RonDutt

I recently bought a tank, read up on cycling and everything beforehand just so I wouldn't kill any innocent fishies

My question is, the tank was empty for about 3 days with moisture in the gravel from before (it's a used tank, was emptied 3 days ago of water and decor, the gravel stayed along with a few mm of water), are the bacteria still good to handle 5-7 fish or should I move some to an existing tank and wait a month or so for the cycle? The original filter ran in it for 2 days but it was quite loud (was a Whisper 30-60, using a EX45 now) so yeah...

So far none of the fish are showing any signs of distress or sickness (tank with fish have been running for 3 days now), the water is a bit cloudy but I plan on doing a 25% water change tonight. I want to add a few more fish if the bacteria are good still, the ones I have now are pretty small and look lonely. If not, then I'll hold off until the tank cycles again. I did put the filter material from the old filter into the new one so it's helping out a bit as well.

Sorry if the above is a mess, at work and wrote it in the course of 2 hours while being distracted every 20 minutes lol

Also, what other fish would you guys and gals suggest that are beautiful (bright colors) and get along with danios and platy? This is my first tank in about 4 years so I'm pretty much starting fresh... If in 6 months it's still going strong, I plan on getting a saltwater tank (I'm from Fiji, I LOVE saltwater fish and corals!).

Nutter

Not absolutley certain but there should still have been some bacteria left alive within the substrate that would kick your cycle along faster. This will depend on the tank having been fully cycled in the first place though. If it was a new tank then you will be starting from scratch. Remember that every time you add a new fish it increases the amount of wastes being produced & the bacteria population will take some time to catch up with the new bio-load. The best advice I can give you is to go buy ammonia, nitrite & nitrate liquid test kits & monitor your numbers closely. When you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite & a slight reading of nitrates, you are ready to add your next few fish. Take your time & monitor your water quality closely & you should have no problems.

What are the parameters of your water? Then reccomendations can be made about your fish stocks. If your waters not too hard & you have a lowish pH, (under7.6), then I like tetrasas there are hundreds to choose from & they rarely give you any problems. If you have really good water quality you could look at Harlequin Rasboras. If you want color & simplicity, it's hard to go past the humble Guppy. Hundreds of colors, cheap & easy to look after.

RonDutt

Ah, alright. I was told its unwise/useless to test before 7-10 daysm so I'm just holding off on buying a test kit till later.

lorabell

With fish in it..I would be testing constantly...but thats just me.....also waterchanges daily

Nutter

Whoever told you that is simply dead wrong. If there are fish in there then you need to be running those tests. You should do them everyday when cycling with or without fish & at least once a week once the tank is fully cycled & you are no longer making any changes to the fish stock, plants or filtration. Go get the test kit today if you can afford it.

aquarist48

Hello RonDutt and Welcome To Fish Lore. The test kit that is most recommended on this site is the API (liquid) Master Test Kit. It contains all the necessary chemicals to test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH, which is all discussed here in the nitrogen cycle:
The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
The only reason you would wait 7 to 10 days to test is if you used Tetra Safe Start (TSS) a cycle booster/starter.
Let us know what your readings are once you have your test kit and we'll go from there.
Your tank looks "great"!
Best of luck.
Ken

Nutter

Sorry Ken, forgot about the TSS. It doesn't readily spring to mind as it isn't real easy to get where I am & I have only used it on one of my tanks. Shame, because it's great stuff.

aquarist48

Morning Nutter. No need for apologies! We're all here to help when we can and we all can't remember everything
Have a good day!
Ken

RonDutt

Yeah I used another Safe Start formula. I checked my pH levels, everything matches with the fish I have, the tank size, and the temp. Fish look vibrant and healthy, bacteria levels are doing great as well (I put high nitrite+ammonia water into a bowl with the filter and it was leveled off within 35 minutes).

On a sad note...one of my yellow platys jumped out When I replaced the filter it didn't tick in my head that the new filter was 1/3rd the size of the old, and left a 5in by 3in gap in the back Hadn't seen the yellow platy for a while so I looked around during the water change...couldn't find it anywhere! Looked behind the tank and there she was

Meenu

I'm sorry about your platy! How awful.

What does it mean, another Safe Start formula? I think Tetra Safe Start is the only one currently on the market that has the correct bacteria to set up your tank. The others you have to keep adding, I believe. I kept getting advice to use "Cycle" and bought some, and then learned that it doesn't work.

edit: Oh, and sorry, I forgot to say, Welcome to FL!

RonDutt

At work at the moment, can't remember the name, but it's the one I was recomended by an old friend (fishkeeper of 20+ years!). Thank you for the welcome