janky said:Mumma, I did not know about the schooling preferences of these fish :/
They do all seem to swim together though... so it would appear they get along great!!
Since I have no clue - I'd like your input on my 55 gal idea and maybe you can give some insight since you seem to know quite a bit about this
I wanted to get 3-4 discus, 3-4 gouramis and a good-sized pleco or two, in a moderately planted tank. Is this enough for their schooling preference and size accommodations?
Any suggestions?
EDIT: I remember reading that the pleco should be by itself cause it will get big and territorial... so nvm that part
I agree, now with 4 various aquariums in diff states of maturity, the "quick start your tank" liquids really are for the minority and harms the natural balance that just takes time to develop. In retrospect I lost fish (died not lose) using the quick starters. They were test fish to see if the balance was really as off as my ATI Test kit said. Ammonia at like 3ppm. Didn't believe but I also hurried, when starting a "world" if you will. Don't rush things is a great lesson. But 4-6 weeks even sounds a bit short to proper cycle IMO. I have one at 5 and levels are still bonkers.
Mumma.of.two said:The less water the higher concentration of ammonia. It will build up faster in a smaller tank than a larger one. Also have you checked you tap water for ammonia? What water conditioner are you using?
Well, it's bizarre cause my 55 gallon is having no problems. I've seriously cycled it a little over 2 weeks with that "bacteria-in-a-bottle" stuff, and ammonia, nitrites and nitrates have been steady at zero ever since. The bottle was supposed to go for a full month, but it doesn't even seem like I need it!
The 10 gallon, on the other hand, is still at sub-1ppm levels. So we got it lower (filter change and LOTS of wc's) but it's still not at zero.
It's gotta be the concentration - easier to disperse over 55 gal than 10 I suppose.
I'm setting up the old hexagonal we had as a QT tank now, so I'll see how the cycling goes this time around
Are there fish in the 55 gal? Are you adding ammonia? If not the levels will read 0 but that doen't mean the tank is cycled. The bacteria need an ammonia source to grow; either from fish or from adding pure ammonia.
Oh no, did you change out the filter media in the 10 gal?! If so you just re-started your cycle from scratch and threw away any bacteria you were starting to grow.