Hi all, I am a newbie to this hobby and have had my 20g tank set up for 2.5 months, after crappy advice at the LFS and great advice here it is finally cycling
I went the cycling with fish route because I didnt know any better and I also got fish that will eventually get too big for my tank, I am planning on getting a 55g when that happens hopefully 8 mo - 1 year.
Here's what I have in my tank right now:
2 giant danios (2in and 1.5in)
1 pleco (2in)
2 red tail tinfoil barbs (2 in and 2.5in)
Here's my water parameters:
ammonia - 0.50ppm
nitrite - 0.25ppm
nitrate - around 7ppm
pH - 7.4
Temp - 76F
kH - 100ppm (6 drops on the API test kit)
gH - 200 - 400ppm (18 drops on the API test kit)
ammonia. nitrite and nitrates should have gone down since I just did a 30% PWC. I live in socal so my tap water is pretty hard, I have access to DI water (I work in a research lab) but it is very cumbersome to carry the buckets from work to home.
I loooove cardinal tetras and would like to have some (maybe 5 or 6) but I read that they need soft acidic water. Ive also read about keeping the water params constant sometimes being better than messing with a lot of additives.
Also I have read mixed things about keeping tetras with barbs.
So here are my questions (on a side note I will be waiting until my tank is fully cycled before adding any fish, just wanted to start geeting some ideas):
1) Can I keep either neon or cardinal tetras (preferably cardinals) with my current tank occupants?
2) Is it even possible that they can adjust to my water hardness levels so I don't have to mess with more additives to my tank (which is lightly planted - some swords and anubias only) or tap water....
3)Assuming the answer to Q1 is yes and Q2 is no would significantly softneing the water (very gradually, yes I know) be an acceptable stress for my existing fish? - I really love those tetras but my current fish should not suffer, I can always get another tank later on.
4)Any suggestions for other fish I could get? I like tiger barbs but most of what I read suggests it is not a good idea to mix them with my danios
Thanks for any replies
I went the cycling with fish route because I didnt know any better and I also got fish that will eventually get too big for my tank, I am planning on getting a 55g when that happens hopefully 8 mo - 1 year.
Here's what I have in my tank right now:
2 giant danios (2in and 1.5in)
1 pleco (2in)
2 red tail tinfoil barbs (2 in and 2.5in)
Here's my water parameters:
ammonia - 0.50ppm
nitrite - 0.25ppm
nitrate - around 7ppm
pH - 7.4
Temp - 76F
kH - 100ppm (6 drops on the API test kit)
gH - 200 - 400ppm (18 drops on the API test kit)
ammonia. nitrite and nitrates should have gone down since I just did a 30% PWC. I live in socal so my tap water is pretty hard, I have access to DI water (I work in a research lab) but it is very cumbersome to carry the buckets from work to home.
I loooove cardinal tetras and would like to have some (maybe 5 or 6) but I read that they need soft acidic water. Ive also read about keeping the water params constant sometimes being better than messing with a lot of additives.
Also I have read mixed things about keeping tetras with barbs.
So here are my questions (on a side note I will be waiting until my tank is fully cycled before adding any fish, just wanted to start geeting some ideas):
1) Can I keep either neon or cardinal tetras (preferably cardinals) with my current tank occupants?
2) Is it even possible that they can adjust to my water hardness levels so I don't have to mess with more additives to my tank (which is lightly planted - some swords and anubias only) or tap water....
3)Assuming the answer to Q1 is yes and Q2 is no would significantly softneing the water (very gradually, yes I know) be an acceptable stress for my existing fish? - I really love those tetras but my current fish should not suffer, I can always get another tank later on.
4)Any suggestions for other fish I could get? I like tiger barbs but most of what I read suggests it is not a good idea to mix them with my danios
Thanks for any replies