Newbie - conflicting info out there

[scteel]

I am new to the hobby and although I’ve done a lot of research, I think the best thing is to ask those who are actually in the hobby, as the children they hire at Petco are useless and misinformed. I started with one male Betta in a 10 gallon tank. The water has completed its cycle and has been established for 9 months. I have SLOWLY added 2 Bumblebee Gobies (very tiny) and 3 tiny Panda Cories. I would not add any more, correct? I may have made a mistake already. But, am I over stocked? I do a 25% water change each week and have 3 large plants, 3 small pieces of cholla wood, and 3 morimo moss balls in there as well. The substrate is sand and this week’s (and in general) water parameters were:

Ammonia – 0
Nitrite – 0
Nitrate – 10
Ph – 7.0
[FONT=&quot]Gh[/FONT] – 40
[FONT=&quot]Kh[/FONT] – 100


[FONT=&quot]I add a tablespoon of aquarium salt when I do a water change, along with conditioner and a touch of stress zyme (I’m paranoid about losing too much good bacteria). I change the carbon filter every 8 weeks. [/FONT]

I’ve read Cories have to be in groups of 3-4, then 6-8 and also do fine by themselves. Their temperature should be much lower than the betta and also warmer is just fine. My head is spinning!

All of the fish seem healthy – great appetites, active, playful – the betta even built a 3 inch wide by 1 inch high bubble nest – yay.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Tips?

Remember, I’m still learning!

Thanks!!

 

[Fresh2o]

I think the only one that will really benefit from the addition of salt are the bumblebee gobies. I usually see these in brackish water tanks. The salt might actually be a bad thing for the cories (or that is the common understanding). Here is a study https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?id=3981357&pid=11114& of keeping a particular species of Corydoras in different concentrations of salt over a 13 week period. Interestingly, the fish with the highest survival rate was with some salt in the water. Then again, that is one study.

 

[JackBinimbul]

Conventional wisdom says that cories shouldn't be kept in small numbers. The consensus seems to be a minimum of 5.

As far as temperature, this depends on the species. Pandas are more challenging than some of the other species. They are more finicky about hard water as well, iirc, since they come from black water rivers. They prefer temps 70-80, if you're swinging wide and accepting that they likely won't breed. 73-78 if you want to dial it in.

 

[V227]

For a rookie it sounds like you are doing pretty well. I'm guessing you have a HOB filter with a interchangeable filter cartridge. Don't change out the filter cartridge until the floss mesh begins to unravel. That should take many months. Shake the cartridge out in a bucket of used tank water every two or three weeks. Wipe off the mesh surface with the palm of your hand, also in the used tank water. Everytime you change out the filter cartridge a lot of BB is lost.
I'm also not a big fan of aquarium salt, but if the fish are doing fine with it, why change?

 

[BBradbury]

Hell sc...

I can tell you from a water quality standpoint, that weekly 25 percent water changes aren't nearly enough. You're still leaving 75 percent of the toxic water in the tank. Gradually work up to the point you change at least half every week. When it comes to water changes, more is always better. If you're a good water changer, you don't really need to use aquarium salt. The fish will be just a healthy without it. Salt really works better with live bearing fish than with the egg layers.

In general, my advice would be to simply pay close attention to the water quality, by removing and replacing most of it weekly and not worry about anything else.

B

 

[scteel]

Thanks everyone for the positive comments and feedback. I'll stop using the Salt and up my water change percentage. Fingers crossed!