Starting a new 10 aquarium

[o h culp]

7 days ago I set up a 10 g aquarium to be used for either my 2 Mystery snails or my 3 Cory catfish. Currently I have a 5 g Fluval that all 5 were in & realized that the tank was probably "overstocked" since the Cory's were bullying my snails terribly. I really only got the catfish to clean up the worms & pest snail infestation that was present. My ? is why after 7 days is the ammonia at 0.50, Nitrates 0 & Nitrite 0 in the newly set up aquarium? I'm cycling it FISH LESS. It has a filter/heater/live & silk plants. I have done this before and did not have this problem. I've been adding Seachem's Stability every day to get the beneficial bacteria going. I NEED to get the snails out of the very small holding container they're in temporarily. I don't want the ammonia to hurt them.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

A few clarifying questions and then a general piece of advice.

• How much ammonia are you dosing with your fishless cycle (in ppm)?
• How many live plants are in your tank? Light, etc.?
• What is your substrate?
• Did you transfer any media from the older tank to this one?

Finally, Stability is not the same bacteria as you actually want to have in your tank, though it will process the ammonia. It will actually compete with the ones you want, unless there's been a recent formula change. Tetra Safestart and Dr. Tim's One and Only are the only products I am aware of that contain the proper bacteria species that we are trying to encourage the growth of in the tank. These attach to surfaces in the tank and become native. Most of the others are free swimmers... and don't actually stay there long term... that's why their product suggests adding it so frequently, whereas the ones I mentioned are a single addition at the beginning of the process and that's it. Stability does offer a wider range of bacteria than those I mentioned, which may benefit other portions of the natural cycle, specifically anaerobic bacteria, but I don't think it works to be a long term solution. By its own admission, it requires additions daily. An additional reason I recommend against Stability and in favor of the other two brands is that Stability claims to be effective in both marine and freshwater environments. But, the bacteria which are proven to work in freshwater systems, aren't suitable for marine environments, and vice versa. It may be a great product for marine, but for my money, its just not as effective as the other two (here's the disclaimer though... as long as the product has been properly handled - kept within proper temperature parameters during shipping and storing before it was placed on the shelf at the store).




Now, for a couple of general comments:
It would be far better to move the cories over to the 10 gallon tank, rather than the snails. And it would be best to get a few more cories. They are shoaling fish, and they do best in large numbers.

Catfish, in general, are not a 'clean-up' crew. Cories, in particular, have a very specific diet and do not eat pest snails. They require 'bottom dweller' pellets, and these should include meaty, rather than algae, ingredients. They are also rather active fish, and as such, a 10 gallon aquarium is an absolute smallest tank that they should be kept in. The larger species of corydoras require more room. The dwarf species of corydoras can do nicely in a 10 gallon, in proper numbers. They also prefer a soft substrate, something like sand or similar. They sift through the substrate with their noses and barbels and actually filter the sand through their gills looking for their food. (Its very cool to watch them do it!) Gravel, on the other hand, doesn't really offer them that same opportunity and makes scavenging harder for them, and can lead to them getting small scrapes on their 'snout' and barbels, which can lead to infections.



If the snails are the main object of your affection, try to rehome the cories, with a friend who has a tank, or some LFS will even take them back. And for the 10 gallon tank, you could put both the snails and some colorful mid-water swimmers like Trigonstigma hengeli or espei. (commonly called rasboras - hengeli or lambchop.)



And finally, welcome to the forum!

 

[Byron]

The OP has another thread on much the same issue, the cories anyway. It might be best to combine them to avoid duplication/missing something? Here's the other thread:
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/new-to-cory-catfish.453909/

 

[o h culp]

A few clarifying questions and then a general piece of advice.

• How much ammonia are you dosing with your fishless cycle (in ppm)?
• How many live plants are in your tank? Light, etc.?
• What is your substrate?
• Did you transfer any media from the older tank to this one?

Finally, Stability is not the same bacteria as you actually want to have in your tank, though it will process the ammonia. It will actually compete with the ones you want, unless there's been a recent formula change. Tetra Safestart and Dr. Tim's One and Only are the only products I am aware of that contain the proper bacteria species that we are trying to encourage the growth of in the tank. These attach to surfaces in the tank and become native. Most of the others are free swimmers... and don't actually stay there long term... that's why their product suggests adding it so frequently, whereas the ones I mentioned are a single addition at the beginning of the process and that's it. Stability does offer a wider range of bacteria than those I mentioned, which may benefit other portions of the natural cycle, specifically anaerobic bacteria, but I don't think it works to be a long term solution. By its own admission, it requires additions daily. An additional reason I recommend against Stability and in favor of the other two brands is that Stability claims to be effective in both marine and freshwater environments. But, the bacteria which are proven to work in freshwater systems, aren't suitable for marine environments, and vice versa. It may be a great product for marine, but for my money, its just not as effective as the other two (here's the disclaimer though... as long as the product has been properly handled - kept within proper temperature parameters during shipping and storing before it was placed on the shelf at the store).




Now, for a couple of general comments:
It would be far better to move the cories over to the 10 gallon tank, rather than the snails. And it would be best to get a few more cories. They are shoaling fish, and they do best in large numbers.

Catfish, in general, are not a 'clean-up' crew. Cories, in particular, have a very specific diet and do not eat pest snails. They require 'bottom dweller' pellets, and these should include meaty, rather than algae, ingredients. They are also rather active fish, and as such, a 10 gallon aquarium is an absolute smallest tank that they should be kept in. The larger species of corydoras require more room. The dwarf species of corydoras can do nicely in a 10 gallon, in proper numbers. They also prefer a soft substrate, something like sand or similar. They sift through the substrate with their noses and barbels and actually filter the sand through their gills looking for their food. (Its very cool to watch them do it!) Gravel, on the other hand, doesn't really offer them that same opportunity and makes scavenging harder for them, and can lead to them getting small scrapes on their 'snout' and barbels, which can lead to infections.



If the snails are the main object of your affection, try to rehome the cories, with a friend who has a tank, or some LFS will even take them back. And for the 10 gallon tank, you could put both the snails and some colorful mid-water swimmers like Trigonstigma hengeli or espei. (commonly called rasboras - hengeli or lambchop.)



And finally, welcome to the forum!

Thank you for the "welcome". Yes the snails are the main object of my affection, but the Cory's needed a better home than the small, loaded tank they were in @ Petsmart. They seem very happy in the 5g Fluval now. I've been feeding them a varied diet of blood worms, fish flakes & pellets (high quality) and algae wafers. I have only live plants and a large piece of driftwood w/ an Anubis plant attached to it in their tank. All 3 of the cc's are small I think they are called "pandas". I DO have the substrate that is called Spectrastone b/c I read over & over again that sand would get pockets of poisonous gases that could kill the inhabitants. I actually like the look of sand better & would love to tear the Fluval completely down & get rid of everything since I still have the pest snail & occasional worm problem. I just can't get the newest 10g tank to even start cycling. Ammonia as of yesterday was extremely high & Nitrates were at 0. One of the snails my female seems to be ok w/the constant "bullying" by the larger Cory & keeps doing her thing, but I think my male is now very ill or dead. He is no longer in the same tank as the cc's Now that the new tank has been going 7-8 days w/Seachems Stability would it still be ok to add one of those 2 products you suggested & not cause an additional problem. I just really want to get the Fluval inhabitants in the new tank asap. One more thing is that I have not dosed the new 10g tank w/ any ammonia due to the API test reading being so high already. The light is an Aqueon 20" deluxe full hood, I have 3 different "live" plants & one large Silk plant and no I did not transfer anything from the Fluval (substrate, etc.) due to the worms and pest snails that started this WHOLE problem.
Thanks for your good advice you seem very kind.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Adding either of the two products I mentioned will not cause a problem to your tank... though for max effectiveness, I'd suggest emptying the water out of that tank, including the Stability that you've added... and all of the ammonia-laden water. These products work best with LOW ammonia levels, not high levels.


Here are my suggestions:
Step 1: empty the 10 gallon tank - COMPLETELY.
Step 2: Add sand as the substrate. The concern for poisonous gases in the substrate are accurate, but only if the sand is very deep, or is undisturbed for long periods of time. Keeping an inch to 2 inches of sand substrate will not allow for that... and the cories themselves can and will churn up the top layer of the sand regularly as they scavenge for food.
Step 3: Don't worry about the cories interactions with the snails. Cories are not aggressive and prefer DEAD things to eat... (scavengers). The snails that were showing stress were likely stressed by other things, though in a small environment like a 5 gallon, they were likely getting bothered more than they'd prefer. The cories aren't doing it aggressively. They are more bumbly than they are aggressive.
Step 4: Add the water and a bit of ammonia (about 1ppm) to the tank - wait 30 minutes and test to ensure the ammonia level is roughly 1ppm. Then add one of the products previously described. TSS or Dr. Tims. Then, follow the directions for those products regarding water changes. (I believe it says not to change the water for at least 1 week, so that the bacteria can get settled on surfaces.)
Step 5: Test daily for ammonia and nitrite. Nitrate is a tricky test and will be present, if the ammonia decreases without a subsequent rise in nitrite. Ultimately, this product should process ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate showing no nitrite visible, or at least not much... (1 ppm ammonia would convert to 2.7 ppm nitrite on our test kits due to the heavier nitrite molecule.)
Step 6: When ammonia hits zero, redose and repeat. You would want 1ppm to reduce to 0 ppm in 24 hours or less, and at that point the tank is 'partially' cycled. Meaning, its capable of handling a small bioload. The 3 cories would be ideal for that tank at that time. Wait a week or two and increase that number as they are gregarious fish and really do best in larger numbers.



Incidentally, I believe that the cories you have are pandas, which is good as they are about the 4th smallest corydoras in the hobby, and could be satisfied with a 10 gallon tank.