Update

[DaveW]

Just an up date on my cycling tank. The Ammonia has gone to 0 B) , but the Nitrite has gone throgh the roof at 0.7. Roughly how long will it take to come down to 0?

Could I keep a male Betta with a pair of Rams?

I brought a vac and net yesterday, but really wanted to buy some fish! Saw some lovely looking Cories and some small Harlequins. I think that is want we are going to start with.

We might not get any Gouramis now, but I'm going to have to wait a bit for my Rams. Oh, next question, how long should I wait until I buy the Rams?

Cheers for everyone's help.

 

[rdd1952]

Since you say "Update" I assume you have posted about your cycling already but I couldn't find it. Are you cycling with or without fish? If fishless, did you add ammonia to start and what was the highest level it reached? Nitrite at .7 is very low for a fishless cycle (but high if you have fish already), especially if ammonia has dropped to zero. If you raised the ammonia to 5 or 6 ppm at the beginning, the nitrite should be almost off the chart (5 or 6 ppm) by the time ammonia goes to zero. It will continue to climb as you add ammonia daily to feed the bacteria you have already developed. As a general rule, nitrite takes about twice as long to drop as the ammonia did so if it took 7 days for the ammonia to come down to zero, the nitrite should be around 14 days.

As for fish compatibility, it's really hard to say about bettas. Some are pretty easy going and can be in with other fish with no problems. Others may try to harrass anything in the tank. SImetimes it's the opposite and the other fish harrass the betta. I generally figure that bettas go in a tank by themselves.

I have never owned rams but heard they were a little on the sensitive side. That is the main reason I haven't bought any for my 75 gallon yet. I wanted it to get pretty well established before I got them.

 

[DaveW]

I was asking a few questions a week or so ago. It's a fishless cycling and I'm only using flake. The ammonia reached 0.4mg/l and the nitrite is 0.7mg/l. I don't know if mg/l is ppm? I am going to wait until the nitrite is 0, but I'm not sure about all the fish I want. So I will slowly stock the tank and I will not get the rams for a few months yet, to let the tank mature. That sure give it enough time? would it?

 

[abstract]

mg/l are the same as ppm

 

[DaveW]

That funny. The test kit only goes up to 3.3 mg/l?