The "new Guy"/hi All :d

[This Old Spouse]

I have a few snails, but a lot fewer now that I discovered I was overfeeding my fish. That's what the snails feed on, so just always be sure you're not overfeeding and you should be fine.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

You are fishless cycling am I right? If you are don't worry, it's a hijacker off your plants, and I'm sure will die by the time you get fish

 

[Wigster]

Got 2 new tiny Amazon Swords from coldcazzie in the post today, and also going to the beach tonight to try and find some driftwood/rocks, so some more stuff to go in .

Although, I noticed today when I got home from work there are now 2 more visible baby snails in the tank, so they are re-producing it seems. I'm afraid I may have to euthanize in some manner as they currently seem to be pooing so much it can't be helping my fishless cycle at all with all the extra ammonia in the poo? Think I may just drop some lettuce in and then scoop it out tomorrow and put it in my garden pond (which is just rainwater with no filtration... but it gives them a chance at least rather than just ending their life).

 

[This Old Spouse]

Nice of you to consider the rehoming of the snails.

If there are only 3 tiny snails they shouldn't be producing so much poo it's a problem.

After all, there's nothing for them to eat! I'm confused ...

 

[Wigster]

Well I updated my tank journal, last time it will be updated until 6 days time when I am back from holiday.... The snails do still seem to be spawning, as I can see a fair few realyl tiny ones.. I just hope I don't get back off holiday and find my tank and carpet covered in snails... - I also hope that the cycle will have made some progress whilst I'm away.

 

[Wigster]

Well now my cycle is coming to an end I am starting to try and pull together a proper list of my ideal stocking.

So initally this is my thoughts, although I'm sure there will be some additions/edits to be made, as hopefully you kind lot will guide me with your input .
(My tank is a 160 litre, just incase anyone was wondering regarding my stocking ideas)

First fish to go in the tank I think will be:
6 x zebra danio

Then the following as my tank continues to mature:
2 x sunset gourami
1 x snowball OR gold nugget plec
4 x red line torpedo
10 x mixed tetra ie. neon/columbian
Some shrimp(?)

Also maybe some tiger barbs, but I think they possibly wouldn't be ideal with the above setup?

How does this stocking sound to everyone, ideally I'd also like to get a/some tiger loaches, but I guess it's not do-able with my size tank.
Any other thoughts to some cool fish that could go in ?

 

[Wigster]

Hate to bump, but it's only a few days now until my planned purchase date of the fish, so any comments on my above post ?

 

[moochy13]

how long is the tank ? danios need at least 4ft, and red line barbs are also very active and get quite large, your tank might not be large enough for them when they're fully grown, and you ideally want at least 6. you might have to forget about those im afraid.

if you get at least 6 tiger barbs they should keep aggression within their own group, so shouldnt be a problem. sizewise, a snowball would be fine i think, theres 2 slightly different golden nuggets, one stays a good size one gets too big, ive seen somebody asking recently in the plec section. dont know anything about gouramis. and tetra, just tetras. id decide how many i want altogether and get one large group of one type. i wish i had have done that now rather than have loads of different species, one group of 15 looks much better than 3 lots of 5. ive got buenos aires tetra, and i love them. relatively cheap compared to other tetra ive seen, only neons are cheaper. they get to a nice size aswell, and mine 'shoal' very well.

id be tempted to put some cories and a couple of banjo catfish in the bottom eventually i think, if youve got sand.

 

[HayzH]

by golly i wish i had found this site BEFORE i listened to the LFS'...I am also new to Aquariums and i was told after 5 days that fish could go in..i wasnt told anything about the cycling process. then i had to explain to my 7 yr old that the fish had to go back to the shop as they were fighting, when really they all died He now asks every day...can we get fish today???
I have a 71L tank and plan to keep Mollies...Tetras and a bottom feeder (maybe a plec?)
I was told in the LFS (Pets at home) that tetras tend to perish..but mollies were much hardier. (as they died.....i dont believe um) my Ammonia levels only went up to 0.25 to kill them..so it didnt even get to the spike (5ppm)
The LFS still are adament that it has spiked ALREADY and i need to get the ammonia down...when folks on here are telling me it needs to go up!!

please dont put fish in...it horrid seeing them fade away

get that ammonia in..i ordered some "kleenoff" household cleaner, just waiting for delivery now!!

all the best
hope we can do this cycling together x

Hayz x

 

[Wigster]

Thanks for the reply Moochy13, yes my tank is only about 3.3 foot long, so I guess from what you're saying that's not ideal for the zebra danios.
In that case then, which fish would be a good fish to put in first, would the Tiger Barbs be "hardy" enough (Even though I've done the cycle)?

 

[moochy13]

if you're cycled all but the most picky of fish should in theory be fine to go straight in. certainly i wouldnt be concerned about putting barbs in. will also give them time to sort out their pecking order before putting other fish in. the danio thing, ive seen 4ft being banded round the forum as the benchmark for danios, thats all im going from. ive got a couple ive rehomed from a friend in a 2ft tank, and they really need to be in a bigger tank, they are very active.

my knowledge is far from the be all and end all, but im repeating what ive seen said on here. if you're cycled, theory is you can 100% stock straight away, though in practice its much better to gradually do it, but not too gradually as bacteria will start to die off if the ammonia your fish produce is less than the ammonia you have been cycling with, as the amount adapts to how much food (ammonia) they have. if i was you (and iw as stocking it), id probably put the barbs in, couple of days later the tetra, couple of days later the cories, then the gourami (only as i never have much luck with them), then the plec, as you want to be sure things are good before you start putting expensive fish in there.

then id throw a couple of banjos in there and forget about them until one day you see their heads popping up out of the sand. funny times..........

 

[Wigster]

Okay I put some sand in the tank today (Agros play sand). I'll start by getting the Tiger Barbs tomorrow! Thanks once again Moochy and all.