am i overstocked?

[maxima423]

okay, well i am almost finished with my cycle on my 20g high, my first dosage of ammonia just got down to 1ppm, i pushed it back up to 4ppm ( by accident i think, adding 1tsp and it shot right up to 4ppm ), should take another 2-3 days for it to calm down, so i am predicting 1-2more weeks


so my stocking will be:

5 cories ( most likely panda/skunk or albino because those are what my 4 LFS has in stock )
1 betta splenden
1 bolivian ram ( maybe )
2-3 otos ( maybe )

now do you think this is over-stocked? if it is, i most likely will remove the bolivian ram from the stocking list because i really want a betta ( building around ), any thoughts?

 

[Sly_Fra]

Personnally I've never had great success with male bettas in community tanks. That being said, female Spleden also have awesome colors, are almost as pretty as the male, are great community mates, you can have several of them (I have 2 with my honey dwarf gouramis), and they are not shy, come to the front,etc. And would be OK with the Ram.

 

[BigJim]

Pick either the betta or the ram. I'm concerned that the betta will mistake the ram for another betta and start a fight. I've had great luck with bettas in community tanks, but others haven't. I currently have a male and three females in my 29g community. If you go with female bettas either get one or three. I haven't had luck with trying to keep two together. One picks on the other.

What filter are you running? With adequate filtration, a betta, 3 otos, and 5 cories would be fine in a 20H with room for more fish. Check my "My Tanks" link to see how stuffed I keep my tanks. A few fish are ready to move to larger tanks due to size, but my water parameters are always good with PWCs every 7-10 days.

 

[maxima423]

im currently running a AC 30, okay i guess ill choose the betta over the ram than

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

I think youll be better off as bigjim said with one or the other. I love my rams, but i also love my betta so its really what you love most.

 

[logansmomma1228]

okay, well i am almost finished with my cycle on my 20g high, my first dosage of ammonia just got down to 1ppm, i pushed it back up to 4ppm ( by accident i think, adding 1tsp and it shot right up to 4ppm ), should take another 2-3 days for it to calm down, so i am predicting 1-2more weeks

Once your ammonia goes to 4 you do not need to keep dosing it back to 4. IMO it should only stay around 1. Too much ammonia can hurt the cycle.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Pick either the betta or the ram. I'm concerned that the betta will mistake the ram for another betta and start a fight. I've had great luck with bettas in community tanks, but others haven't. I currently have a male and three females in my 29g community. If you go with female bettas either get one or three. I haven't had luck with trying to keep two together. One picks on the other.

.

+1. Also, I would go with either otos or cories. They each like to be in groups, and instead of two smaller groups I would suggest one larger group of whichever. Probably the cories would be a better bet, since they are hardier than the otos. As I have learned lol. Plus they are not as picky eaters and will be easier to keep alive.

So if you got :

1 betta
6 cories

you could get away with a different schooling fish that would be mid to top, like some tetras or something.

Same if you got

1 ram
6 cories.


I would suggest more cories but seeing it is a 20 high there might not be as much room.

 

[krap101]

As long as your ammonia doesn't drop to 0, and doesn't go over 5ppm, your cycle won't stall (and nitrates under 40ppm)

 

[Petty Officer Salamander]

^^^ bingo.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Once your ammonia goes to 4 you do not need to keep dosing it back to 4. IMO it should only stay around 1. Too much ammonia can hurt the cycle.

Too much ammonia can hurt the cycle, BUT, you need to keep it at 3-4ppm in order to establish a large enough colony of nitrifying bacteria so that the initial stocking wont create a mini cycle. By keeping the ammonia at 4ppm, you're feeding way more bacteria than you would at 1ppm. Its hard to explain really, but there will only be as many bacteria in the tank as there is food for them

 

[mommytron]

Too much ammonia can hurt the cycle, BUT, you need to keep it at 3-4ppm in order to establish a large enough colony of nitrifying bacteria so that the initial stocking wont create a mini cycle. By keeping the ammonia at 4ppm, you're feeding way more bacteria than you would at 1ppm. Its hard to explain really, but there will only be as many bacteria in the tank as there is food for them

not meaning to thread jack, but does this mean that since it took 2 cap fulls of ammonia to dose up to 3ppm initially, i should be adding 2 cap fulls whenever ammonia hits 0 (before cycle is over)??

 

[Petty Officer Salamander]

right. If ammonia = 0, it will take the same amount of ammonia to reach the same ppm as before. A rule of thumb that I use is ~1tsp per 10g.

 

[maxima423]

=] i just dose 2-3ml when ammonia reaches .25ppm, it shoots back up to 2ppm so ill stick with that ^_^

 

[logansmomma1228]

Huh well I never thought of it that way I just dose it to 4 once, then toss a teaspoon or so in a day or every other day until it cycles. Haven't had problems yet.

 

[taylorodw]

If you are using 10% ammonia, 1 tsp = 4.5ppm ammonia in a 30gal tank. IMO 1tsp per 10gal is way too much, but ammonia might be in different concentrations brand to brand. If you use ace brand janitorial strength ammonia, this forumula posted by Crepe is perfect:

I'll do the math for you:

4 ppm is four parts per million in mass-

55 gallons of water will weigh about 208kg or 208000grams
1 Litre of 10% Ammonia will contain in it 100 grams of NH3 ions.
1 teaspoon= ~5ml therefore one teaspoon will contain in it .5 grams if NH3 ions.
.5/208000= 2.4 ppm.

One and a half teaspoons will be your optimal dosing. Landing you at about 3.6 ppm.

This is for only a 10% concentration of NH3OH so yours may be different. I will calculate it for you if you want.

Just change it for your tank size. FYI, 1 tsp of 10% ammonia in a 10gal = ~13 ppm (I think, I'm no math whiz).

 

[maxima423]

Huh well I never thought of it that way I just dose it to 4 once, then toss a teaspoon or so in a day or every other day until it cycles. Haven't had problems yet.

yea i can do it that way too =]

 

[mfdrookie516]

The tank will cycle even if you only dose it up to .5 ppm of ammonia... you just wont have as big of a colony of bacteria, which is certainly fine if you stock slowly... The biggest advantage of dosing 4ppm is the ability to add more stock initially after the cycle

 

[maxima423]

well for now, i only plan on getting fighting fish until the end of summer, when summer ends, i plan to get 1 clown most definitely, than prob a BN if anything, i just learned that all four of my LFS only has albino cories, since i dont plan on having albinos, ill add the cories probably much later this year

 

[maxima423]

CHEERS, ammonia at .50ppm and nitrite is 1ppm or 2ppm ( its not 5 cause 5ppm is VERY dark )

i put 2ml of ammonia and going to check tomorrow night ^_^ almost there!!!