A few more questions from a newbie

[LittleCory]

Hey guys, me again. I posted a thread awhile back with a few questions about my tank and now I have a few more. I have a 10gal that is currently in the second week of its fish less cycle. My numbers are looking good(in the sense that my cycle is progressing). This morning it was 2.0ppm ammonia, 5.0ppm nitrite, and 10-20 ppm nitrate.

My first question is what you guys think of Aquaclear's ammonia remover filter pack. I just bought an Aquaclear 20 that I'll be installing tonight and I'm curious if it would be good to buy the additional filter material too. The reason I ask is because my source water has a reading of 1.0ppm ammonia(and 5ppm Nitrate) and I'm wondering if taking the extra precaution of this filter pack would be worth it.

My second question is about stocking order. I've decided that I want to stock my tank with neon tetra, Pygmy Cory, and a male betta.

Is there any particular order I should get them in? I know that betta are best introduced to an established tank rather than introducing fish to his tank. I'm also having a bit of trouble locating Pygmy Cory for sale in my area. I know that I can order them online but I'm not sure how to go about it or which sites would be good.


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[addisonnolann]

You're tank sounds nearly identical to the one I have. I vote no on the tetras. They can be nippy, not so much neons, but still. They also aren't hardy at all. They randomly die off, and that's no fun. They do prefer about 20 gallons for swimming room as well. In my tank I have 4 White Cloud Mountain minnows, the gold variety. About to bump that number up to 6. Love love love the little guys. They are friendly and fun, and IME hardier. My original plan was to do 6 or so Pygmy cories as well, but my LFS don't keep them, and I'm wary of online orders. I ended up getting 4 Julii corydoras instead. My stock is a little over 100% with a betta, 4 cories and 6 minnows, but I'm over filtrated and do higher pwc, so it's fine. You could do something similar!


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[addisonnolann]

As for stocking order, I put my betta in first, then the minnows, then the cories. But my betta is very mellow and shows no interest in flaring at his tank mates, so it's a hit or miss adding the betta first. I would add the tetras, if those are the shoaling fish you end up with, first. Then the cories. Then the betta.


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[Yorg]

Hi LittleCory:

No, since you're doing a fishless cycle and you're only two weeks into it, I wouldn't use the ammonia remover. When your cycle is established the ammonia will go down to zero. I always think it's better to rely on the nitrifying bacteria than on a chemical filter medium. It sounds like you're doing everything right!

-Yorg

Hey guys, me again. I posted a thread awhile back with a few questions about my tank and now I have a few more. I have a 10gal that is currently in the second week of its fish less cycle. My numbers are looking good(in the sense that my cycle is progressing). This morning it was 2.0ppm ammonia, 5.0ppm nitrite, and 10-20 ppm nitrate.

My first question is what you guys think of Aquaclear's ammonia remover filter pack. I just bought an Aquaclear 20 that I'll be installing tonight and I'm curious if it would be good to buy the additional filter material too. The reason I ask is because my source water has a reading of 1.0ppm ammonia(and 5ppm Nitrate) and I'm wondering if taking the extra precaution of this filter pack would be worth it.

My second question is about stocking order. I've decided that I want to stock my tank with neon tetra, Pygmy Cory, and a male betta.

Is there any particular order I should get them in? I know that betta are best introduced to an established tank rather than introducing fish to his tank. I'm also having a bit of trouble locating Pygmy Cory for sale in my area. I know that I can order them online but I'm not sure how to go about it or which sites would be good.


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[FishayFishay]

Hey guys, me again. I posted a thread awhile back with a few questions about my tank and now I have a few more. I have a 10gal that is currently in the second week of its fish less cycle. My numbers are looking good(in the sense that my cycle is progressing). This morning it was 2.0ppm ammonia, 5.0ppm nitrite, and 10-20 ppm nitrate.

My first question is what you guys think of Aquaclear's ammonia remover filter pack. I just bought an Aquaclear 20 that I'll be installing tonight and I'm curious if it would be good to buy the additional filter material too. The reason I ask is because my source water has a reading of 1.0ppm ammonia(and 5ppm Nitrate) and I'm wondering if taking the extra precaution of this filter pack would be worth it.

My second question is about stocking order. I've decided that I want to stock my tank with neon tetra, Pygmy Cory, and a male betta.

Is there any particular order I should get them in? I know that betta are best introduced to an established tank rather than introducing fish to his tank. I'm also having a bit of trouble locating Pygmy Cory for sale in my area. I know that I can order them online but I'm not sure how to go about it or which sites would be good.


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2 weeks only? Nice man, have you ever thought of using safe start? I used it on two different tanks that were cycling terribly (beginners luck wasn't around) and it worked perfectly. It's up to you man. But as for stocking I have a dwarf gourami and 4 cardinal tetras and they've been doing great so far. I plan on upgrading soon but I haven't had a problem with the tetras being nippy at all.

 

[LittleCory]

As for stocking order, I put my betta in first, then the minnows, then the cories. But my betta is very mellow and shows no interest in flaring at his tank mates, so it's a hit or miss adding the betta first. I would add the tetras, if those are the shoaling fish you end up with, first. Then the cories. Then the betta.

Thanks for the advice. I think that I will still give the tetras a try because I think they're really pretty. I'm not confident enough to order online so if I can't locate any pygmy cories nearby I think I'll probably end up getting Julii cory too. I love their spots! I may just not get the betta and stick with the cory and tetras. I already have a betta in a separate tank and don't really want to get another and stress him out by sticking him with fin nippers.

Hi LittleCory:

No, since you're doing a fishless cycle and you're only two weeks into it, I wouldn't use the ammonia remover. When your cycle is established the ammonia will go down to zero. I always think it's better to rely on the nitrifying bacteria than on a chemical filter medium. It sounds like you're doing everything right!

-Yorg

Alright. I'll stick with what I'm doing(just dosing with pure ammonia) and go without the ammonia remover. Thanks! It's so gratifying to hear that I'm doing it right. I'm so nervous that something's going to go wrong, lol.

2 weeks only? Nice man, have you ever thought of using safe start? I used it on two different tanks that were cycling terribly (beginners luck wasn't around) and it worked perfectly. It's up to you man. But as for stocking I have a dwarf gourami and 4 cardinal tetras and they've been doing great so far. I plan on upgrading soon but I haven't had a problem with the tetras being nippy at all.

Yep, only two weeks! 11 days to be specific. I haven't considered using bottled bacteria because it isn't looking like I need to. I did take a plastic plant out of my betta's tank and try to use that to seed the new tank but I don't know if it actually did anything. I am going to stick with the tetras and see how it goes. I like how they look when there's a group of them.


In case anyone is interested, I took some pictures today when I installed my new filter and did a water change. My plants are growing! I'm excited just about that. The pink plastic plant will probably be removed soon.