Rate Our Tank Set up!

[A_Fishtown_Called_Malice]

Hey!

My husband and I have just set up our 64l tank and it is currently completing it's fish-less cycle. I have gone on **Advisor to try and figure out a good set up for our first small tank. We are planning on:

• 6x Guppies
• 5x Dwarf Cory
• 1x African Dwarf Frog (Not the clawed kind!)
• 2x Mystery Snails
• 1x Gourami

I've been told about Guppies breeding like rabbits so going to be careful with those!

Does anyone see anything wrong with this set up or has any advice on what would be suitable?

Thanks!

 

[Essjay]

First of all, go to your water company's website and search for hardness. There should be a page, somewhere, for you to type in your postcode and it'll give several bits of information including hardness. Ignore any words as they can be misleading, and look for a number and the unit of measurement - there are several units they could use.
We should aim to keep fish which come from water with similar hardness to our tap water. In case you haven't found it yet, this is the best site for researching fish's needs (hardness, pH, tank size, temperature etc)

Knowledge Base — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

The fish in your list are all suitable for this tank size (as long as you stay with the smaller species of gourami) but I would strongly recommend against a frog.
Frogs find their food by smell and by the time they've found it, the fish will have eaten everything.
Fish are very sensitive to medication, so if the fish get sick you can't medicate the tank.
Fish do better in their own tank, there's nothing to stop you get another, frog only tank

 

[Rocky998]

I completely agree with Essjay. Also, be careful with the gourami as they can get aggressive with other fish. And I also hope that when you say gourami you mean a dwarf gourami? I have used aqadvisor before and I believe its good to get an estimate on your stocking but not an absolute for sure answer.

 

[A_Fishtown_Called_Malice]

Thanks both for the tips! Re-thinking frogs now and going to research maybe shrimp instead.

@Rocky998 : Yes sorry for not being clear! Definitely dwarf gourami.

 

[Essjay]

Can I just check with you how you are doing the fishless cycle? I ask because we've had members in the past who think that just leaving a tank to run is cycling.

You do have live plants and as they establish themselves they will go a long way to helping, especially those floating plants

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Whilst you have a tank without fish to stress out, now is a good time to add more plants!
Plants will facilitate your cycling and their benefits are manifold, once the fish are in.

Also, think about how you'll be cleaning the tank, syphoning up any waste. As the tank is now, waste will accumulate in each and every one of those small hollows. If the surface of the substrate was relatively smooth and perhaps with a slope from the back to the front, or even down to a front corner, any waste would drift down to that spot and be so much easier to syphon up and away.

 

[A_Fishtown_Called_Malice]

@Essjay I am currently on day 3 'Do nothing' following this guide,

"Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!​

that I found in the beginner section! Hope this is right.

@Bruce Leyland-Jones Can I add more plants then? I would love to but my husband was hesitant to add more in case it interfered. I like the sound of a slope, that is going to be todays project!

 

[Rocky998]

@Essjay I am currently on day 3 'Do nothing' following this guide,

"Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!​

that I found in the beginner section! Hope this is right.

@Bruce Leyland-Jones Can I add more plants then? I would love to but my husband was hesitant to add more in case it interfered. I like the sound of a slope, that is going to be todays project!

... You cannot have plants while using ammonia for cycling!! The ammonia will kill all the plants.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

... You cannot have plants while using ammonia for cycling!! The ammonia will kill all the plants.

Plants 'eat' ammonia...not the other way around!

 

[Rocky998]

Plants 'eat' ammonia...not the other way around!

I heard that doing the fishless cycle using the 3ppm of ammonia would kill all the plants...

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I heard that doing the fishless cycle using the 3ppm of ammonia would kill all the plants...

Perhaps, if you're dumping the whole bottle in but not at those levels

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

... You cannot have plants while using ammonia for cycling!! The ammonia will kill all the plants.

Where do you think plants get their nitrogen from, in a cycled tank? They get it from the ammonia in the waste.

This discussion has been had elsewhere and it would likely create confusion for @A_Fishtown_Called_Malice.
NOTE this;

You do have live plants and as they establish themselves they will go a long way to helping, especially those floating plants

Can I add more plants then? I would love to but my husband was hesitant to add more in case it interfered.

I believe you can.
There are two forms of fishless cycling;
There's a totally artificial method of cycling, wherein you follow a relatively strict schedule and artificially add ammonia. This is described in detail in this Forum and I believe that is the program you're following.
Then there's cycling with plants in place and, I admit to personal bias here, I feel that this is a tried and tested method that works for me.
If you like, you could check on my Journal, describing in some detail how I established first one, then two tanks, using this method.

The plants facilitate the growth of any beneficial bacteria and become established as essential parts of the complex ecosystem you're creating. That said, in both my examples, I had organic material already to become bacteria food.
What I don't want to do is to confuse the issue for you...but it's probably too late for that now!
Sorry.

 

[Rocky998]

Where do you think plants get their nitrogen from, in a cycled tank? They get it from the ammonia in the waste.

This discussion has been had elsewhere and it would likely create confusion for @A_Fishtown_Called_Malice.
NOTE this;



I believe you can.
There are two forms of fishless cycling;
There's a totally artificial method of cycling, wherein you follow a relatively strict schedule and artificially add ammonia. This is described in detail in this Forum and I believe that is the program you're following.
Then there's cycling with plants in place and, I admit to personal bias here, I feel that this is a tried and tested method that works for me.
If you like, you could check on my Journal, describing in some detail how I established first one, then two tanks, using this method.

The plants facilitate the growth of any beneficial bacteria and become established as essential parts of the complex ecosystem you're creating. That said, in both my examples, I had organic material already to become bacteria food.
What I don't want to do is to confuse the issue for you...but it's probably too late for that now!
Sorry.

Now I'm confused... Someone told me I couldnt have plants whatsoever during a fishless ammonia cyxle

 

[A_Fishtown_Called_Malice]

@Bruce Leyland-Jones Thanks for the tips! I think we will do a bit more research and read your journal you mentioned for a better idea. I have only done 1 dose of the ammonia so far, just waiting to test. Do you think it would be best to start again or perhaps migrate to cycling with plants in place.

Quite interested in doing things a chemical free as possible with as many natural plants. I am a keen gardener on land, definitely something I am interested in the tank! Currently the tank set is 1-2cm of Tropica Plant Growth Substrate and 1-2cm of gravel (varying depths) as wanted the best environment for plants. Any tips from anyone appreciated

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

@Bruce Leyland-Jones Thanks for the tips! I think we will do a bit more research and read your journal you mentioned for a better idea. I have only done 1 dose of the ammonia so far, just waiting to test. Do you think it would be best to start again or perhaps migrate to cycling with plants in place.

Quite interested in doing things a chemical free as possible with as many natural plants. I am a keen gardener on land, definitely something I am interested in the tank! Currently the tank set is 1-2cm of Tropica Plant Growth Substrate and 1-2cm of gravel (varying depths) as wanted the best environment for plants. Any tips from anyone appreciated

Personally...I'd add the plants you want for the final tank and continue as before.