New To This - Sanity Check Me So Far Please :p

[RCA]

You have like a mini-blog going here, which is great, as we can all share your journey into this wonderful addictive world.
 
A tip for you, I used to use the bottled bacteria, yet on a large tank during the initial stages I was using a LOT of it at great cost.  Then my LFS advised me of Aqua Pure Pond Balls, which I now use.  You can get aquarium ones which are clear, the pond ones are black, yet the pond ones give you a lot more for your money - check the tub details!  I put a handful of these in with the filter media when I do a water change, or if they are still there (they get smaller over time), I just add a few less.  They are very economical compared to the bottled stuff, so you may want to look into them.
 
This Old Spouse is correct in that Bettas do not like a strong current, they are not very strong swimmers so prefer calmer water.  That said, they will find somewhere to rest, on a leaf or tank decor if needs be.  They just cannot cope with a strong current very well as it exhausts them quickly, and you may find they will have trouble feeding if the food moves around against the current.  They tend to hang mainly in the top part of the aquarium, so if there is a heavily planted area away from the current you may find a Betta would be OK.  Personally, I love them, and the girls are as entertaining as the boys, plus you can have more of them

.
 
Other fish to consider, Kuhli and/or Java Loaches, Ottos (need a mature aquarium), Gobys...as you say the list is endless.

 

[Ap0ll0]

ok so quick update just tested the water again - nitrites are showing 0.25-0.5ish, ammonia is down at about 2-3 from about 8 initially, and nitrates are RED at about 40+
 
I've not had a nitrite spike, in fact my nitrite levels are as high now as they've been at any point, but I've definitely had a reasonable amount of ammonia make its way through the cycle into nitrate. my working theory is that because I used a big amount of donor media that was sat in water for a couple of days, both sets of bacteria died down to the point where the slow amount of ammonia conversion to nitrite was easily kept on top of by the remaining nitrite eaters, and I just have to wait for the ammonia eaters to get up to speed and they'll bring the nitrite eaters (technical terms here lol) along with them. hoping the ammonia will be close to zero in the next day or so and I can top it up and wait for it to get the conversion happening fast enough.
 
I might have to accelerate my fish acquiring plans and start at least looking at my local lfs' this weekend, wasn't planning to add anything til after easter but if my tank is cycling as fast as it would seem...

 

[Ap0ll0]

cycled. got up this morning, checked the nitrites, didn't believe it, double checked, all gone. stuck another capful of ammonia in and will check again at 8 tonight to make sure. the donor media really did its job (I'm guessing it wasn't the NF Cycle, as that was a month past its date to begin with ), I've had it running just over a week
 
now I just have to keep it cycled til I'm ready to add a bunch of fishies. 
 
I have also replaced the motor head with one from a second ex1200 and while it still has a reasonable hum, that must be expected as there's no buzzing like the other one, and the flow is even stronger, now I just have to send the other one back for a refund.

 

[Ap0ll0]

update for anyone that cares - there are now 11 fish in the tank (and about the same number of various plantS)
 
3 boesemani rainbowfish - pretty sure its 1 male and 2 females but I'm not 100% about one of the females
 
NB: the common consensus on the interwebs is that my 200l, 1m long tank is pretty borderline when it comes to the boesemanis. I do intend to upgrade to a larger tank within a year and at the moment they are no more than a couple of inches long. They are the only ones in the tank who seem to realise the tank has walls, the corys and celebes are often up against them but not the boesemanis. I can see why they might need more room when bigger though, they can flit across the length of the tank so quickly when they want to.
 
4 celebes rainbowfish - pretty sure its 2 males and a female, unsure about the fourth (fins aren't as long as the other males but longer than the other female and has fairly pronounced dark bits and it has been 'flaring' a lot which I thought was more typical of males)
 
4 sterbai corys - no idea about sexes, not even sure what is recommended
 
Before adding any more types I'm probably going to increase the boesemanis up to 5 (at least) with 2m 3f, with another female to add if necessary to prevent any problems, the celebes up to 7/8, ideally with more female than males (so will only add 1 more male if I don't have 3 already) and I might add another cory or two although they seem pretty happy and fearless as it is.
 
once the tank has been going a bit longer and I've added some floating plants I want to add a pearl gourami (maybe with a female or two). Beyond that I'm not really sure - I think maybe another species of bottom dweller, and a surface dweller, but I'm struggling to find a decent choice for hard water community surface dweller, looking like marbled hatchets at the moment but I'm not sure they'll be big enough not to be at risk from the Boesemani's when they grow bigger
 
 
 
ammonia remained at zero (added during course of saturday, tested sunday eve) nitrites also, nirates are i think between 20-40 (not fantastic but my water has 10 in to start, and I did a roughly 80% water change on the friday night before adding fish. I plan to do up to a 50pc change thurs/fri to bring it down again
 
they're all together most of the time in their groups, the celebes also shoal with the boesemanis sometimes as they are roughly the same size at the moment, but I imagine once the boesemanis outgrow them that won't be the case
 
I tried giving them a little bit of food after they'd all settled in a bit on saturday, but they were still out of sorts and had a little go but the rest went to the bottom for the corys, however on sunday I fed them a couple of times (very small amounts) and they were loving it.
 
I turn the room lights on/off for as long as I can without turning on/off the aquarium lights in the morning and evening (going to set up a timer on the aquarium lights asap) to give them a bit of gradual dawn/dusk