jprime84

Here is the situation. I have my 20g tank in the last week or few days of its cycle. I have no ammonia, nitrite about 0.5ppm and dropping daily, and nitrates between 5 and 10. I finally got the bottle of SafeStart I ordered online.

Can I buy the rest of the fish I plan on having in the tank now, and then add the SafeStart and the fish and be alright? I know I could just wait another week to finish the cycle, but even then I would have to increment the fish I add so as to not overload the biofilter. My thinking is the spike I would ordinarily get from adding the fish would be offset by the bottle of SafeStart in an already mostly cycled tank.

Thoughts?

Shawnie

IMO no..and the reason is your current fish have already gone through an ammonia/nitrite spike and close to the end ...using tss with more fish, means your current babies will go through yet another ammonia/nitrite spike..and although its fast, I dont think it would be good to do that to them again ...just my 2 cents

jprime84

Wont there be a spike anyway just from adding more fish?

Jaysee

Well, what other fish are you planning on adding?

jprime84

Id like to eventaully have 4 long finned albino corys, and a male and female dwarf gourami to finish off the tank.

Shawnie

there will NOT be a spike if you have a fully cycled tank, wait 2 weeks after its fully cycled , and add slowly ...the bacteria will be able to handle and keep up with the extra ammonia

eiginh

It would be pointless to add TSS since you're basically done. Just add one species at a time. If you add all at once your bacteria may crash and I'm not sure if a w/c will help.

Jaysee

Water changes always help

Corys are schooling fish, so if you can get at least 6 they'll be much happier and more active. Get too few and they'll just lie around, scattered. However, 6 in a 20H will be cramped. Pygmy corys are a better choice, but can be hard to find. Otherwise, I would go with pandas - pretty readily available and smaller than most others.

As for the dwarf gouramis, females are not nearly as readily available as males (it's been impossible for me), so if you want a couple I suggest honey gouramis - IME the only DG species where 2 males can live together without aggression.

eiginh

Sparkling gourami's can live together They reach about 1.5 inches.

Shawnie

3-4 will live fine together ..and they actually dont school all the time, unless its feeding time LOL and the occasional play time.. ..otherwise they have their own spots most of the time...they do feel safer in an agressive setup with 4 or more ...

Im going to respectfully disagree as dg's are super agressive with m/m ratio...if there isnt space or if there is, they find eachother and have it out constantly....gouramis of the same sex, dwarfs or not, should be 1 to 30g tanks...even the m/f ratio is risky..but doable with plenty of hiding spots per 30gals

Jaysee

I always forget about them. <-- sparkling

Honeys are a different species than the regular dwarf. Just as pearl gouramis are peaceful compared to other full sized species, honeys are peaceful compared to other dg species. I've kept them together without consequence and know others who have/do as well.

I used to keep corys in small schools, with multiple schools in larger tanks. Then, I put a big school of the same species in a tank and have never gone back. They school when they're foraging, feeding, or just lying around together. Over fed corys forage less, so it can seem like don't school.

Meenu

As far as what to do with the bottle of TSS, if you aren't going to use it (everyone says it is really hard to find locally, even though I haven't had that problem): maybe put it on craigslist - someone would probably reimburse what you paid for it. Or take it to LFS that doesn't carry it and see if they can sell it to someone who has been asking for it?