Pelvicachromis sp. aff. pulcher - p. "Sacrimontis"

[YngUrbanCMH]

I found someone in my local area with 6 young Giant Krib's. I'm not sure where I'm going to put them yet, but it's so difficult to find interesting species in my area so I can't say no!

How large of a tank would everyone recomend for these guys? I could make some room in my 10 gallon at work, which should be ok short term I think... being young all of them are under 2". My other option is to stick them in my 30 gallon which already has a pair of p.pulcher.... I have other fish in it right now, but for the most part they are all dithers with the exception of the loaches and otto's.

I could also purchase another aquarium (20 gal?)... which means I'd need to get it running ASAP! I've heard of people seeding a new filter by sticking it in an established tank and other methods of getting a tank running quickly... anybody have any pointers?

Any suggestions?

 

[Tim]

YU CMH,

Though I haven't had the opportunity to try it, the best idea I've heard for instant cycling is to do a fair sized water change in a cycled tank and use that water in the new one. In fact if you buy a 20 gallon tank and have a 50 gallon one running, you could start with 100% cycled water.

Then, if you have filters that use ceramic stones (I think that's what they are), you put half of the cycled ones in the new tank and divide the new ones between both tanks. Even if you don't have the ceramic stones, I suppose it would work dividing half of whatever filter material the cycled tank has.

And oiulá, a cycled tank.

As for krib advice, as you saw in my other post, I'm better off keeping my mouth shut...


PS: Until SMB comes along, I'll stick in a link that he posted in another conversation about fishless cycling: http/www.aaquaria.com/aquasource/cycle2.shtml


Edited for the PS

 

[impur]

I seeded my 55 with filter media from a 10 gal(in the emperor 400 HOB filter) and a pantyhose sock with a few handfuls of gravel from the 10(also in the HOB filter) as well as a few silk plants and large rocks. I didn't see a cycle whatsoever. The water won't really help, its the actual media and things in the tank that the bacteria cling to that you want in the new tank.

Your other choice is to purchase a product called bio spira. You put this in the tank along with all the fish you plan to keep in the tank. The stuff is pretty expensive, like $20 for enough to do a 55 gal tank, but works wonders.

 

[YngUrbanCMH]

Thanks Tim & Impur... I use Hagen Bio~Max in a media bag in my 30 gal with an AquaClear HOT filter. I think I'll just take out half of the ceramic bio~max rings, and put them in the new filter. I think I'll probably keep a close eye on the 30 gallon though, I'm a little worried about throwing it into a mini-cycle by removing some of the bio~filter. A few weeks ago I stopped using the carbon insert as I began using peat moss to keep the pH down and lower hardness... doesn't work well with carbon media as the carbon removes the peat as soon as it's released. My ammonia briefly went up to .25 ppm over the next few days, but the mini cycle didn't last long.

I'm shocked by how much bio spira is everywhere else! A chain here, Aquarium Adventures, just started carying it. They carry several different sizes, the smallest package (1 oz. I think?) which is supposed to be enough for up to 30 gallons costs $5.99 + tax! I don't know if they would ship or not, but it might be worth checking out! I would imagine if it was packaged with dry ice or something, it should keep cool enough to survive. I wrote an earlier post about my experience with it though. I followed the directions on the packet, but still had a cycle.