nearly cycled (I think) and need small tank stocking options

[ElanaJoy]

HI fish friends. I have been reading lots of cycling threads for advice, but mine hasn't been textbook. I think I am nearly cycled, but I am not sure. My ammonia is dropping every time I add more. Three days ago, it had fallen to .25 so I dosed it back up to 4 at 11:30 pm, at 9am the next morning it was 2 and at 11pm it was .25 again. Yesterday morning I brought it back up to maybe 5ish (I know, I went too high!) and tonight, it was 1.5. I have never seen any nitrites. I learned this is not completely unheard of. My nitrates are reading at 80, but have been that way for 2 days without climbing. Are they supposed to go off the chart? If they don't, and 4ppm of ammo is dropping to 0 in 24 hours, will I be I cycled? any other advice?

Now, it is a small tank, 5 gallon. Please don't lecture me! I know! I know! For those liberal stockers who aren't in the "shrimp only" camp, I could use some advice. What kind of cat fish are the ones that stay small, and don't have to be in a school to be happy? Also, how many dwarf (or chili) rasboras do you think would be okay? Those are the two species I'm leaning towards. Really going to miss having a betta baby, but looking forward to extra tank activity of the rasboras. Also, shrimp don't add much to the bio load, right?

Thanks!!!

 

[henningc]

No lecture here. pigmy corys will work you ca find them at Theaquaticarts.com and Bob's Tropical Plants. Both also have a lot of the Rasora species you're interested in. Shrimp would be a better option instead of a catfish.

You could consider a pigmy gourami such as Sparkling, Croackig, etc. A Mystry Snail would do fine as well.

 

[aaw1218]

Get some red eyed tetras

 

[GuppyGuy333]

Ottocinclus might do well as well as pygmy corys. Though the more you have of either the more comfortable and interesting behavior you will see (at least from my experience with cories...I have never kept ottos)

And depending on shrimp you might want to make sure your tank is stable enough before having any. I would try seeing how some ghost shrimp do before spending money on other more expensive kinds. Just make sure that any shrimp have a safe place to molt away from fish (as a precaution). One curious fish that pecks at them while molting or from one of my experiences with a cory just blinding swimming and hitting a shrimp while molting can kill them.

Endler's guppies are really small. though their bullying could be a problem the smaller the group they are in. the more in a group the more spread out their bullying is.

and from experience and from all the advice i have ever heard.....the bigger your tank the more stable your water parameters are. Plus more room to add livestock and possibly fauna.

To help cycling you could try adding stability or some other biological bacteria booster.

 

[ElanaJoy]

Thank you!

 

[ElanaJoy]

thanks!

Thanks guys! I finally caught some nitrite. When I bumped my tank back up to 4ppm ammo, I checked for it 4 hours later and it finally wasn't 0! I'm super excited because that 4ppm was cycled to 0 in a night! I am feeling confident. We have decided to get 4 or 5 pygmy cory cats (what do you suggest?) and one betta. We realized that the cories need to be in a school, so can't have a school of ras and cats so I had my daughter choose between them. (oddly enough, she really does not like gouramis, I have pointed them out to her at the LFS many times aren't they just aren't her thing.) I will get the cats used to it first before adding betta. Daughter wants to start with a baby betta so I'm sure it will be fine with aggression issues, and also they will likely have separate "swim level" preferences. (I hope). Wish me luck! (I think I will add sand for the cories)

 

[Coursair]

Pygmy Cories still need groups and still need swim room. I've kept C habrosus, C pygmaeus and C hastatus. Mine were in 10g tanks

Tiny Rasboras and Shrimp are my advice.

Plenty of my club members have been successful with that combo.

Issues with Nano tanks are that they need more precision to keep them in balance. They can be more tricky to heat consistently. Weekly water changes and live plants will help.

I own two 5.5g and two 10g tanks.
I need to reset and decide what I want to do with them. My life got busier [emoji12]

 

[Coursair]

Your Betta may slaughter the Cories in such a small space. YMMV.

Mine killed off Panda Cories.

 

[ElanaJoy]

Thanks Coursair! I have has a betta eat baby neon tetras. It was sad yet impressive how he slickly hunted them down despite them being 5x faster than him. I am have going to proceed and cross my fingers. I have seen over half a dozen of other irresponsible people successfully pair them in small tanks on ...youtube... eh. I have had bettas of so many different personalities, hoping to find a timid baby beta and cross my fingers. I'll post an update in a few weeks!

(Have to go get more plants!)