New 20 gal tank

[blitzachter]

Hey all,

Completely new to the site and having an aquarium in general.

I have a new 20 gal. tank that's been cycling for a week after I put in some live plants, substrate and Tetra tank starter bacteria. I ran the water tests yesterday, and my ammonia, nitrates and nitrites were all at 0 from what I could tell.

My girlfriend and I are curious as to what fish would work well with each other (I know a lot of our initial picks are going to be personal preference) since I don't want to get the wrong ones and end up with a chum bucket.

We're very new and clueless as to what we should get, so any and all help and feedback is welcome. Here's a pic of the tank as it is now:

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Thanks!

 

[Delapool]

Hi, if you search for cycling a tank (or I'll post links later), the tank will need a ammonia source for food for the bacteria and I'd say a month to cycle properly. At the moment the tank isn't cycled.

Fish wise were you thinking of any in particular or any preference?

 

[blitzachter]

The guy at the petshop said that the tank-starter bottle should introduce the necessary bacteria to get the cycle going, and should be fine within 4-5 days of when we put it in, but I'm more than willing to have it sit longer (Our snail is very interesting).

As far as fish, the gf and I aren't too sure of what we want, or where we should start. We're pretty open to suggestions. I imagine something that wouldn't require multiple feedings a day as our schedules are sporadic sometimes, and preferably fish that won't kill each other.

 

[Delapool]

Hi, the bacteria in a bottle is a bit controversial. I've found they can help, others report no luck. It all probably depends how the bottle was stored and the quality of the product.


But it takes several days for the bacteria to settle and they need an ammonia food source to start building up the nitrifying population. So most see bacteria-in-a-bottle as a help at best, not a complete short-cut to tank cycling if that makes sense. The ammonia source either comes from fish (fish-in cycling) or from ammonia in a bottle (fishless cycling).


The ammonia will be converted to nitrite and then to nitrates. As you have no nitrates the tank isn't cycled, the tank water is just aging for a week (which is not a bad thing) and you have some bacteria but the snail won't provide much ammonia waste to properly grow the bacterial population to handle the fish you will be adding. Will post links in a minute.


Regarding fish, goldfish are out as the tank is on the small side for them. Do you have a heater?

 

[Delapool]

Helpful links on getting started and stocking below:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html

http://www.aqadvisor.com