No nitrites, at last

[starquest]

Since introducing myself, I've been busy fishless cycling a new 16g Aqueon bow front for my daughter, who has a very old 10 gal, housing a 8 to 10 " pleco, an upside down cat (about 1 to 1.5"), a clown loach, and 2 other small fish. My question, to any who can help, is: can I with any degree of confidence, put these 5 fish into the new tank??? The tests (done with the API master freshwater test kit, of course) show, this morning: pH 7.6, NH3 0, NO2 0 and NO3 around 40. Yesterday they wereH 7.6, NH3 0, NO2 trace, NO3 >80. I did the 90% PWC and added 1 ppm NH3 and Amquel. When cycling, after reading "The (Almost) Complete Guide and FAQ to Fishless Cycling", I seeded the new tank with decorations from the old one, which to my amazement, jumpstarted the cycling in a big way. That was only 2 weeks ago. Please accept my thanks and gratitude, in advance, for any advice anyone would care to provide.

 

[librarygirl]

What kind of pleco? 8-10 inches? Is it a common? They need a HUGE tank, like 75+ gallons. Even if it isn't a common and it's 10" it's going to need a much larger tank than a 16 ASAP, sorry to tell you. I think the catfish needs a larger tank too. What are the other two "small fish" in there?

As to your question: how long have ammonia and nitrite been staying at 0? If it's been at least a few days, then it's probably OK to go. But get the nitrates down more; ideally you want to keep them around 20 (which is where your weekly water change comes in), so try to get them down to as close to 0 as you can before the fish go in there. Even though you've upgraded though I really think your current stock needs work; either get a MUCH larger tank ASAP or rehome some of those fish (the Pleco at least, and right away if he's 8 inches).

 

[starquest]

reply to librarygirl

Thank you so much for your reply. Unfortunately, I didn't get it until after my daughter had already transferred the fish. Actually, the pleco is probably much better off now in this little 16 gal than he was in the 10g, but now that we can really see him, he REALLY IS HUGE, like you said. For the moment he seems happy, as well as the other fish. I went out and got a bigger filter: an Aqueon Quiet Flow 50, to tide us over while we get a bigger tank cycled. Like I said in my intro, I know absolutely nothing about freshwater fish, only marine, and that was 20 years ago, so I had no idea what I was getting into when I started cycling this tank for my daughter. Actually, neither did she, really, when she stocked her tank originally a couple of years ago. It's that old story, she liked that little pleco at petsmart, and asked the girl how big they got, and she sold her a different one, saying that this one wouldn't get so big. We all fell in love with him, but wondered how come he was getting so big, especially in a 10 gal. So there you have it. But now I've been bitten by the bug again, and want to start a tank of my own, so I'm thinking I've got a lot of research to do before that.
Again, thanks for the reply. Oh and the other fish are a rosy barb, a clown loach, and a leaf fish, according to my daughter.

 

[starquest]

reply too late

Many, many thanks for your reply, librarygirl. Unfortunately, I didn't get it until after my daughter had already transferred the fish to the new tank. And you were absolutely right! The pleco was HUGE! We knew he had grown a lot, in the last couple of years, but couldn't really appreciate how big he really was, in the 10 gal tank, but now he's totally visible, with a little more room. So...we have decided to go to a much bigger size tank. But he seems pretty happy now, so I think he'll be comfortable until I can get a bigger one cycled. The tests are all good, this morning, with 0 ammo and 0 trites. Nitrate still 40, but I'll let that ride a couple of days, until they are over the stress of the move, and then a big PWC. Thanks again.

 

[starquest]

Sorry for the double post, but the first one didn't show up, so I posted a second.

 

[librarygirl]

You're welcome! Paramaters look good, I wouldn't let nitrates get much over 40 though, 20 or less is best I think, but you're right, letting them settle after moving is a good idea. You could actually run a few filters on the 20 gallon for a few weeks so that they become seeded with bacteria (don't remove the initial one you cycled with though! lol) and then when you get the larger tank just move one of the filters over to the new one (just make sure it's a large enough one for a large tank) and then test it for a week to be sure it's stable, that way you won't have to do a full fishless cycle from scratch.

Fish can go through something called stunting if they are put in tanks too small for their size; it's a rather painful process for them too so the sooner you can get the larger tank the better off for the fish. Good for you for taking care of them! Good luck!

 

[starquest]

a filter question

What type of filter would you recommend for the new larger tank? I'm not really familiar with any but the wet/dry filter with bio balls and protein skimmer that I had had with my marine tank so many years ago. I don't understand the canister filters. Are they better than the over the back power filters? BTW I put a bigger power filter on the tank with all the old filter media, and the water went from cloudy to crystal clear with 0 ammo and trites and trates down to <20 within 2 hours.

 

[librarygirl]

I don't have a lot of experience with filters; you may want to post a thread in the general forum (I think it goes there or the hardware forum) and ask. AquaClear HOB filters are rated pretty highly though; I have one on my 20 (in addition to an internal Fluval) and I really like it; you can adjust the flow and you can pretty much put any media you want in the basket (it comes with biomax, a sponge and carbon; I took the carbon out and crammed extra sponges in it).