platy ben

Nah they all should be fine dont worry , as long as your tank has a good pump they will all be very healthy

HatchetHaven

1.044" per gal should work alright. It doesn't matter if you are a tiny bit overstocked, 3" per gal would be bad, but 1.044 shold be fine. It's only a general guide, remember.

JstJake

It's a really good filter apparently, it's got some rings, pellets and some big floaty balls, plus three diffrent sponge things and a really fast out-put, (prehaps too fast?) It's also an internal filter that actually came with the tank, it's like a board then behind is the three segments, and everything!



Thanks for the reasurence about over-stocking, I'll keep my eye out for any related problems, and will be adding very slowly, plus keeping right on top of water changes/ cleaning ect.


As for this posts question (there's always one!) The product I was sold to start the nitrate cycle was called 'stability'--(not safe-start). I've done a little research and I think I'm going to need to add amonia to the tank, and diy this cycle, am I right in doing this, or should I just calm down and trust stability??

thanks,

Jake

jdhef

Actually you should have at least 3 Panda Cories. But luckily, Panda's adult size is 1.8" (male) to 2" (female), so your good to go. Just do as HH suggested and stock slowly.

I would not trust the Stability, I think you're going to need to add ammonia and cycle fishless, unless you get some Safe Start or BioSpira

snakehead95

that is a terrible rule of thumb. you want to have about .5 inches of fish to every us gallon

Lucy

Ok, I'm confused (it doesn't take much lol) In another post you said you used safe start, in another you said you used stability.

That completely changes the advice I gave you in my previous post about adding fish right away.

mrsmuffin

It is definitely the general concensus on this board that 1" of fish per US gallon is a good rule of thumb. Of course, no rule of thumb is absolute and you have to consider the fish when following this rule.

Annabelle

I think the rule of thumb relies pretty heavily on the types of fish. I followed it and I havent had any problems at all with my tank. Nitrates dont usually go above 10 and the other two stay a steady 0. Just so long as you have a good filter (sounds like you r covered there), a great liquid test kit (API all the way!), and a QT (quarantine tank) with a little filter and heater then you should be able to take on anything.

I cycled my QT along with my main tank. When it came time to add my fish I quarantined each lot for a week and the same day I added a batch to the main tank I bought the next lot and put them in the QT. Since you have to wait a week or two between batches of fish and since you should probably quarantine each lot for a week or two you will be 'killing two birds with one stone' as they say.

Its great to see you are researching everything before you buy the fish, it saves alot of frustration and unententional cruelty. Good work!

JstJake

Lucy, I'm sorry for my mistake, It is definatley 'Stability'. I would have made certain which but I'm currently 130 miles from my tank! lol


I'm not really sure about a 'QT' is it esential? I don't suppose you could get a link to a guide about one? I've got a really small tank that was a triop tank, it's about 2.4 us gallon...., I guess thats too small right?

HatchetHaven

A QT is a small tank (usually 5-10gal) that is empty that you keep new fish in for a few weeks, to check if they have any diseases or anything - it's much easier than losing all your fish to an infection! Fortunately my QT has never had any illness in it yet.

JstJake

So it's always set-up, cycled and ready? just waiting for you to put fish in?

Isn't it hard keeping you QT tanks' cycle going? Is it worth 'QT'-ing the first three danio's I get? because they are the only fish That will be in my tank for 2 weeks!

HatchetHaven

It's probably not worth QTing the first fish, but it would be preferable. It's not hard to keep the cycle going, because you add the fish to the big tank the day you go and get more usually. Then, when you're fully stocked a Betta usually finds residence there!

Lucy

If you keep an extra filter sponge in an established tank, you can set up a QT when you need it.
There are a lot of tips about it, Steve just posted one. Here it is:
Top Tip! QT

I wouldn't quaratine the first few fish if they came from the same tank.

JstJake

Ok I see how it works now, I'm not going to 'QT' my first three danios, however I will for my 2nd group of three.

I'm going to put the sponge from my 'small' internal filter (big enough for ten us gals) into my main tank, and simply remove water from main tank when required to set up a hospital/QT tank,

as for QT set up, a fake plant or two, and plenty of caves and hiding places is important to make the sick/new fish feel comfortable, but what about gravel/sand, whats the deal with that??

I'm going to buy a 6.6 us gal QT tank this weekend, the only time it may be overstocked, is when QT'ing my 3 panda corries, but as they shouldn't be above 2 inches, it should work out! (considering two weekes in there isn't too much really)


It is a massive help having you guys here for us newbies, I can only hope one day I'll be as helpfull to someone in my situation!

Jake

Lucy

Jake, before you know it, you'll be sharing what you've learned. With this forum there's always new things to learn too.

I don't bother with any substrate in my QT tank and I keep decorations to a minimum, just something they can find cover so they don't get stressed.

JstJake

ok so no gravel, thats ok, I'll put a few hiding caves...


One more final thing! When I put a fish in QT what exactly am I looking for? And is two weeks the correct amount of time to put them in there.

Jake

Lucy

Two weeks is a good amount of time, some people may say a month.
You'd watch for any signs of illness.

JstJake

Thanks!


you've been super helpfull!