silver6

Hi All,
I got a big surprise today! My LFS checked the condition of our water, after buying the tank below 2 weeks ago, and found ammonia and nitrites at '0'.
I guess the "Stress Zyme" and "Stress Coat" really payed off. Also using our two fish (male Molly & male Sword) to help with cycling even though we only added them a week after we bought the new tank and added the chemicals (water conditioner & Bacteria) it all seemed to work fine.

Water being good (cycling finished) we dived in lol & added some more fish (the female swordtails & mollies & Bata Sharks mentioned below) as well as the plants mentioned below.
They seem to be doing great our male molly was funny though hiding from the other fish (and his new female friends). I guess it's too much for him , but he came out and mingled eventually. Figured the shock of plants more fish and a little different environment both fish groups would be freaked out, but surprising enough the new ones from the LFS were so active and brought so much life to the tank! The male sword fish LOVED the new female company & I think the male molly liked his females too, but he wouldn't admit it.

We though we would leave the tank a while to settle, do our first 20% weekly water change next week if all goes well and think about getting the most out of our tank by filling it up with as many beautiful and varying types of fish as we can.

I thought all young; 1 angel fish,
1 dwarf gourami
2 Cory catfish ( when the goo builds up a bit on the bottom)
1 female swordtail (due to the male's tiresome habits)

How is this selection? Are we able to have anymore, if so what conbination?

Thanks for your time
Kind Regards

Jason

Stradius011

The bala sharks can grow to 13 inches and needs 40 gallon per bala shark. They will also eat other fish when they reach their full size. If you take them out it will be perfect so far. Either get a pair of Angels or Dwarf Gouramis (1 male and 1 female). They will fight. Other besides that, it is great!

Gunnie

You also need to see if you have nitrates in your tank. If you only had 2 fish in the tank and it is a large size, and if you have live plants, the cycle may not have even started yet. You really need to get your own test kit, because while the tank is cycling with fish, you need to check levels everyday so you know when they reach toxic levels and a water change is necessary. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm trying to rain on your parade, but I don't want you buying more fish that you get attached to, and the extra bio load sends your tank into a nose dive.

LarryDavid

Through My Experience with sword tails i recommended getting only 1 male and 1 female, id say to you to get 2 females and one male otherwise the mono female would continuesly be harassed

Good luck with your new tank

Richard

Three females to one male is a ratio that is close to perfect for Swordtails and Mollies.. the males of those species can be overly amorous, so three females can pretty much keep them satisfied, unless you get a male Molly like mine that goes after all the females in his tank - Molly, Swordtail, Platy, even Hatchetfish!...sheesh!

Butterfly

Gone fishing I too don't want to rain on your parade but I'm afraid your cycle isn't done yet. Unless you use BioSpira there isn't any way to cycle your tank in two weeks. BioSpira is live beneficial bacteria and is the only instant cycling product on the market.
The stress coat is to dechlorinate your water and doesn't affect your cycle one way or another. As for the Stress Zyme since I've never used it i can't say it won't help but I've heard comments to that effect.
Please get your own water testing supplies so you can keep a close watch on your water readings for the next few weeks. I too don't want you to lose any fish Good Luck and keep us posted.
Carol

silver6

Hi all,
Stradius011 I was told the Bala sharks will only reach 13 inches in the right circumstances. I would've liked to have got an angel fish and a dwarf gourami. I may have to settle fro the 3 Bala sharks.

Gunnie after the first week my LFS tested the tank water and found 0.25ppm of ammonia I don't know the other readings, we lost the info, but by the second week there were no readings of ammonia and nitrites. I asked him about the nitrate reading and he said it should be fine. Yeah a bit slack I think I will get my own kit.

ChrisRamo I'm not sure how many swordtails & mollies in total you suggested I have?

Thanks to all.

Butterfly

What you have listed in your sig for mollys and swordtails is the correct ratio. When stocking livebearers a trio(1 male-2 females) is as near perfect as you can get. This gives the male two females to concentrate on instead of harrassing one female. Some times the females will die from stress on a 1 to 1 basis.
Carol

Stradius011

You can only have 1 bala shark. They need 40 gallons each.

silver6

G'Day all,
Stradius011 I've been told by a good source ideally Bala sharks they would grow to full size, but like a goldfish, they won't put into a smaller size and it is quite alright. There is an aquarium with a tank about 110gal and they have all sorts of fish; 4 Bala sharks - 4 Discus fish - 4 angel fish and many other schooling fish and they all get along fine.

Gunnie I checked for nitrates today and there were none. The fish tank is clear and the fish seem very content so far so good.

Butterfly Stess Zyme's bottle reads "Biological Filtration Booster", "Contains dual action live bacteria", "Speeds development of the biological filter", "Helps keep aquariums clean and naturally balanced". I still think this was the magic potion that's helped and if all readings ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were '0' and the pH was again 7.2 I believe its cycled, but I will leave the tank as is for a couple of weeks to make sure it's stable then I will fill it up, GOD willing!

Gunnie

Keep a close watch. A cycled tank should have a nitrate reading unless you have lots of live plants in your tank. I don't think your tank is cycled. However, it looks like your bio load is so small that your tank will cycle eventually, but it will be a very slow process, and you probably won't have the ammonia and nitrite highs that normally occur, which will be a good thing for your fishies.

silver6

Hi Gunnie,
Yeh your right we have two large bunches of plants

regards
Jason

Timesdragonfly

on the bala sharks, I'm not meaning to be rude or anything, I'm just going to tell you what I was told. I bought two bala sharks for my 29 gallon tank. I was told that they would need more room. It's true that they may not out grow their tank, but they need the appopriate amount of room in order to be healthy and thrive. Keeping them in a smaller tank would stunt their growth. This can lead to a shorter life span, and poor health. I know that I didn't like hearing this one bit when I got mine, but I do appreciate that someone said it to me. I went ahead and found a new home for the fish. When I can get a bigger tank, I will then get bigger fish That's just my opinion though, you can research it and see what you find! Maybe I was misinformed.
~J~

Stradius011

Stunting growth can lead problems. How big are the bala sharks in the aquarium? Sorry for being such a pessimist...