Water Chemistry Q's

[cjzoller]

First post

This is a newly setup tank going through its cycle. Can someone with more experience than I just take a look at the below image and just give me some suggestions or tips or anything for that matter?

I have lost only 1 fish during this cycle and it was due to my stupidity, during a water change he jumped out of a small tank I used while cleaning the big one so I wouldn't stress them out. I know now to put the lid on the small tank.

The tank is a 37g bow front with a large biowheel, heater with thermostat..proper lighting..ect.. Feeding once a day- tetramin flakes and with each water change a little "Stresscoat" and "Cycle". Ruitine light cycles.

3 small fish. 2 tetras and very small little guy*not sure what species*.

After the cycle is complete I plan to get some larger fish(suggestions?)

All help and info is appreciated!

[Ichthius]

It looks to me that it's just about finished cycling. The nitrite should also read 0 to be safe and fully cycled.

As for fish suggestions, what size is the tank?

[cocomania]

Yup, everything looks great and for fish how big are you thinking like 4 inch,3 inch,ect.



And welcome to the forums!

[cjzoller]

Thanks!

I was VERY worried last week when I got back from a business trip in Germany to see the 10ppm nitrite. I did a huge cleaning and waterchange and the fish seem as happy as can be.

I'm not thinking that big. Just around 3 inches or so. Pretty open to suggestions.

I was more or less just going to go into a local fish store which is very very reputable and pick something that looked nice, around the size that I'm looking for and not aggressive and going home and researching that species online to get a feel for its natural habitat then if everything seems doable in my tank/location going to get them. 1 or 2 with the little guys I have would be nice.

The tank is a 37g bowfront.


Thanks again for everything.

[cocomania]

One of my favorite fish are black mollies.They dont get too big,3 inches at most, and will never fight with any fish.Or you may want Swordtails,and platies that grow between 2-3.5 inches and add alot of color to your tank.

[Ichthius]

Ahh, someone who researches before buying. I love it!

I suggest upping the same species of tetras that you have to 6 at least for them to be happy. And we need to find out what the little guy is, lol. Have you looked into barbs and rasboras? Could you post a picture?

37g is a nice amount of space to work with. You could do a dwarf gourami (powder blue, honey gourami), those are about the size you're looking for. But even then, you could add another group of tetras and a group of corydoras (about 6) as bottom feeders.

Or instead, a group of smaller rainbowfish? Gorgeous schooling fish. http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=2525

Going to the fish store and seeing what you like is a great idea. We can help you from there

[cjzoller]

I also forgot to mention,

After the spike in nitrite, I noticed the KH and PH went down a little bit. Aside from the water change and adding conditioner I did add a small bit of Aquarium salt to help with the nitrite spike.

Judging by the spreadsheet above, should this drop be addressed? How can I adjust it?


Thanks again!

[Ichthius]

It's best not to adjust the pH unless it's very necessary, e.g. the levels are extremely low or high. Your pH can be adapted to by most fish, and the change wasn't too drastic. It's just reaching a certain level depending on what you have in the tank that could affect the pH. You may notice it fluctuate or even increase slightly.

In any case, I'd recommend getting fish that like acidic water naturally. Tetras, other south american fishes, etc.