lostintheforest
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hi everyone,
This is my first post on here and am glad i've found a community of such well informed and friendly aquarium enthusiasts!
Anyhow, I'm still in the process of cycling my tank (doing it with fish unfortunately). I have a 6 gallon fluval edge 2 nano tank (with the new led config) and currently have some cabomba and xmas tree moss which i'm trying to get established, as well as 1 cherry red shrimp and 3 zebra danios. I tested the water yesterday and found that i'm still in the early stages of cycling (ammonia= roughly 0.30ppm, PH= 7.0, nitrite and nitrate= 0). I've read some conflicting things about water changes while doing a fish in cycle, I know the goal is to kick start the beneficial bacteria by providing them with ammonia, however i also know ammonia is highly toxic to fish. i'm wondering roughly what % of water I should change/per day to keep the ammonia levels high enough to get the biofilter going but low enough so as not to harm the danios and cherry shrimp i have in there at the moment.
As i am a noob in the world of freshwater aquariums i have many many questions (sorry). I also have a more general question about stocking fish in a tank this size as well as questions about lighting.
as far as lighting goes i was wondering if anyone here knows how powerful the stock leds are that come with the new fluval edge 6 gallon (i.e. average watts/gallon)and if they are adequate for a planted aquarium. i know the spectrum is around 7000k. I have cabomba and xmas moss in there at the moment and would like for them to thrive as much as possible. i've also been adding some flourish plant food, but only about half the recommended dose each time (i don't want to add too many things to the tank while it is in such a fragile state).
In the not too distant future I was hoping to turn the tank into either a cardinal tetra or galaxy rasbora tank with a few more cherry shrimp as well and maybe a nerita snail or two. does anyone have any advice on keeping either of these fish and which they think are better suited for this kind of environment?
Another question i have regarding lighting has to do with the blue leds that come with the fluval edge. is it preferable to leave the blue lights on all night (in terms of providing optimum conditions for fish health and plant growth?) or is it mainly there for aesthetic reasons?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
This is my first post on here and am glad i've found a community of such well informed and friendly aquarium enthusiasts!
Anyhow, I'm still in the process of cycling my tank (doing it with fish unfortunately). I have a 6 gallon fluval edge 2 nano tank (with the new led config) and currently have some cabomba and xmas tree moss which i'm trying to get established, as well as 1 cherry red shrimp and 3 zebra danios. I tested the water yesterday and found that i'm still in the early stages of cycling (ammonia= roughly 0.30ppm, PH= 7.0, nitrite and nitrate= 0). I've read some conflicting things about water changes while doing a fish in cycle, I know the goal is to kick start the beneficial bacteria by providing them with ammonia, however i also know ammonia is highly toxic to fish. i'm wondering roughly what % of water I should change/per day to keep the ammonia levels high enough to get the biofilter going but low enough so as not to harm the danios and cherry shrimp i have in there at the moment.
As i am a noob in the world of freshwater aquariums i have many many questions (sorry). I also have a more general question about stocking fish in a tank this size as well as questions about lighting.
as far as lighting goes i was wondering if anyone here knows how powerful the stock leds are that come with the new fluval edge 6 gallon (i.e. average watts/gallon)and if they are adequate for a planted aquarium. i know the spectrum is around 7000k. I have cabomba and xmas moss in there at the moment and would like for them to thrive as much as possible. i've also been adding some flourish plant food, but only about half the recommended dose each time (i don't want to add too many things to the tank while it is in such a fragile state).
In the not too distant future I was hoping to turn the tank into either a cardinal tetra or galaxy rasbora tank with a few more cherry shrimp as well and maybe a nerita snail or two. does anyone have any advice on keeping either of these fish and which they think are better suited for this kind of environment?
Another question i have regarding lighting has to do with the blue leds that come with the fluval edge. is it preferable to leave the blue lights on all night (in terms of providing optimum conditions for fish health and plant growth?) or is it mainly there for aesthetic reasons?
Thanks in advance for your advice!