How can I quickly cycle my tank and or get enough bb to introduce lots of fish at once

Thanks I was thinking 1 m 2 f for the pearls and for honeys I was under impression that it didn’t matter but I’ll do 2 m 3 f. I thought that these Gouramis weren’t aggressive, have you had aggressive behaviour?

Another question about the cycling - if I put in bb from my lfs (via a filter cartridge I think..?) how do I know when my cycle is done? Do I have to add it after my cycle?

Depends on how you're cycling it I believe. I cycled both of my tanks with Dr Tims. I just add 2ppm ammonia every time it drops to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite. Once it drops that in 24 hours 50% water change and I'm good to go.

 

Depends on how you're cycling it I believe. I cycled both of my tanks with Dr Tims. I just add 2ppm ammonia every time it drops to 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite. Once it drops that in 24 hours 50% water change and I'm good to go.

Sweet . Do you know how much ammonia fish would produce? If my bb can say get rid of 5ppm in 24 hours and my total fish would produce say 4ppm per 24 hours would I be able to add lots of fish- and the ammonia spike wouldn’t be too much for my bb?

 

Thanks I was thinking 1 m 2 f for the pearls and for honeys I was under impression that it didn’t matter but I’ll do 2 m 3 f. I thought that these Gouramis weren’t aggressive, have you had aggressive behaviour?

Another question about the cycling - if I put in bb from my lfs (via a filter cartridge I think..?) how do I know when my cycle is done? Do I have to add it after my cycle?

While these gouramis alone are not aggressive, they (the pearl more likely than the honey) can be bullies towards other species of gourami. Key word is can be here. Some people have good luck while others forbid even mixing gouramis with other gouramis. All I can recommend is having a 20 gallon set up too so you can put the honeys in there if it does not work out. Then you'll just have a nice honey gourami tank! Or talk to your LFS and ask them if they would be willing to take back the gouramis if it does not work out. These fish aren't a guarantee trouble free fish like the other fish on your list. Just something to keep in mind!

 

While these gouramis alone are not aggressive, they (the pearl more likely than the honey) can be bullies towards other species of gourami. Key word is can be here. Some people have good luck while others forbid even mixing gouramis with other gouramis. All I can recommend is having a 20 gallon set up too so you can put the honeys in there if it does not work out. Then you'll just have a nice honey gourami tank! Or talk to your LFS and ask them if they would be willing to take back the gouramis if it does not work out. These fish aren't a guarantee trouble free fish like the other fish on your list. Just something to keep in mind!

If there is an issue could I put the honeys in a 20 gallon qt tank?
Also do you know how much ammonia is needed to be converted in 24 hrs to be safe for introducing quiet a few fish. If it did 5ppm would that mean I could add more fish at once that if it did 3ppm? I’m just trying to understand how all this works . Ty so much.

 

If there is an issue could I put the honeys in a 20 gallon qt tank?
Also do you know how much ammonia is needed to be converted in 24 hrs to be safe for introducing quiet a few fish. If it did 5ppm would that mean I could add more fish at once that if it did 3ppm? I’m just trying to understand how all this works . Ty so much.

There’s not an exact science to this. You’re not going to know exactly how much ammonia your fish are putting out. Once your tank can take care of the bioload of your already existing fish in the tank for an extended period of time, then add more. Rinse and repeat. (Not literally figure of speech). It may look empty with less fish in it for a while but that is ok. It’s a bit of guess work but if you take your time and keep patience, there’s been some good schedules people have already suggested. Give those a shot and roll with the punches.

 

There’s not an exact science to this. You’re not going to know exactly how much ammonia your fish are putting out. Once your tank can take care of the bioload of your already existing fish in the tank for an extended period of time, then add more. Rinse and repeat. (Not literally figure of speech). It may look empty with less fish in it for a while but that is ok. It’s a bit of guess work but if you take your time and keep patience, there’s been some good schedules people have already suggested. Give those a shot and roll with the punches.

Sounds good thanks. Excited to see how it orks out in the end .

 

Your info says you do not know about the nitrogen cycle, was that a mistake? It seems you know about it so I am assuming that is a mistake. To start off, your tank is is very overstocked and you may run into some issues with the fish compatibility. Gouramis in general should not be kept with other gouramis. So I would choose either the honey or the pearl, I personal would do honey gouramis because they are more peaceful. The tetras seem fine except the ember tetras. They are so tiny compared to the other fish you have chosen, I would very concerned about bullying, them getting enough food, or them being scared and never coming out of hiding. The cherry barbs should be okay too. As for the corys, that is a lot of them. You would need to cut down to 2 separate schools of different kinds. Or one school of 15 or so corys. To help with you stocking. The ottos will be fine as long as you add them once the tank is stable. The blue rams and loaches should be fine, but the rams are another reason no to get the pearl gourami. Even if you got rid of the pear gourami, ember tetras, and one school of corys, you would still be a bit overstocked IMO. Hope this helped a bit!

Oops! don't know why it posted twice! As for the cycling, pick the hardiest fish you have and add those guys in first. Do 30% water changes as needed to keep ammonia down. The bb should build up well as long as you monitor your water. A 70g could handle a larger load than just a handful of fish.

Gourami's together are fine. Its all about being smart about it, you could get one overly aggressive gourami and in that case you need to take it back to local fish store and trade that one out for a new one to try it out with the others. I have 5 gourami's in a 29 gallon tank and at first there was conflict between two of them, now after being in there for 3 weeks or so they all get along fine. Not to mention, the gourami's I have are the most aggressive gourami's. Honey gourami's aren't really aggressive at all. I have 1 pearl, 2 opaline, 1 blue dwarf, and 1 flame. This is a variation that most people will never consider trying who have kept gourami's. I made it work somehow, so yes they can be kept together. You just have to be smart about it and monitor them when you can until its clear that they are fine together.

 

Gourami's together are fine. Its all about being smart about it, you could get one overly aggressive gourami and in that case you need to take it back to local fish store and trade that one out for a new one to try it out with the others. I have 5 gourami's in a 29 gallon tank and at first there was conflict between two of them, now after being in there for 3 weeks or so they all get along fine. Not to mention, the gourami's I have are the most aggressive gourami's. Honey gourami's aren't really aggressive at all. I have 1 pearl, 2 opaline, 1 blue dwarf, and 1 flame. This is a variation that most people will never consider trying who have kept gourami's. I made it work somehow, so yes they can be kept together. You just have to be smart about it and monitor them when you can until its clear that they are fine together.

Thanks for your insight So the opaline gourami was okay too? I’m really hoping to keep one but thought they were too aggressive .

 

If there is an issue could I put the honeys in a 20 gallon qt tank?
Also do you know how much ammonia is needed to be converted in 24 hrs to be safe for introducing quiet a few fish. If it did 5ppm would that mean I could add more fish at once that if it did 3ppm? I’m just trying to understand how all this works . Ty so much.

yes if there is an issue you can put the honeys in a 20g. So during a fish in cycle you want to keep your ammonia below .25ppm/.5ppm (anything higher than this can really hurt your fish). The only safe ammonia is 0ppm, but during a cycle you will see levels higher than that. The higher the ammonia is tells you that it is absolutely not safe to add fish. The nitrogen cycle is this: fish eat and produce ammonia (ammonia also comes from decaying food and dead organisms), then nitrites form and eat that ammonia, then nitrates form and eat the nitrites. These nitrates are removed through water change. Most people will agree the only safe level for fish are these: ammonia 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates >60ppm. That is what you tank will look like when fully stocked and cycled. The reason no one can give you an exact answer is because you will have to test your water daily to determine what the next step is. I will break it down. If you add the honey gouramis, barbs, and cardinal tetras, and rummy nose, you may see your ammonia spike to .3ppm (I am making up numbers here). That is because the fish produced waste and your tank has not built up enough nitrites and nitrates to compensate that ammonia. So your tank needs to build up that beneficial bacteria. So maybe a week later after your tank has had time to build up that bb to compensate the new fish, your ammonia may be down to .1ppm. Now you know the tank is starting to accumulate enough bacteria to compensate the fish you have. Now that ammonia is lower, you can add the other fish such as the silver tip tetras and honey gouramis. Again you will see the ammonia go back up to lets say .4ppm because your tank does not have enough bb to compensate this new load of fish. Again, it needs to build up more bb to compensate the recently added silver tips and honeys. This goes so on and so forth until you have your fully stocked tank and you gave your bb enough time to completely build up in steps. This is why adding all the fish at once is bad or adding too many is bad. Either you ammonia will go up too much and kill the fish, or it will go up so much it will kill your fish and your cycle. Does this make more sense broken down? During this cycle of slowing adding fish, you need to test your water every day. It is absolutely crucial to know when to do a water change (30-40% if your ammonia is above .4ppm). It also also important to test everyday so you know when you can add more fish and make sure your bb is continuing to grow well. To answer your question regarding the opaline gourami, I would absolutely not add a 3rd gourami to the mix. You may be asking for trouble with just the pearls. Again tho, I would get rid of the embers, opaline or honey, and sterbais. I would even still cut down on some fish, being slightly understocked is better and safer than over stocked. Will also give you more wiggle room for mistakes, like if you are a few days past due for a water change. Since you are also new to this, don't get in over your head on fish. I know it is exciting but I can tell you from experienced you don't want to overstock when you are new to the hobby. I hope breaking this all down helps!

 

yes if there is an issue you can put the honeys in a 20 gallon. So during a fish in cycle you want to keep your ammonia below .25ppm/.5ppm (anything higher than this can really hurt your fish). The only safe ammonia is 0ppm, but during a cycle you will see levels higher than that. The higher the ammonia is tells you that it is absolutely not safe to add fish. The nitrogen cycle is this: fish eat and produce ammonia (ammonia also comes from decaying food and dead organisms), then nitrites form and eat that ammonia, then nitrates form and eat the nitrites. These nitrates are removed through water change. Most people will agree the only safe level for fish are these: ammonia 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates >60ppm. That is what you tank will look like when fully stocked and cycled. The reason no one can give you an exact answer is because you will have to test your water daily to determine what the next step is. I will break it down. If you add the honey gouramis, barbs, and cardinal tetras, and rummy nose, you may see your ammonia spike to .3ppm (I am making up numbers here). That is because the fish produced waste and your tank has not built up enough nitrites and nitrates to compensate that ammonia. So your tank needs to build up that beneficial bacteria. So maybe a week later after your tank has had time to build up that bb to compensate the new fish, your ammonia may be down to .1ppm. Now you know the tank is starting to accumulate enough bacteria to compensate the fish you have. Now that ammonia is lower, you can add the other fish such as the silver tip tetras and honey gouramis. Again you will see the ammonia go back up to lets say .4ppm because your tank does not have enough bb to compensate this new load of fish. Again, it needs to build up more bb to compensate the recently added silver tips and honeys. This goes so on and so forth until you have your fully stocked tank and you gave your bb enough time to completely build up in steps. This is why adding all the fish at once is bad or adding too many is bad. Either you ammonia will go up too much and kill the fish, or it will go up so much it will kill your fish and your cycle. Does this make more sense broken down? During this cycle of slowing adding fish, you need to test your water every day. It is absolutely crucial to know when to do a water change (30-40% if your ammonia is above .4ppm). It also also important to test everyday so you know when you can add more fish and make sure your bb is continuing to grow well. To answer your question regarding the opaline gourami, I would absolutely not add a 3rd gourami to the mix. You may be asking for trouble with just the pearls. Again tho, I would get rid of the embers, opaline or honey, and sterbais. I would even still cut down on some fish, being slightly understocked is better and safer than over stocked. Will also give you more wiggle room for mistakes, like if you are a few days past due for a water change. Since you are also new to this, don't get in over your head on fish. I know it is exciting but I can tell you from experienced you don't want to overstock when you are new to the hobby. I hope breaking this all down helps!

Thanks SOO much this really really helps. I understand now . Sorry if my previous questions seemed stupid or naive just trying to absorb a ton of information in a few days .

 

Thanks SOO much this really really helps. I understand now . Sorry if my previous questions seemed stupid or naive just trying to absorb a ton of information in a few days .

No not at all, it is understandable. This all doesn't make sense unless it is really broken down, I wish I had someone explain it to me like that so I could have avoided a lot of mistakes lol. I would revise your stocking list and really narrow down what you want and try to get rid of some stock. Then I (or someone else on here) can help suggest the order to add the fish and how many of them to add.

 

No not at all, it is understandable. This all doesn't make sense unless it is really broken down, I wish I had someone explain it to me like that so I could have avoided a lot of mistakes lol. I would revise your stocking list and really narrow down what you want and try to get rid of some stock. Then I (or someone else on here) can help suggest the order to add the fish and how many of them to add.

awesome. If this were your tank how would you stock it (with these fish as a guide) would you have say 3 schools of tetra. Some gourami and some Corys?

I don’t really know how stocking works . I may have mentioned it on this thread can’t remember tho . I put all of my stocking list into aqa advisor and it was exactly 100%. I don’t know if this means anything.

In terms of temp - my lfs keeps all freshwater fish (except discus tank) at 26 degrees c or 78 degrees f and 7.9 ph. I don’t know if this means much - because he keeps panda Corys and German b

on the topic of stocking I just wanted to ask - do the fish get better colours once at home. Because in videos andgoogle s I love what the silver tip tetra look like (one of fav fish) but at lfs they don’t look great - quite dull.

Fav fish

rimmynose tetra

cardinal tetra

sulver tip tetra

honey and pearl gourami

julI corydoras

panda corydoras

cherry barbs

German blue rams


thanks

I wouldn’t mind losing the ember tetra.

idk about the sterbaI Corys (they were sold out at shop - same with panda Corys, so I can’t judge them on looks yet sorry )

KuhlI loaches can go too .

if there are too many individual Gouramis could I do this :

3 honey and 1 pearls?

with the Gouramis do the females look the same in terms of colour?
Because If so I wouldn’t mind having all females to stop potential aggression .

 

awesome. If this were your tank how would you stock it (with these fish as a guide) would you have say 3 schools of tetra. Some gourami and some Corys?

I don’t really know how stocking works . I may have mentioned it on this thread can’t remember tho . I put all of my stocking list into aqa advisor and it was exactly 100%. I don’t know if this means anything.

In terms of temp - my lfs keeps all freshwater fish (except discus tank) at 26 degrees c or 78 degrees f and 7.9 ph. I don’t know if this means much - because he keeps panda Corys and German b

on the topic of stocking I just wanted to ask - do the fish get better colours once at home. Because in videos andgoogle s I love what the silver tip tetra look like (one of fav fish) but at lfs they don’t look great - quite dull.

Fav fish

rimmynose tetra

cardinal tetra

sulver tip tetra

honey and pearl gourami

julI corydoras

panda corydoras

cherry barbs

German blue rams


thanks

I wouldn’t mind losing the ember tetra.

idk about the sterbaI Corys (they were sold out at shop - same with panda Corys, so I can’t judge them on looks yet sorry )

KuhlI loaches can go too .

if there are too many individual Gouramis could I do this :

3 honey and 1 pearls?

with the Gouramis do the females look the same in terms of colour?
Because If so I wouldn’t mind having all females to stop potential aggression .

I believe the males will be a bit more colorful, but the females are still gorgeous. I think females will be a good choice because they are slightly less aggressive, that combined with the fact you chose two kinds of more mellow gouramis, you have a much better chance of peace. I would stock 8 cherry barbs and 3 honey gouramis first. Then 6 julI and 6 panda corys. Then your 10 silver tip and 15 cardinal. Then 10 rummy nose and the pearl. Lastly the rams. What is your filtration? Depending on the filters you have you could up the corys to groups of 8 each. I like to keep in mind when advising people if I am advising a beginner or someone more advanced (not that I am an expert!). But for beginners I wouldn't recommend the same thing I would for someone more seasoned. That is why I am warning you so heavily on the stocking and gouramis. Someone with more experience may be able to house these gouramis perfectly fine and can act fast if there is an issue. Beginning in this hobby can be really stressful if you don't have all the info, that's speaking from experience. So everything I have told you is what I think will give you the least stressful (for you and the fish lol) and most rewarding intro to this hobby. All these fish will do well in 78, the blue rams may be a tad cold so just keep an eye on their behavior. I cannot speak for the PH. I am sure someone will disagree with the order I listed for stocking, but I am always open to constructive criticism! Just be sure you check parameters daily during this entire process and use sand substrate if you have not already started setting up. The corys will appreciate sand and it will keep their barbels healthy.

 

I believe the males will be a bit more colorful, but the females are still gorgeous. I think females will be a good choice because they are slightly less aggressive, that combined with the fact you chose two kinds of more mellow gouramis, you have a much better chance of peace. I would stock 8 cherry barbs and 3 honey gouramis first. Then 6 julI and 6 panda corys. Then your 10 silver tip and 15 cardinal. Then 10 rummy nose and the pearl. Lastly the rams. What is your filtration? Depending on the filters you have you could up the corys to groups of 8 each. I like to keep in mind when advising people if I am advising a beginner or someone more advanced (not that I am an expert!). But for beginners I wouldn't recommend the same thing I would for someone more seasoned. That is why I am warning you so heavily on the stocking and gouramis. Someone with more experience may be able to house these gouramis perfectly fine and can act fast if there is an issue. Beginning in this hobby can be really stressful if you don't have all the info, that's speaking from experience. So everything I have told you is what I think will give you the least stressful (for you and the fish lol) and most rewarding intro to this hobby. All these fish will do well in 78, the blue rams may be a tad cold so just keep an eye on their behavior. I cannot speak for the PH. I am sure someone will disagree with the order I listed for stocking, but I am always open to constructive criticism! Just be sure you check parameters daily during this entire process and use sand substrate if you have not already started setting up. The corys will appreciate sand and it will keep their barbels healthy.

Cool thanks so much. I’m getting the 260L Juwel vision tank kit. Which has a 1000L/h filter. Don’t know what it’s called.

and a quick question. How do I maintain sand? Iv heard food and waste can get stuck beneath the sand and explode killing all the fish. Is this true? It’s kind of scared me a bit . Also with the German rams what should I watch for in the behaviour and should I add them say 6 months in - iv heard they need old water... can u please shed some light about this thanks so much

 

Cool thanks so much. I’m getting the 260L Juwel vision tank kit. Which has a 1000L/h filter. Don’t know what it’s called.

and a quick question. How do I maintain sand? Iv heard food and waste can get stuck beneath the sand and explode killing all the fish. Is this true? It’s kind of scared me a bit . Also with the German rams what should I watch for in the behaviour and should I add them say 6 months in - iv heard they need old water... can u please shed some light about this thanks so much

I have not heard of that happening, but maybe someone else here has. I have heard sand is easier because all the food and poo just sits on top. Making it easier for bottom dwellers like Cory’s to eat the food. Sand also keeps their barbels in tact. For water changes just hover your gravel vac over the sand and it will easily suck up any poo and old food. I’m not super knowledgeable on rams. I do know that sensitive fish should be added last and I have heard people say 6 months of a cycled and stable tank is when to add them. Once your tank is stable and running that long, you really shouldn’t even see an ammonia spike from adding 2 rams. It takes a about 4-6 weeks for your tank to be fully cycled. Your filter is good so after the 6 week mark and all the fish are added, if everyone is doing well, tank is stable, and their is no fighting, you could add on a bit to the existing schools. Like 2 more of each Cory cat and 2 more to some of the tetra schools.

 

Thanks for your insight So the opaline gourami was okay too? I’m really hoping to keep one but thought they were too aggressive .

Yes, it was fine. Gourami's look awesome in a tank. I suggest you get a couple but be smart about it and monitor them.

 

Great

If I’m cycling my tank with 5-10ppm of ammonia (10 at start then dropping down to 5) should I put my plants in after the cycle is done and there is no more ammonia in tank?

 

I would recommend getting the 3 Peals mixed sex, they'll likely focus any aggression on each other and not the Honeys. Females can be just as aggressive as males. Where there is little difference in colour between male and female Honeys, Male Pearls have a beautiful orange underbelly and the females have a white underbelly.
Leave the Three Spot out, it's more likely to cause trouble.

The average aquarist isn't going to be able to answer with an exact science, a lot is guess work and comes from experience.

 

I would recommend getting the 3 Peals mixed sex, they'll likely focus any aggression on each other and not the Honeys. Females can be just as aggressive as males. Where there is little difference in colour between male and female Honeys, Male Pearls have a beautiful orange underbelly and the females have a white underbelly.
Leave the Three Spot out, it's more likely to cause trouble.

The average aquarist isn't going to be able to answer with an exact science, a lot is guess work and comes from experience.

awesome, how did you fishless cycle with plants in the tank without the ammonia killing them?

When introducing fish species (other than quarantining them and acclimating them) is the ammonia spike the only thing to look out for? If my tank can get rid of 5ppm of ammonia in 24hrs would that let my tank have enough bb to add most of my stocking (rummynose tetra cardinal tetra, silver tip tetra. All 8 Gouramis. And the 2 breeds of Corys (julI and panda)?

 

Ammonia is a food source for plants so having a heavily planted tank to start actually slows your cycle.

 

Ammonia is a food source for plants so having a heavily planted tank to start actually slows your cycle.

Some plants will eat more ammonia than others for example hornwort will take more ammonia than anubia

Not sure if you want to specifically cycle with gravel from the pet store (I feel like this would be an emergency situation, already bought fish, etc) but if their tanks look clean and well maintained then you could ask the guy at the store to give you a bag full of gravel for a couple of extra bucks. That’ll definitely speed it up for sure

 

Sweet. Can I plant my tank after it’s cycled?

Not sure if you want to specifically cycle with gravel from the pet store (I feel like this would be an emergency situation, already bought fish, etc) but if their tanks look clean and well maintained then you could ask the guy at the store to give you a bag full of gravel for a couple of extra bucks. That’ll definitely speed it up for sure

do you mean gravel scooped up from inside the tank?

 

Sweet. Can I plant my tank after it’s cycled?

Yes! Just look for low tech plants. These are considered plants that don’t require heavy light sources, heavy nutrients, or CO2 injections (if you’re not using CO2). However, if you choose to inject CO2, the plants will thrive in your aquarium and grow better.

 

Yes! Just look for low tech plants. These are considered plants that don’t require heavy light sources, heavy nutrients, or CO2 injections (if you’re not using CO2). However, if you choose to inject CO2, the plants will thrive in your aquarium and grow better.

Thanks, don’t think I’ll use co2 since it’s my first tank but I might add it later on .

 

do you mean gravel scooped up from inside the tank?

Yeah, this should have some BB on it and you could potentially cycle your tank with it. I say this is an emergency situation because some fish problems like ick or ich actually has a stage in it’s lifecycle where it lives attached to a rock or gravel.
Edit: therefore you risk introducing something into the tank this way.

 

You can plant it any time you want. Just be aware you won't have as large a BB colony so lets say you overstock the tank. Youll be dealing with ammonia and nitrite spikes which can kill your fish. On top of that, if your plants start dying (and releasing ammonia) your BB will be WAY behind AND you won't have the plants to absorb the ammonia which will cause serious problems. Its a fine line and you have to figure out what's best for you, what your experience & knowledge level are, how much time & money you want to put into it and how much money you're willing to risk losing.

 

Yeah, this should have some BB on it and you could potentially cycle your tank with it. I say this is an emergency situation because some fish problems like ick or ich actually has a stage in it’s lifecycle where it lives attached to a rock or gravel.
Edit: therefore you risk introducing something into the tank this way.

would using the fish shops filter media have same risk?

 

You can plant it any time you want. Just be aware you won't have as large a BB colony so lets say you overstock the tank. Youll be dealing with ammonia and nitrite spikes which can kill your fish. On top of that, if your plants start dying (and releasing ammonia) your BB will be WAY behind AND you won't have the plants to absorb the ammonia which will cause serious problems. Its a fine line and you have to figure out what's best for you, what your experience & knowledge level are, how much time & money you want to put into it and how much money you're willing to risk losing.

I agree with this post. Doing everything right the first time and being patient can save a lot of frustration and money down the road.

 

You can plant it any time you want. Just be aware you won't have as large a BB colony so lets say you overstock the tank. Youll be dealing with ammonia and nitrite spikes which can kill your fish. On top of that, if your plants start dying (and releasing ammonia) your BB will be WAY behind AND you won't have the plants to absorb the ammonia which will cause serious problems. Its a fine line and you have to figure out what's best for you, what your experience & knowledge level are, how much time & money you want to put into it and how much money you're willing to risk losing.

Thanks for the warning . If my tank can get rid of lots of ammonia say 5ppm in 24 hrs would this mean the bb is quite strong?

I agree with this post. Doing everything right the first time and being patient can save a lot of frustration and money down the road.

K thanks

 

If your tank is processing 5ppm of ammonia instantly then you have a good sized colony. Not 24 hours. In a few hours (or less) 5ppm of ammonia will kill your fish.

 

If your tank is processing 5ppm of ammonia instantly then you have a good sized colony. Not 24 hours. In a few hours (or less) 5ppm of ammonia will kill your fish.

So when I’m cycling if I add 10 ppm of ammonia until nitrates show then lower it to 5ppm should I keep adding 5ppm when it hits 0 until the ammonia is gone instantly? And when u say instantly is that literally u put it in and can’t test it? Or like 5 mins?

Also at what point should I introduce my German Blue Rams and my ottos? Iv heard they are quite sensitive and in the case of the GBRs they need older water? Does anyone know much about this? I don’t want to add those fish for them to die straight away that would be horrible. Thanks !

 

Also at what point should I introduce my German Blue Rams and my ottos? Iv heard they are quite sensitive and in the case of the GBRs they need older water? Does anyone know much about this? I don’t want to add those fish for them to die straight away that would be horrible. Thanks !

You should add the fish when you get 0 ppm ammonia and 0 ppm nitrite readings. And when you finally get nitrate readings

 

You should add the fish when you get 0 ppm ammonia and 0 ppm nitrite readings. And when you finally get nitrate readings

Ok thanks is this even if my tank can’t do 5ppm of ammonia instantly? Should I waituntil then so I can add all my fish at once?

 

Ok thanks

Ammonia and nitrite should be zero since they’re the factors being turned into nitrate. Nitrates can be removed two ways. First is by plants and the second is by water changes. Don’t think this will mean you should never do water changes in a planted tank though! Water changes are always good.

 

Ive never heard of anyone dosing 10ppm of ammonia. The "standard" procedure is 4 or 5ppm, then when nitrites start showing up, cut the ammonia back to 3ppm and continue. If you added 10ppm your nitrates would probably go off the charts which would force a massive water change which would be counter productive.

 

Ok thanks is this even if my tank can’t do 5ppm of ammonia instantly? Should I waituntil then so I can add all my fish at once?

Ideally, you want to add ammonia and testing every day (maybe even twice a day) until you see a nitrite spike. Then you keep adding ammonia until you see a nitrate spike. This means that your tank can finally convert ammonia to nitrites then nitrates. Once you see this nitrate spike your tank should be cycled and ready for fish. While your fish are in there the first month I’d do water changes either once or twice a week and test the parameters daily. If after adding your fish, you see ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate spikes. This means your tank couldn’t handle the bio load and you should change 50%+ of the water immediately

 

You're just asking for trouble adding heaps of fish at once. Especially if you're new to the hobby as you seem to be by your questions. I would suggest being patient and taking your time. Being in a rush and impatient is a recipe for disaster in this hobby.

 

Thanks everyone. I’m only adding 10ppm because I saw some forum post by a thunder person. Who had done tons of tests and finished cycling in a week with that method.

 

Thanks everyone. I’m only adding 10ppm because I saw some forum post by a thunder person. Who had done tons of tests and finished cycling in a week with that method.

! I agree with the post above yours. Being patient will reward much better than trying to cycle all within one week. Good luck!
Edit: nothing is worse than buying fish and having them go through stress and eventually other illnesses that’ll have you spending even more money than you thought you would.

 

You're just asking for trouble adding heaps of fish at once. Especially if you're new to the hobby as you seem to be by your questions. I would suggest being patient and taking your time. Being in a rush and impatient is a recipe for disaster in this hobby.

I am new. Thanks for advice