My 30 gallon is STOCKED !!!

[joannde]

4 days after the addition of the Bio-Spira to my tank after my failed attempt at fishless cycling both ammonia and nitrites are both at ZERO. I'm cycled and stocked

Thanks to everyone who helped me through this process - I'm a happy camper now.

Here's my stocking:
3 Dwarf coral platies
1 Sunrise platy
1 Calico platy
1 Other platy - can't remember what its called by he has a black stripe at the top and bottom of his tailfin
5 Neon Tetras
3 Panda Cories
1 Blue Mystery Snail

The Panda Cories are ADORABLE !

This feels GOOD !!!!

Thanks to everyone for bareing with my unending questions and worries !

I love this forum and am SO happy I found it.

 

[cbk.o4]

glad to hear the midcycle biospira worked out for u, prolly going to attempt it in a couple weeks if things dont get moving lol

lets get some pics of the tank.

 

[justrelax]

CONGRATS joann! isn't it the greatest feeling ever? you will never turn on your t.v. again... lol! looks like a fun bunch of fish to watch and care for, enjoy!

 

[Zagz]

Congrats. Now all that is left is some pics to go with this thread1. The stocking list sounds great. Should make for some very interesting watching for you. I bet you spend quite a bit of time just sitting there watching.

One question. How long did you take to add all those fish? The reason I ask is that if they were all added at the same time or even over a couple of days, you could get another cycle from the sudden high increase on the bioload. Keep watching those parameters.

 

[joannde]

Yeah, it feels good and you're right - I spend alot of time fish watching Those Panda Cories are ADORABLE - can't keep away from them. And I love the platies - its amazing how they've been selectively bred for such striking colors.

Although I used the Bio-Spira mid cycle I did do a couple of water changes to get the nitrites from 4ppm down to 1ppm before adding it in. The fish were added over three days and I plan on testing 2x a day to ensure there aren't any problems. The fish are all pretty small - even tho there are 14 fish in the tank if I have 15 inches in total I'd be surprised. I'll watch for 4 days or so and then try adding the betta (and will have a 5 gal backup tank just in case ! - that was great advice I received from the forum). I'm also being very careful not to overfed (except the first feeding - those little floating pellets are decieving !).

I'll take some pics tomorrow to post - maybe by then the fish might even feel comfortable enough to come out front for the camera and say HI ! LOL

ps - the water is starting to get a little cloudy - I'm assuming its a bloom of more good bacteria (I hope !) - since I now understand the nitrogen cycle so much better than before I'm pretty attached to my bacteria and want to make sure they're happy too (LOL - ok, that sounds VERY weird, but I know you guys understand exactly what I mean !).

Have a great day !

 

[tropicfishman]

awesome, congradualtions on the new tank setup, I hope the fish remain healthy and ylou don't have any major problems in the future, if ya do, be sure to come here and ask, the knowledge of everyone here is amazing lol

 

[Jchillin]

I am so thrilled to hear such positive news, especially after what you went through. I guess you now know why patience is a virtue in this hobby.

ps - the water is starting to get a little cloudy - I'm assuming its a bloom of more good bacteria (I hope !) - since I now understand the nitrogen cycle so much better than before I'm pretty attached to my bacteria and want to make sure they're happy too (LOL - ok, that sounds VERY weird, but I know you guys understand exactly what I mean !).

Having a boatload of beneficial bacteria is what it is all about. Just don't say that around your family members, you will get some strange looks.

 

[JCatania43]

sounds good, lets see a picture of that hoppin' party

 

[joannde]

Thanks I'm quite happy with it. I've posted photos on another thread (couldn't figure out how to do it within this thread LOL)
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=78414

I'm down to three neon's - hopefully these will live - I can't even FIND the 2 that are MIA. But they haven't caused an ammonia spike (at least not yet) so I'll just keep looking until its time for my PWC when I'm sure they'll turn (or CHURN) up !