Phlegethon
Aquarium Advice Activist
My fish arrived today, from liveaquaria.com:
8 Head & Tail Light Tetras
6 Albino Aeneus Corycats
1 Bushynose Pleco
Water:
79 degrees
pH 7.0 steady for one week
kH 2 gH 3
They all seemed healthy. I acclimated them slowly in a darkened room, floating them in the bags for 25 minutes, adding 1/2 cup of tank water to the bags every 4 minutes for about an hour. Then I netted them and released them into the tank. The corycats mostly swam to the bottom and started looking around, but one seemed to be going nuts, swimming all around very fast. The Tetras started schooling and checking things out, while the Pleco immediately went to work on the large pieces of driftwood. Seeing how hungry the Pleco was I add a small amount of dried brine shrimp flakes and they all seemed very hungry. The catfish settled down a bit once they realized where the food was settling. Before all this I added 2 tablespoons of salt to the tank (40 gallons). Finally, I added 3 oz. of Bio-Spira, 1 oz. to the biofilter, 2 oz. right into the tank.
I was quite nervous about trying this "instant ecosystem" method. I will post further progress as I go. Wish me luck.
P.S. is salt very bad for cory cats? I'm glad I only used a half dose. Also how long should I wait before turning the lights on?
8 Head & Tail Light Tetras
6 Albino Aeneus Corycats
1 Bushynose Pleco
Water:
79 degrees
pH 7.0 steady for one week
kH 2 gH 3
They all seemed healthy. I acclimated them slowly in a darkened room, floating them in the bags for 25 minutes, adding 1/2 cup of tank water to the bags every 4 minutes for about an hour. Then I netted them and released them into the tank. The corycats mostly swam to the bottom and started looking around, but one seemed to be going nuts, swimming all around very fast. The Tetras started schooling and checking things out, while the Pleco immediately went to work on the large pieces of driftwood. Seeing how hungry the Pleco was I add a small amount of dried brine shrimp flakes and they all seemed very hungry. The catfish settled down a bit once they realized where the food was settling. Before all this I added 2 tablespoons of salt to the tank (40 gallons). Finally, I added 3 oz. of Bio-Spira, 1 oz. to the biofilter, 2 oz. right into the tank.
I was quite nervous about trying this "instant ecosystem" method. I will post further progress as I go. Wish me luck.
P.S. is salt very bad for cory cats? I'm glad I only used a half dose. Also how long should I wait before turning the lights on?
