mini-cycle before your parameters settle out. I would not advise getting any more fish until the present situation has stabilized. After that, you can ad new fish slowly.

 

[letsgophillyingeneral]

Thank you all for the information, we will be holding off on adding any more fish. Also, I previously considered Cory's for this tank, but I must've been high at the time of the consideration -- I dose this tank with a spoon of aquarium salt per gallon. I believe the aquarium salt would harm the scaleless Corys, correct? It looks like Corys, Ottos and Plecos do not get along with aquarium salt - what bottom-dwellers might work out in this aquarium?

I really need to get a hydrometer so that I can measure the salinigravinitygoodness. If you dose 1 Tsp per gallon, what does that measure out too in terms of salt levels? And what is the proper term I'm looking for here? Salinity? General hardness? I'd like to become less noobish in this department!

Thank you again


Go Flyers / Sixers

 

[OldMan47]

You do not need a hygrometer unless you just happen to like such toys. You have a fresh water tank and hygrometers are for people on the dark side Salty side of things. A molly will do just fine in a purely fresh water tank as long as you do not have excessively soft water. If you have a pH, something almost anyone can measure, over about 7.5, you will be fine without any additives. If you have a lower pH, I would suggest that you find out if you have hard or soft water. If the water is soft, you can add some crushed coral or crushed shell to your filter to drive the hardness up without damaging salt sensitive fish like cories. A molly will thrive in a straight salt water tank but it is the exception that proves the rule. Most freshwater fish do not tolerate salt very well at all.