New Tank. New Fishkeeper..

[zawar8686]

Hi
 
I have recently bought a new tank (Aquanano 40, 55ltr) and am currently running a fishless cycle.  This has been going for over a week now and progress is pretty slow.  My Ammonia reading has been about 4ppm for the last 6 days and doesn't seem to be going down.  I finally have some Nitrite readings, which are now at about 1ppm so looks like the cycle has stared but the Ammonia doesn't seem to have dropped all week.  Is this normal?  I read up quite a lot about this before I started so do have a fairly sound understanding of the nitrogen cycle etc.  but from most things I read it said I had to keep topping up the Ammonia every time it dropped below 4ppm (if that's the figure you're using) however mine doesn't seem to have dropped at all yet.  Just want to see if this is normal?
 
I used Household Ammonia to get the level up to 4ppm and have fish food too but am not adding this regularly yet (added a couple of flakes right at the start before getting the household ammonia but nothing since).  When would I start adding the food to use the food and Household Ammonia combined method, as I understand this gets the best results? 
I was thinking of getting live plants too but not sure when to put them in (ie. now, when nitrites spike, when nitrates are produces ect..).
 
I was also wondering if anyone with a matured tank in the Middlesbrough, North East, area would be willing to donate some mature filter media to help speed things up for me?  I drive so will be able to pick this up on an evening and understand it speeds things up dramatically. 
 
Finally, I am thinking of stocking my tank with 6 neon tetras, 2 or 3 Dalmatian Mollies and 4 male Guppies.  Would I add all these at the same time when my tank is filtered or at separate intervals?  If at separate intervals, would I go with tetras or mollies first (as Guppies need more mature tanks so would assumable go in last if his were the case).
 
Sorry for the long post, its my first one so just wanted to make sure on a few things 

 
Hopefully future posts will be a little less long lol
 
Thanks
 
Z

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi there, zawar,

to the forum.
 
Nice choice of tank; I have one myself

 
First of all, well done for choosing a fishless cycle! We see so many people with over stocked, uncycled tanks, it's lovely to have someone who's done their research

 
Six days isn't that long, and as you've got some nitrite showing up already, I'd say you're doing very well. One thing I would say is you don't really need to cycle to 4ppm; 2 or 3 will be plenty; it's only a little tank and you can't keep too many fish in there!
 
There's no real benefit to adding fish food as well; it'll just make a mess

There maybe someone on near you; or one of our members could post you some; the bacteria last surprisingly well.
 
As for your proposed stocking. I would scrap the mollies. They get bigger than you think, and are large bodied and so quite messy. I wouldn't put neons in there, personally; they're not very big, but quite active (I have false neons in another tank) . Guppies would be fine, but they do like harder water; if yours is soft they might not do too well.
 
I realise I'm sounding all negative now, but there are honestly loads of small fish; especially nowadays, with nano tanks becoming more popular, that would be really happy in there, they're just not as well known about (yet!). You'll have to think outside the box a bit, and look a bit harder.
 
If you let us know the approximate hardness of your water we can advise you better, but as a few ideas; emerald dwarf rasboras (that's what I've got in my AquaNano), chili rasboras, ember tetras, any of the three dwarf corydoras species, celestial pearl danios.
 
We actually have a very good topic on fish for nano tanks here; http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/418749-nano-fish/ which should give you some inspiration; some little beauties in there, there are

 

[zawar8686]

Hi Fluttermoth.  Thanks for the quick reply.  I'm a bit of a geek for research so was looking into this weeks before I bought a tank..
 
Took me a while to choose the Aquanano 40 but I love it. Got it on sale from Pets @ home when they had 20% off all tanks.  A beautiful tank made even more attractive at that price

 
The water in my area is quoted as moderately soft to slightly hard.  Will this not be good for guppies?  I was originally thinking of getting a Betta (siamese fighting fish) but they don't seem to get on too well with lots of other fish and my main aim was variety in my tank so had to choose between the two.  Celestial pearl danios look very nice but never seen them in any of my LFS (just googled them lol). Will have to ask if they can get them in.
 
Neon Tetras are my favourite fish and one of the main reasons I bought a fish tank in the first place and although they're quite small I thought since they like to swim in schools they'd look nice together almost as background fish?  Do you not think this would be the case?
 
Dalmation mollies looked really nice but suppose if they make too much mess the water levels in a relatively small tank could be dramatically effected so will sadly give them a miss

 
Will have a look at others mentioned in the lists you sent.  I wasn't sure if the beneficial bacteria could be posted but I would happily pay for postage and other costs if someone was willing to do this.  It would be really appreciated.
 
Would you recommend adding live plants to my tank now or waiting?
 
Thanks again,
 
Zawar

 

[zawar8686]

If any1 else has any suggestions of colourful, eye catching fish suitable for nano tanks (55ltr) I'd be very keen to see your suggestions.
 
Type of fish I liked as stated before were Siamese fighting fish, male guppies, neon tetras and dalmation mollies; looking for similar but more nano friendly fish

 
Thanks
 
Zawar

 

[the_lock_man]

Hiya, just to add to what Flutter was saying about your cycle. You said that the ammonia hadn't dropped, I reckon it has, it's just that you can't tell. In order to get 1ppm of nitrite, you only need about 0.3-0.4ppm of ammonia, and your ammonia test kit isn't accurate enough for you to read that small drop.
 
Regarding fish, how about
 
1 Male Siamese Fighting Fish
6 Celestial Pearl Danios
6 Chilli Rasbora
6 Salt & Pepper Corydoras (C. Habrosus)
 
You could swap out the SFF for a Honey Gourami, if that floated your boat too.
 
Most branches of Maidenhead Aquatics stock CPDs, at least all my local ones do (I have 3 within a 15 minute drive of me), so if your local one doesn't they would be able to get them in. Alternatively, some independent retailers still refer to them as Galaxy Rasboras.
 
MA can also get the Chilli Rasbora.if they don't stock them. The difficult one would be the S&P Cories, there's a small chain called Aquajardin, if you live near Southampton or Gloucester, they stock these.
 
HTH

 

[Essjay]

zawar, I live in Yarm and you could have some media from me. The only problem is you don't have enough posts to use the messaging system yet and I don't want to post my details on the forum. You need 10 posts (I think) so any chance of making a few more posts then pm me?

 

[fluttermoth]

I've been thinking about this overnight (while I was sat next to my Aquanano, lol) and actually I do think you'd be okay with either neons or green neons. I'd advise a single shoal of eight or ten, if you have them. I think the current might be a bit strong for a betta, so you'll have to think of a way to slow the flow down if you want one.
 
A trio of sparkling gouramis might be nice. Or there's feather fin rainbows; I nearly went for those. They never look anything in the shops, but they colour up lovely.
 
Six of any of the three dwarf corydoras species would do well. Whatever you have, bear in mind they're all going to be quite small and therefore shy, so you want to get it well planted with plenty of hiding spaces; that actually makes them feel safer and come out more

 

[zawar8686]

Thanks essjay.  I will reply to each person in a separate reply to try and activate PMing.  Alternatively would it be possible for you to email me?
My email is my username at googlemail.com.  Would be fantastic if I could ad this to my tank before the weekend as I'm going away for a couple of days and let it do it's thing whilst I'm away 

Thanks again for replying Fluttermoth.  Glad you think Neon Tetras will be ok as I was feeling a bit down about waving goodbye to them 

.
By a single shoal do you mean just a single shoal of tetras and no others or would one shoal of tetras and a shoal of Salt & Pepper Corydoras together be ok?

 

[Essjay]

Have just emailed you.

 

[zawar8686]

Hi Lock Man.  Thanks for the info.  Think your right about the Ammonia. I assumed something must be happening since the Nitrite was going up but wasn't sure what 

  
The tests for Ammonia are difficult to get exact readings and jump up quite quickly on the scale.
I had a quick look at the fish you suggested whilst at work (while no one was looking of course), and I really like the Celestial Pearl Danios and Salt and Peppers.
Salt and peppers are similar in colour to the Dalmation Molies that I wanted, but fluttermoth suggested they may be too messy, so these could be a good alternative 

 
Do you think the amount of fish you suggested wil be ok in the tank I have?  There's a lot of "rules" out there to determine the amount of fis per litre of water etc. but not quite sure.
 
Fluttermoth, How many fish do you have in your tank?


esjay, I replied 

 

[zawar8686]

Fluttermoth, would the guppies be able to adjust to moderately soft water or would you just cross them off the list altogether straight away?

 

[fluttermoth]

They'd be okay, if you're desperate to have them, but guppies in general these days seem to have become a very weak fish due to poor breeding; they used to be tough as old boots
 
I have a dozen dwarf emerald rasboras and an very ancient clown plec in mine (the clown plec is not something I'd recommend, btw, it's just I need to downsize and am selling a couple of tanks and I have nowhere else to put him; I can't get rid of him, he's 15!)
 
I would really go with one shoal; either the neons or the CPD.
 
Something like;
 
a male Siamese fighter, or three male guppies, or a trio of sparkling or honey gouramis
then a shoal of eight or ten neons or ten or twelve CPD (they're a bit smaller, you could have more)
and six salt and pepper cories (do make sure you get the right species, Corydoras habrosus; there's another cory with the common name 'peppered cory' that would get too big for your tank)
 
It would be pushing your stocking, but they're all small fish with a small bioload, and the AquaNano does have an excellent filtration system. You'd just have to make sure you stayed on top of your regular partial water changes, once you're cycled, to make sure the nitrate doesn't build up too much.
 
Sounding good to you?

 

[Essjay]

Just to add that zanwar is having some substrat pro from me

 

[zawar8686]

Thanks essjay

 .  I have added the substarte to my tank.
It was a pleasure meeting you

  and thank you again for all the information and showing me your lovely tanks and fish.
I really appreciate it as I'm trying to learn as much as possible.
 
Fluttermoth, that does sound good.
At the moment I'm leaning towards:
3 Male Guppies, (although essjays honey gouramis looked really good so may be an alternative)
six salt and peppers,
and can't decide between tetras or CPD, could I get 6 of each?
 
I think I still have a while to go with my cycling yet so will look at lots of other fish before the final decision is made.
 
I will also try and buy some live plants next week and put them in.  Am I right in thinking the tank doesn't have to be cycled before I can do this?

 

[fluttermoth]

and can't decide between tetras or CPD, could I get 6 of each?

You could; I wouldn't advise it, but you could. I think you have to realise that you do only have a small tank, however good it is!
 

I will also try and buy some live plants next week and put them in.  Am I right in thinking the tank doesn't have to be cycled before I can do this?

Some people say that you shouldn't add live plants; you can get algae problems, but many people cycle with plants and it's nice to get them settled and your aquascaping sorted before the fish go in