Hi Im new here n i have a question(stocking info 26 gal)

[irishdaisy]

Hi I'm new to the hobby. . I have a 26 gallon fluval bow front. Inside I have..



2 adult female guppies

2 sucker fish 1.5 inch each (pleco)

4 guppy juvenile (6 week old)

20 guppy babies (2 or 3 weeks old)

2 young angelfish

(body about the size of an Oreo)



When my smallest guppy fry gets 2 months old, im planning on giving away all the female guppies.

I researched the nitrogen cycle.
I cycled it using fish (2 guppies) in method & seeded it with filter media from my 5 gal. Not sure if it's fully cycled yet (it's been 3 weeks) ammonia is 0 and nitrates/nitrite is normal. I do water changes very often. Ph is 7 & temp is 78 degrees


So my questions are



is this tank overstocked at the moment ?



Can it stay with all these fish for 2 months ?

 

[irishdaisy]

picture of the live plants in my tank also!

 

[nightswake]

Is nitrite at zero?


Sent from my SGH-I337M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[irishdaisy]

Yes when I tested it last night it was the lightest color possible on the chart (0.1)

 

[SpaceFish42]

Your tank looks great! The angelfish will probably grow too big to be kept with guppies, though. They would eat the babies. Also, is the pleco a bristlenose?

 

[irishdaisy]

Thank you. im not sure what kind the plecos are but I recently learnt they get big rather quickly.(in about a month or 2) I'll prob give away all the guppies &plecos to make the tank just for the 2angelfish. (except for a few of the best looking male guppies I will keep and put in my 5gallon)

 

[Pseudomugil]

Yes when I tested it last night it was the lightest color possible on the chart (0.1)

It should be at 0.0 to be safe.

 

[irishdaisy]

Oh ok thank you I will do small water change .does it go to 0 when the tank is cycled? Maybe my tank is not fully cycled yet

 

[irishdaisy]

both Angels died :/

 

[SpaceFish42]

I'm so sorry. It's an unavoidable part of the hobby. ?

 

[irishdaisy]

I'm still wondering why both my Angels died. Maybe it was the acclimation (not long enough? 15min float bag. Add tank water wait 10min,add more tank water wait 10 min then I put them in tank) or the temperature (79) , I just tested the water again and it's still ph 7. Ammonia 0. nitrite 0.1 and nitrate 5(or abit less than 5). - How will I know when my tank is fully cycled? & - How often should i test the water?

 

[irishdaisy]

Yesterday I did a 100percent water change (but didn't clean the filter or the rocks) - Should I change the water again? I also just bought a timer for my light. Put it on at 11am and turns off at 10pm.

 

[irishdaisy]

I changed 100 percent of the water last night

 

[irishdaisy]

Oups sorry . I already wrote that!

 

[SpaceFish42]

The acclimation sounds fine, but you should never do a 100% water change. Then the tank has to start it's cycling process all over again.

 

[irishdaisy]

I know I wasn't supposed to but I did.. (I took the fish out because I was planting)lots more plants ( I kept 50percent of the water at first)and I used flourite the water was red. So I had to change it all. but I didn't wash the filter or the rocks I left the rocks wet with a few inches of water (so prob I changed 95 percent)

 

[irishdaisy]

Does that mean my cycle is starting over from yesterday?

 

[irishdaisy]

I also took out some fish and a pleco. So there is less bio load (I think)

 

[Lotocus]

I disagree that changing all the water will restart your cycle. The bacteria live on surfaces, not the water column so your decorations, substrate and mostly your filter is where the bb reside. I wouldn't necessarily advocate frequent 100% water changes because that could shock the fish, just from the huge change in parameters, but I don't think your cycle is going to start over (assuming you didn't change your filter media or let it dry out).

You'll know your tank has cycled when you see no ammonia, no nitrites and your nitrates are slowly rising (make sure to keep the nitrates under 40 with water changes).


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Gillie]

The acclimation sounds fine, but you should never do a 100% water change. Then the tank has to start it's cycling process all over again.

99% of bb is in the filter so it will not restart the cycle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Aquarium Advice mobile app