A Friendly Hello :) - new tank cycle

[Sean93]

Hi everyone,New to the forum, and tankless at the moment, but just wanted to throw up a hello
We have a couple other tanks in the house including a guppy tank that we let breed as it goes. Another tank housing 2 gouramis, a red finned black shark (rainbow shark?), and an electric yellow, and a third housing two discus that was sold as a breeding pair, but haven't bred in the 6 months we have owned them, and come to the conclusion they are both male D;


I have kept a tank in the past but was young, and inexperienced and ended up having it go green on me, and giving up. Since then I've learned a bit but have plenty way to go


Im really excited about getting a new tank, but i want to make sure i do my cycles right and want to house live plant, along with my fish buddies. I would like to setup a Chiclid tank, but I'm thinking due to size restrictions I may not be able to keep a tank big enough, I'm looking at around 20 gallons(?) I'm from South Australia, so not real good with my imperial measurements




anyone with any advice on any of the above I would love to hear thanks everyone!

EDIT: I also don't know any of the scientific names, so any help with those would be awesome too

 

[Convict2161]

Hello and welcome to AA

 

[Sean93]

Thanks Convict, Hope to take alot from the forum

 

[Rlavassor86]

Hello, welcome to AA! You've definitely come to the right place. Just an idea here since you don't have a cycled tank yet, but once its established and stable you could do a type of ram cichlid. There are a few different types of them but all are great fish. Very peaceful and full of personality.

 

[Sean93]

Thanks for the suggestion very open to ideas at the moment, any advice/reference pages for ram chiclids?

 

[Rlavassor86]

Thanks for the suggestion very open to ideas at the moment, any advice/reference pages for ram chiclids?

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/mikro_altispinosa.php

That's for bolivian rams. They are a little easier to keep than other rams like the German blue.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

to AA! We hope ya enjoy

 

[Sean93]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/mikro_altispinosa.php

That's for bolivian rams. They are a little easier to keep than other rams like the German blue.

Thanks heaps


Thanks Andrew

 

[Sean93]

Just out of curiosity, but does anyone know of anybody in South Australia who makes glass or acrylic tanks? looking to find a 30 gallon tall tank thats only about 2ft long

 

[Sean93]

UPDATE::
Friday I am getting a 2'X14"X20" 80L tank, a eheim pickup 200L internal filter and heater, I might put a used filter straight in and do an instant cycle though because my parents gouramis are under threat from being replaced by angels, so Im gonna house them

 

[Fishless cycle]

UPDATE::
Friday I am getting a 2'X14"X20" 80L tank, a eheim pickup 200L internal filter and heater, I might put a used filter straight in and do an instant cycle though because my parents gouramis are under threat from being replaced by angels, so Im gonna house them

Sounds great! Can't you wait a week or so and cycle your tank without fish

 

[Sean93]

shouldnt a used filter provide the Beni. Bacterica needed and mean I am fine? I can use some old tank water too from other tanks. I can push out for a bit longer, but parents are pretty keen to move them out. and as per being a newbie, I'm a bit keen to set my tank up

 

[Fishless cycle]

Personally I wouldn't. I am cycling two tanks at the moment and I'm on the 7th day of fishless cycling with both of them. I used half of an old filter along with some stones and gravel from my old tank and there is still ammonia visible at 2ppm. I am cycling with ammonia and fish food. But I have fish in another tank so they are safe for a couple of weeks.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. HOWEVER, if you do then I would suggest not feeding them - fish can go without food for a few days and test the ammonia and nitrite levels. You need them to be zero or at least no more than 0.25ppm. Once you do start feeding, give them VERY little and remove any excess food. Then test your ammonia 24 hours after they have been fed and also your nitrite. If they are spiking you will need to do a water change, the amount you change will depend on the ammonia/nitrite level.

Maybe someone else can give you some advice on this too??? It will be hard for you if your ammonia shoots up and your fish start to suffer and die and there is nothing you can do.

I've been through that as I had no experience back then and didn't realise that ammonia was toxic and had no idea about the nitrogen cycle. Even the slightest hint of ammonia will damage / burn your fish and can damage them. It's a welfare issue really. Plus you want them to be safe and happy etc. Once your tank is fully cycled then you can relax and enjoy your fish

 

[Fishless cycle]

Oh, and using an old filter WILL help but won't cycle your tank completely. Transferring old water won't really do anything, as far as I'm aware. But DO transfer any stones, gravel, plants etc from a cycled tank that WILL help. So long as you know the tank you are transferring from is a healthy cycled tank.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Welcome fellow Aussie!

Adding the existing gravel and filter from the old tank to the new tank will leave the tank pretty much cycled for the amount of fish that the old tank contained. So if your just swapping the gouramis from the old tank to the new it will be fine. Even the use of only half the old filter media in a new filter could be enough to avoid a cycle.

Depending on the temperature and the pH of the tank small amounts of ammonia will not be harmful to the fish. If it does rise then a simple water change or two will bring the toxin levels back down to a safe level.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html
Here's a good write up on ammonia toxicity.

And one on fish in cycling.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html

 

[Sean93]

Thanks fishless cycle much appreciated, great info
Hi Mumma.of.two thanks, many aussies on here? and Thankyou for the links and advice


I talked to my parents and im taking all the gravel, and the filter media, and starting the old tank on a fresh cycle with new media

with fish the size of the 3-4" (ish? ) gourami how many could I look at stocking in the 80L tank? looking at bolivian rams, electric yellow, discus, other cichlids... I have bigger tanks that are understocked to accomodate when they outgrow thier territory.

 

[Rlavassor86]

I think your best option for cichlids would be the rams in a tank that size. As for numbers I would do like 1 male 2 female. Then to fill out upper areas a school or two of some kind of tetra.

 

[Fishless cycle]

Welcome fellow Aussie!

Adding the existing gravel and filter from the old tank to the new tank will leave the tank pretty much cycled for the amount of fish that the old tank contained. So if your just swapping the gouramis from the old tank to the new it will be fine. Even the use of only half the old filter media in a new filter could be enough to avoid a cycle.

Depending on the temperature and the pH of the tank small amounts of ammonia will not be harmful to the fish. If it does rise then a simple water change or two will bring the toxin levels back down to a safe level.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html
Here's a good write up on ammonia toxicity.

And one on fish in cycling.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/fish-in-cycling-step-over-into-the-dark-side-176446.html

Thanks for posting and for your input on the other types of cycling. Just because cycling with fish is 'traditional' and the way it's always been done doesn't make it the right way! However, I will have a good read through all the links - so thank you for that and the info on ammonia - I found that really interesting

I promote fishless cycling as too many fish suffer at the early stages because of lack of information and lack of clear guidance on what the nitrogen cycle is all about. Lfs don't help either, in my experience. Too many fish die for newbies because many don't even know what the nitrogen cycle is etc. So long as the 'fish in cycle' is done step by step and with care then I can't see how it wouldn't work...??? So long as the ammonia levels are at a stage that won't be damaging. I haven't tried this way before and I wasn't aware of this so thank you.

 

[Sean93]

I think your best option for cichlids would be the rams in a tank that size. As for numbers I would do like 1 male 2 female. Then to fill out upper areas a school or two of some kind of tetra.

cool, is that including the gouramis? so 5, and the schoolers?

what about discus?

would guppies be ok? we have a breeding tank already haha

 

[Rlavassor86]

cool, is that including the gouramis? so 5, and the schoolers?

what about discus?

would guppies be ok? we have a breeding tank already haha

Yea I've got a gourami with my Bolivians and they get along fine. I've never seen the gourami or my rams be aggressive towards each other or any other fish in my tank. As far as discus and guppies I'm gonna let someone else chime in here since I have 0 experience with either.