Tetra Tank

[Old Betta]

Any suggestions for stocking an interesting 94L tropical freshwater aquarium?

I'm thinking of Cardinal Tetra, Marbled Hatchet Tetra, Peppered Catfish, Cherry Shrimp, Golden Barb, Neon Tetra & Swordtail.

Most likely six of each, introduced at weekly intervals.

Anyone got any views/suggestions?...no snails.

 

[creeker]

Dimensions of the tank? I would skip the Swordtails. They get too large for the rest of your fish. Maybe also the Gold Barbs, depending on which ones they are. More than one species are called Gold Barbs. Do you have a Scientific name for them? My preference would be to stick with small South Americans, like most of your choices. You might be maxed out with the Cardinals, Neons, cories, Hatchets, and shrimp.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Why cardinals AND neons? They look very, very similar. Personally, I'd stick with one or the other and increase the numbers of the others. if you really like the "look" of swordtails (minus the tail part of course) platys are a good substitute, and they stay MUCH smaller, about half the size of the really big swordtails.


I'd consider: cardinals/neons, cories, hatchets, platys and shrimp. And unless you want to be overrun with fry, I would stick to male only platies.



Are you going to be doing a fishless cycle or a fish-in cycle? Either way, I'd wait on adding the neons/cardinals they can be very sensitive to new tanks. Platys, on the other hand, are very hardy for the most part. They should be the first fish into the tank, if you are going to be adding them at all, since they are the hardiest of the fish mentioned above. Neons, generally should be added only after the tank has been fully cycled for about 6 months. That's when I added mine and I haven't lost one except for the weak one (I think it was smushed in the bag on the way home), which died the first night. The rest of mine have been happily swim around for almost 3 months now with nary a worry.

 

[Man of fish]

+1 eagles. I added my cardinals (all dead now. Thanks ick!) in only when the tank cycled I also put platys in my tank first too. The cardinals were happy. Then they all died thanks to my nice friend ick.

 

[Old Betta]

94 L tank...approx. 500 mm wide, 400 mm deep by 500mm high.

Tank water stable & testing ideal for adding stock.

Started off by adding 5 algea eating shrimp and 5 platys...all went well with no issues.

Today I added 6 cardinal tetras (decided omit neons) and 4 harlequin's...again no issues and water testing fine and everyone getting on well together.

This coming Saturday I would hope to obtain a few hatchet's to add interest to the top layer of the tank.

 

[dh058977]

When you say "stable and testing ideal" what does that actually mean? Was your tank cycled? What are the actual test results? How did you test it?

 

[Old Betta]

I used the New Aquarium Start Up Kit and 21 day guide produced by Interpet as my "blue print'.

Not wanting to rely on just one manufacturer/testing method, I used both API 5 in 1 test strips and Interpet Broad Range ph Test tablets & Nitrite Test tablets.

So far so good.

 

[dh058977]

Bottled bacteria such as the one found in your "start up kit" do not work. You are now in a fish in cycle situation and I would not be adding anymore fish. You should be doing regular (daily) large water changes and testing with an acurate liquid testing kit. The strips are known to be inaccurate and are most likely giving you false readings. Unless you have some mature media for your filter then you cannot cycle a tank in 21 days.

 

[Old Betta]

Bottled bacteria such as the one found in your "start up kit" do not work. You are now in a fish in cycle situation and I would not be adding anymore fish. You should be doing regular (daily) large water changes and testing with an acurate liquid testing kit. The strips are known to be inaccurate and are most likely giving you false readings. Unless you have some mature media for your filter then you cannot cycle a tank in 21 days.

You have me worried, although all is fine and fish are doing well.

I had planned to carry out a 20% water change on Wednesday...looks like i will be doing this tomorrow morning...so what water testing kits do you recommend ?

 

[dh058977]

If your testing strips are indeed giving you false readings then your fish could be suffering from Ammonia poisoning. What results do your testing strips indicate for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? Many people on here use API liquid testing kit many others use Salifert. I personally use API and have done for many years. The choice is yours really!

I would recommend however that because you are in a 'fish in' cycle you need to be changing a higher volume of water than 20%, around 80% I would think. You also need to be doing this daily.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

+1

 

[Man of fish]

+1 I also use API test kit. It works well.

 

[Old Betta]

If your testing strips are indeed giving you false readings then your fish could be suffering from Ammonia poisoning. What results do your testing strips indicate for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? Many people on here use API liquid testing kit many others use Salifert. I personally use API and have done for many years. The choice is yours really!

I would recommend however that because you are in a 'fish in' cycle you need to be changing a higher volume of water than 20%, around 80% I would think. You also need to be doing this daily.

Rushed out at lunchtime and purchased the complete API testing kit from nearest Pet Shop...got it home this evening and after reading instructions carried out all of the tests just to check against other readings...all tested safe...thank goodness.
However, money well spent much prefer this kit than the others I was using (no test paper or tablets). Much relief that the regime I was using was working for my setup.
However, I will proceed with the partial water change about 30% now and will keep monitoring water. Better to be safe than loose stock.
Will keep you advised.

 

[dh058977]

If your testing strips are indeed giving you false readings then your fish could be suffering from Ammonia poisoning. What results do your testing strips indicate for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? Many people on here use API liquid testing kit many others use Salifert. I personally use API and have done for many years. The choice is yours really!

I would recommend however that because you are in a 'fish in' cycle you need to be changing a higher volume of water than 20%, around 80% I would think. You also need to be doing this daily.

Rushed out at lunchtime and purchased the complete API testing kit from nearest Pet Shop...got it home this evening and after reading instructions carried out all of the tests just to check against other readings...all tested safe...thank goodness.
However, money well spent much prefer this kit than the others I was using (no test paper or tablets). Much relief that the regime I was using was working for my setup.
However, I will proceed with the partial water change about 30% now and will keep monitoring water. Better to be safe than loose stock.
Will keep you advised.

As you are in a fish in cycle situation I would still recommend that your water changes are bigger than 30% (remember it cant hurt to do large water changes with a decent dechlorinator, the good stuff is all in your filter). Out of interest what were the actual results your test kit gave?

 

[Old Betta]

If your testing strips are indeed giving you false readings then your fish could be suffering from Ammonia poisoning. What results do your testing strips indicate for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? Many people on here use API liquid testing kit many others use Salifert. I personally use API and have done for many years. The choice is yours really!

I would recommend however that because you are in a 'fish in' cycle you need to be changing a higher volume of water than 20%, around 80% I would think. You also need to be doing this daily.

Rushed out at lunchtime and purchased the complete API testing kit from nearest Pet Shop...got it home this evening and after reading instructions carried out all of the tests just to check against other readings...all tested safe...thank goodness.
However, money well spent much prefer this kit than the others I was using (no test paper or tablets). Much relief that the regime I was using was working for my setup.
However, I will proceed with the partial water change about 30% now and will keep monitoring water. Better to be safe than loose stock.
Will keep you advised.

As you are in a fish in cycle situation I would still recommend that your water changes are bigger than 30% (remember it cant hurt to do large water changes with a decent dechlorinator, the good stuff is all in your filter). Out of interest what were the actual results your test kit gave?

Since testing with the API kit...pH has been in the range of 6.6 to 7.2; ammonia 0.0 to 0.50 ppm; nitrite 0.0 to 0.25 ppm & nitrate 0.0 to 40.0 ppm.

I carryout a 20% to 30% water change whenever any of the results for ammonia or nitrite go high i.e. above 0.

I also use API Accu-Clear; API Stress Zyme+; API ammo lock and API Stress Coat+.

API appears to be generally recommended by everyone on the Forum and I am pleased with the results so far.