harold

I have been working on a fishless cycle for several weeks. Everything was going fine and it was getting close to the end as my nitrites were almost at zero and I had good nitrate readings.

And now for the twist...

While waiting for the cycle I have been contemplating changing out my gravel substrate for Schultz Aqua Soil. I figured if I want to do this I should do this before I get any fish. Well, yesterday I bit the bullet and went ahead and basically did a 100% water change, removed the substrate, added a thin layer of peat moss, then added SAS.

This morning I did a full set of readings and it reads I have a cycled tank. Could this be right? Is my tank cycled?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: between 5-10

Peterpiper

By fishless cycle, do you mean you were adding ammonia every day, or did you add a dead shrimp?

harold

Yes, I used raw shrimp. At one point there were two pieces of shrimp but now only one. The shrimp is still in the tank.

Edit:
I will also add the tank went through the cloudy water stage and for the last two days it turned crystal clear. This morning the water is nice and clear as well. Probably from the water change but I will say it's never been this clear even when I first started cycling.

Peterpiper

Well, to me if the shrimp is still in the tank, it will still be making ammonia, and if your not getting readings for ammonia or nitrites, so the bacteria is doing its job.
So best you start doing yours and start stocking your tank!
Leave the shrimp in the tank for now, it will keep feeding the bacteria. Just remove it when you start adding you fish!
Well done Harold! you cycled your tank and did it with out hurting any fish.

harold

Well, I couldn't disappoint the kids any longer so I went ahead and picked up 3 Harlequin Rasboras. When we got them they looked very pale so I was very skeptical. After 2 1/2 hours of acclimating time they were released into the 10 gallon. Given what I've read about schooling fish and smaller tanks I was not expecting much schooling at all. Boy was I surprised! The two smaller one follow the bigger one everywhere. Interestingly enough they were not schooling at the store although there were other breeds in the tank. The guy at the petstore said they were pale because they haven't been fed in awhile so I gave them some flakes. Wow! Never owned rasboras before so I've never seen the feeding frenzy. Their color seem to have improved already but maybe it's the lighting or perhaps the Schultz Aqua Soil. By the way the color of SAS compliments the rasbora's color very nicely!

I'll keep an eye on the water parameters closely for the next few days.

Peterpiper

Harlequin Rasboras are lovely, size 1 3/4" so you you could still add another 4" in 3-4 weeks.
Harold, you have done a great job setting up the tank and getting it up and running.
Your weekly nitrate reading will tell you what % of water needs to be changed each week to keep your fish happy.

harold

Thanks for the help Peterpiper. Here's a shot of the tank so far. You can see the threesome schooling. They do split up from time to time though. I have some additional plants on order that should arrive later next week.

Hopefully the water parameters will be fine tomorrow.

Attached Images

10-gallon-2008-04-06.jpg (102.2 KB, 21 views)

calinb

That's a very pretty and natural looking tank, Harold.

I have five Hengel's rasboras (I think they run a bit smaller than the Harlequins) and two chocolate gouramis in a Mini-bow 7 SE Asian blackwater biotype tank. This nano biotype tank is heavily filtered and it nearly looks like a refugium with all the plants. I started with the two CGs three rasboras (Huey, Dewey, and Louie) but added two more rasboras (Daryl and his brother Daryl ) when my nitrates remained under 5 ppm with all the plants.

My rasboras were also pale from their travels from my LFS to the bag to their new home, but, like your fish, they colored up in few hours. The original three HRs schooled nicely but five is even more impressive. I don't think I'll add any more than five HRs with the larger chocolate gouramis in there but I could probably go for a total of ten HRs or so, if not for the gouramis. I'm not sure the schooling improves past a certain point, however. As you also noticed, the rasboras in the heavily stocked LFS tanks seem to break up their school a bit more than a smaller number of fish.

-Cal