Fish recommendations

[jbirdag96]

We have a 20gal tank that's been going for a while now. There are 4 Zebra Danios and 2 Cherry Barbs. They've all been doing well for about a week and a half. Should I wait longer before adding more fish? I'm thinking about getting a pleco and/or some ghost shrimp along with some colorful fish for us to enjoy. Any suggestions will be appreciated!

 

[Devilishturtles]

A bristlenose pleco would be cool in there and size accomodating. As for fish, what about a small school (4 or so) Harlequin Rasboras? Or a dwarf gourami.

 

[jbirdag96]

Those are good suggestions..thanks! I'd only heard of the Dwarf Gourami, but never saw one. I read that they really prefer live plants. However, I have only plastic plants in our tank and don't plan on adding live ones. There wasn't any mention of it being a requirement though. The Harlequin Rasboras were cool looking too. We have a 2yr old girl who has absolutely loves to look at "her fishies" and will enjoy these too if we get them.

 

[Menagerie]

Any small pleco--clown, bristlenose or rubberlip will be an excellent addition. Devilishturtles' fish suggestions are nice--any peaceful colorful fish will go with what's in there.

 

[jbirdag96]

I was vague on this point earlier. Our tank has had fish in it for almost two weeks with no problems at all. To a newbie that's a while, but may not be to others. That may affect when we can put other fish in. Would it be ok to add a pleco and/or some ghost shrimp at this time?

 

[RoK]

I'm guessing the tank is not cycled then? If not, you should wait on any additions until you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and some nitrate. Unfortunately, doing a cycle with fish can take months.

 

[bman]

First get a test kit (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals is good)

Read info on tank cycling, and watch you tank go though it (Probably going to take 6-8 weeks at least - my 20 gallon did)

Then go for the new fish.

Gourami's can come in interesting colors. I had one once.

Plecos are interesting as well, athough otos are very lively suckers.

 

[jbirdag96]

I've already got the test kit. I recently did the 3rd test and here are my results

Ammonia=.25ppm
Nitrites= 2 to 5ppm
Nitrates=~10ppm
pH=7.6

The Ammonia has never been more than .5ppm
Nitrites have gone up from .5ppm to the current readings
Nitrates have gone up from, maybe, 5ppm to where they are now
pH has been holding steady at its current reading the last few times I measured that.

 

[bman]

Looks like you need to do a pwc to get the nitrites down.
Also, I would suggest strongly that you wait to get more fish. Ammonia and nitrites should be ZERO. Danios are very hardy fish, meaning that they can weather a cycle easier than most other fish, but others will not be so forgiving.

Wait it out, you can do it!

 

[jbirdag96]

Here are my readings from this past Saturday

A= .25 to .5ppm
Nitrite= ~5ppm
Nitrate= ~10ppm
pH=7.6

So, things seem to be holding steady. I've been feeding a small amount every other day as I don't want to overfeed during this process. All the fish are looking great. I've read where a water conditioner called "Prime" was suggested for use when doing water changes. Are there others that are better/same/worse(avoid like the plague)??

 

[Skyrmir]

Prime is going to be your best bet. There are others that are just as good as far as how they work. The only difference is that prime is more concentrated. So you get much more treatment out of the same size bottle. Usually prime costs a little bit more, but lasts 2-5 times longer than others. You can check on the side of the bottle many of them say how many total gallons they treat.

 

[noncentric]

I've read where a water conditioner called "Prime" was suggested for use when doing water changes. Are there others that are better/same/worse(avoid like the plague)??

Are you using the Prime to dechlorinate the water, or to help reduce the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels? I hope that you're already using something to dechlorinate your tap water during water changes. Prime is a good product for this and is economical, as already mentioned - but PWC's are the best way to decrease ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels, rather than relying on chemicals.

How is the cycle doing now?

 

[jbirdag96]

Sorry for the delay. Baby Jbirdag96 #2 joined the world last week. So, I've been a bit distracted. Our fish were doing great when we got back from the hospital. Anyhow, I've not done a pwc yet as I was reading all kinds of advice that ranged from doing one daily to waiting a few weeks. However, as of late, I've seen doing a weekly pwc of about 25%-50% should be ok.

When I asked about "Prime" I was looking for something to add to the tap water before putting it into our 20gal fw tank. That sounds like the product to go with.

I'm in the market for some pwc equipment. I've looked for vac's and found one that can hook up to our sink and do the cleaning and pwc at the same time?? If we go this route, when am I to add the water treatement?