New aquarium want some advice

[Impulse09]

Hi all,

I just bought a 29 gallon 3 weeks ago. I was first unaware of cycling when I first purchased my 6 peppered cory catfish. I think my tank was cycled after about 15 days because my ammonia shot up a little and my nitrites was sky high. I kept doing water changes to keep down the toxins but they were still high. I dosed it with prime to help my fish get through this. So after the prime my nitrites were zero and ammonia was zero. I had some nitrate about 40 ppm. I think my tap has about 20ppm in it to start with. So it was stable for a few days so I went to the store to buy some more fish. I bought 3 diamond tetras and 2 german blue rams. about a day or two later I have between 0-.25 ppm nitrite. I did a 25% water change last night and the level went down a little but it is still the same today. I think it mini cycled. I am hoping it will go away on its own. If it goes a little higher I am going to use prime again. If anyone wants to comment on my situation go ahead. I am going to wait to add anymore fish.

I also want to know if I can get more fish.

Right now I have 6 peppered cory catfish, 3 diamond tetras, and 2 german blue rams. I wanted to get 2 more rams, 8-10 neon tetras, and a bristlnose pleco. My tank had 2 amazon swords, a java fern, a piece of driftwood and some rocks, my filter is a penguin 250 with the biowheel.

thanks

 

[redsea]

Welcome to AA! I think you could get more fish, eventually. Not sure if all the ones you listed would be too many. Maybe if you cut the Tetra school down to five or six (with good filtration), you could do it. I though I remembered hearing that two pairs of Rams will not get along in a 29g, not 100% on this though.

 

[eco23]

Prime doesn't remove toxins like ammonia or nitrIte, it temporarily detoxifies them to protect your fish between water changes.

I wouldn't add any more fish until your tank is fully stable, constantly reading zero ammonia and zero nitrIte. Wait a couple weeks between adding fish, and do it very lightly. The beneficial bacteria adjusts specifically to the fish in the tank, so anytime you add fish there is the potential of a mini-cycle...that is why when you first establish an aquarium you need to be patient and stock very slowly if doing a fish-in cycle.

Normally 20-40ppm of nitrAte is not a big deal, but I'd be leery of keeping the more sensitive fish like GBR's. Most fish can do fine in that level of nitrAte (of course if it wasn't already in your water, pwc's would keep it much lower), but GBR's are notorious for dying off easily. One of the important keys is to keep them in the cleanest water possible...and I'd be a bit nervous about how they'd do with that level. I also think your proposed plan is going to overstocked you. That many Rams in a 29 gallon with Corys is asking for trouble IMO.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[Impulse09]

Thanks for your responses. I was not going to add anymore for a couple weeks. I want to make sure everything is stable. I heard the rams are tough to have but I am up for the challenge. I might of got them a little early though. Is 0-.25 nitrite bad? Will it go away on its own or do I have to do a 25% water change everyday?

 

[redsea]

Thanks for your responses. I was not going to add anymore for a couple weeks. I want to make sure everything is stable. I heard the rams are tough to have but I am up for the challenge. I might of got them a little early though. Is 0-.25 nitrite bad? Will it go away on its own or do I have to do a 25% water change everyday?

Sorry if it sounded like I meant you could add fish right away, I looked at my post and that is what it sounded like, sorry about that.

 

[Impulse09]

I did not take it that way. I do not want to add more fish, if there is a potential to harm something i will not do it. The reason why I did not do a fishless cycle is becuase I did not know at the time. If my nitrite is at 0-.25 for the last 2 days do you think it will go to zero by itself? SHould i add some prime to detoxify the little amount that is in there?

 

[eco23]

.25 isn't a big deal...but I wouldn't let it go any higher than that. Check out that guide I linked, and it'll show you how to deal with a mini-cycle. There's no such thing as too many water changes as long as you are using conditioned, temperature matched water...so don't be afraid to get as much fresh water as you'd like in there...especially with the GBR's.

You may want to look into live plants. They can be super helpful at controlling nitrAte levels since they use it as a nutrient. There's lots which will grow with stock lighting if that's what you have...but planted tanks are addictive and chances are you'll be upgrading lighting soon anyway . Here's a site you can get some ideas from based on light requirements-
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

 

[Impulse09]

i have 3 plants in there now. 2 swords and a java fern. I have the tank setup that came with LED lighting. I also have a piece of driftwood. and some slate