LabRat38

I have a new tank that I started on January 24, 2010. It has 4 platies and 2 neon tetra in it presently. I know the neons are a horrible first fish. Anyway I am doing a fish-in cycle and am through the ammonia spike and on to the nitrite spike. Is it too late to add Tetra Safestart to speed it up? The lady at the LFS says you have to add it at the beginning or it is doesn't work. Said she would sell it to me but I would be wasting my money. Also for for a 29 gallon high aquarium I would like to stock the following eventually:

5 platies
2 dwarf gourami
7 Neon Tetra
7 Cardinal Tetra

I ran those through the fish stocking calculator at www.AqAdvisor.com and it said it would be fine. What do you all think?

Lucy

Welcome to FishLore!!
Be careful of the DG's they can get aggressive with each other..

Here is a link that might help with your TSS questions:
Q & A With Tetra about Tetra SafeStart

Good luck

LabRat38

Thanks Lucy

LabRat38

So one more dumb question. Does it matter if the DG's are male/female, male/male or female/female with respect to aggression. Or should I just look to get one and leave it at that.

Prince Powder

If your going to get a pair I would recommend 2 females. 2 males could quickly prove disastrous and a male/female pair could spell trouble for your tetras if they decide to pair off for breeding. The safest route is always a single.

Lucy

Prince Powder has you covered.
No questions are dumb. By asking, you're helping others who may have the same question.

You might want to do some research on the health of DG's lately. Seems many have problems with their health. They're suseptable to bacterial infections and Dwarf Gourami disease (which in not curable)

You might want to look at the thick lipped gourami or banded gourami. They're a little larger but a bit hardier.
Honey Gourami's don't get DGD, however, from what I understand, they're very sensitive.

Good luck and have fun!

LabRat38

Another newbie question here. Like I said in my previous post I am through the ammonia spike in my nitrogen cycle and I am now onto the nitrite spike. Over the last few days I have had cloudy water. Is it normal for this to happen during the nitrite spike. My nitrite is holding at about 3 PPM even though I have done 30% and 40% pwc's in the last two days respectively. Is the white cloudy water good, bad or indifferent at this point.

I am also thinking of switching from Aqueon Water Conditioner to Seachem Prime for my water conditioner. Is that a bad idea to switch conditioner mid cycle. Thanks in advance for all the help.

Lucy

Cloudy water is usually a bacterial bloom. If it is, it should clear up on it's own as the beneficial bacterial develops.
It won't hurt to switch to prime in mid cycle. In fact, it'll help detox the nitrites for 24 hours between water changes.
With a nitrite reading that high, you should see it drop soon.
Are your nitrates increasing?

Prince Powder

Cloudy water is sometimes the result of a bacterial bloom, it is not harmful and will dissipate on it's own so don't worry too much about it. I would definitely recommend switching to Prime since it will detoxify the nitrite to keep your fish safe but still leave it available for your beneficial bacteria. You don't have to get rid of the Aqueon though, it's a good water conditioner for an established tank so if you prefer you can go back to it once your tank is done cycling. Personally I stuck with the Prime when my cycle was done since it's so concentrated I found it to be a better bargain. Try upping the water changes to 50% daily using the Prime it will lower the nitrite level and whatever is left will remain detoxed for 24 hours until your next water change. Remember that your nitrite spike will generally take twice as long to process as the ammonia spike did so stay patient and good luck!

LabRat38

In reading several threads and some articles it appears that the opinion of most aquarium folks is that a UGF is not a good idea. I received this tank for free and cleaned it up. I put back in all the stuff it came with except for I used new gravel and replaced the HOB power filter with the Penguin 200 B. So I put back in the UGF that the lady had in it when I picked it up. Should I remove it now to prevent future problems. Wait for the cycle to complete or simply leave it alone unless I start suspecting it is causing problems.

Thanks.

mcl5000

My tank has been completely cycled for a week now and it's still cloudy.