Planting A Tank Whilst Fishless Cycling?

[Byron]

OK, that is moderately hard water at 14 dGH.  Livebearers will be fine.  So would the barbs.  The mosre common corys should be OK, but I would be cautious with any wild-caught species.  The loaches also, as both the "dwarf" species we previously mentioned will be wild caught and this GH is getting a bit high for them.
 
Byron.

 

[L2wis]

Thanks again Byron for your info!!

 

[L2wis]

Been a while since I've been on here! The tank seems to be doing very well! Its currently got 5 pentazona barbs in it! Here are some photos!







The baby crypt plants actually came from the original adult plants! I clicked the baby plants away from their parents and pushed them into the sand!

 

[Byron]

Coming along nicely.  I see a couple possible things...starting with the plant in the rear right corner and next to it.  Those look like Java Fern, and if they are, do not bury the rhizome in the sand or it may rot.  This plant can be attached to wood or rock (in a crevice, or with black cotton thread) and it will spread over and away from the wood/rock.  The rhizome is the thick root-like stem from which the leaves and fine roots grow.  Keep the rhizome above the sand.
 
Second suggestion would be to move the Vallisneria (front left corner) into the rear right corner.  This plant will get huge, and spread out, and it will form a nice backdrop as it does.
 
Is the wood in the centre one complete chunk, or two placed together?
 
Byron.

 

[L2wis]

Hi Byron, the wood is indeed two peices. I think your right they are java ferns. I planted the grass thing on the front right because I wanted to hide the filter a bit, maybe I could split it at somepoint? The heater is in the back right at the moment.

 

[Byron]

Hi Byron, the wood is indeed two peices. I think your right they are java ferns. I planted the grass thing on the front right because I wanted to hide the filter a bit, maybe I could split it at somepoint? The heater is in the back right at the moment.

 
The Vallisneria (front left) is going to spread quite rapidly; I can already see runners heading along the front.  I would move this plant to the back, and the rear right corner seems the best as it will fill that in nicely.  The heater won't matter (though I cannot see the heater in the photo...?).
 
The wood I would separate.  A solid "something" dead centre of an aquarium always draws attention to itself and gives the impression of less space.  Moving these two chunks apart and repositioning them so they are neither in the centre and are not equidistant from each other will give the illusion of much more space.  As one idea, if the left chunk is moved to the left a couple inches so it now touches the rock (this will also give a more natural impression of the rock, as rocks are frequently positioned next to a chunk of wood) and the right chunk can be moved several inches to the right, sort of to where the slate is.  You can try different scenarios.
 
Byron.

 

[L2wis]

Here is my tank now



We got 11 Pentazona Barbs now and 10 Cardinal Tetra. We did have 11 Tetra but I had to pull one out yesterday because he had somehow lost his tail fin!? I've not witnessed and fin nipping so it's a bit of a mystery. Took a water reading and everything looked fine, I did a big water change regardless thou (around 50%). No other deaths and all other fish and their fins look fine. I wondered if I was underfeeding them and they turned cannibal? Is that possible?

Here is a pic of the poor Tetra I pulled out, the back half of him had lost its colour along with the fish missing. He was struggling to stay out the filter and was pointing down mostly which is why I removed him.



The Ph of the tank has reduced from 8 to about 7.6 now

 

[Munroco]

Looks much better with the wood separate, very nice.

 

[L2wis]

Thanks! Do you have any ideas what might have happened to my Tetra?

 

[Byron]

Yes, that is a much better layout; there is now a sense of more space.  Very nice.
 
As to the cardinal, hard to say.  Keep an eye on the interactions of fish so see if you spot any hint of possible nipping by one of the barbs (less likely to be the cardinals).  May just have been the individual fish.
 
Byron.

 

[Ch4rlie]

nice, i like it a lot   

 

[L2wis]

Thanks for the messages guys
I think your right about it being a barb, I've not witnessed any bulling however very suspiciously a single barb died then a couple of days later! I noticed some swelling of the barbs lip and he wasn't including himself in the pack. Maybe he/she damaged it's lip when killing the Tetra and then died from from an infection?

I researched columnaris and other possible causes but didn't really find anything that matched the symptom. I don't think fin rot would have removed so much fin without me noticing, I always check the fish in the morning, midday and then watch them for a while in the evening and I think I would have noticed it.

I did the obvious and tested the water after each death and both came back fine but regardless I did a water change anyway.

No more deaths have occurred since and the teras have been shouling with the barbs a lot so hopefully things have settled down now.

I was worried I wasn't feeding them enough.

 

[Byron]

Fish do die, sometimes quite suddenly, and it is not necessarily from any contagious disease or condition in the tank.  Though the latter obviously has to be guarded against, but primarily by keen observation daily.  Once you have a species for several months and then years, it is much easier to see an issue.  More than once I have read a post from a member who was fearful their fish was "twitching" and thus must be sick, and all it turned out to be was natural interactive behaviours or even spawning preliminaries.
 
And secondly, resist at all times the urge to dump some "medicine" in the tank.  In the majority of cases this does considerably more harm and may lead to a real issue and fish loss.  Fish have a relationship with the water that is very different from that of any terrestrial animal with the air.  "Air" is basically the same, and there is so much of it around that except in severe air pollution or sealed enclosed spaces the animals are not being impacted.  But fish take in the water and their internal physiology will be governed largely by the chemistry of the water, and all medications or treatments entering the water column do impact on fish.  Clean water that is appropriate in parameters to the species is still the best medicine, and a water change is my normal first response to any issue I see.
 
Byron.