I Finally Have Fish! And So Many Questions!

Hello,
Fishless cycled my tank to achieve 0 ppm ammonia and nitrite within 24 hours when starting out with 3ish ppm ammonia. This took about 4 weeks with Fritz Zyme 7 and liquid ammonia. Did a massive water change yesterday (0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, 20 ppm nitrate). I also added purigen to the canister yesterday. Ordered the following stock from Live Aquaria (the singular LFS in town did not have a great selection). Everything I added to the tank seems to be doing well. The glowlights ate a little bug bites. The shrimp are already doing shrimpy stuff on the driftwood and plants.

7X Amano Shrimp (2 were dead on arrival)
2X Nerite Snail
10X Glowlight Tetra
4X Honey Gourami (Did not receive today because they became back ordered after I put my order in)

Questions -
1. Will I have a minI cycle when the Gouramis arrive because the bioload is very small right now?
2. How do I know if the flow is too high? The fish seem to be able to go wherever they want but I am not sure if the flow is tiring them.
3. I'm thinking of getting 5 more Amano shrimp. Would that be overkill for my size of tank?

Tank Specs -
Aquamaxx 22 gal rimless - 36" X 12" X 12"
Fluval 207 Canister Filter
Cobalt Neotherm 100W heater
Fluval 3.0 Light currently set for two three hour photoperiods per day
USB air pump with airstone
Planted with micro swords, anubias nana 'petite', java fern, and scarlet temple. Fertilize with 2 pumps of EZ green per week. No CO2
Photo -

 

1. I think it is unlikely that you will have a minI cycle but if you do it will be very small and should be manageable with water changes.

2. Just keep an eye on them. The gouramis prefer still water but all your current fish and inverts should be ok with higher flow. If the flow does seem to bother them you could direct the flow at the side of the tank or at an ornament or some driftwood to diffuse the flow.

3. 10 amanos would be fine imo. If the tank runs out of algae with the shrimp and snails you can feed them veggies and algae wafers. Bioload wise it would be fine.

 

That's actually a pretty solid bioload on a 22g tank. The gourami might do a minI cycle but also would more than max out "recommend" bioload so frequent water changes will be required.
Microsword might be difficult to grow without a CO2 injector as well.

 

Hello,
Fishless cycled my tank to achieve 0 ppm ammonia and nitrite within 24 hours when starting out with 3ish ppm ammonia. This took about 4 weeks with Fritz Zyme 7 and liquid ammonia. Did a massive water change yesterday (0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, 20 ppm nitrate). I also added purigen to the canister yesterday. Ordered the following stock from Live Aquaria (the singular LFS in town did not have a great selection). Everything I added to the tank seems to be doing well. The glowlights ate a little bug bites. The shrimp are already doing shrimpy stuff on the driftwood and plants.

7X Amano Shrimp (2 were dead on arrival)
2X Nerite Snail
10X Glowlight Tetra
4X Honey Gourami (Did not receive today because they became back ordered after I put my order in)

Questions -
1. Will I have a minI cycle when the Gouramis arrive because the bioload is very small right now?
2. How do I know if the flow is too high? The fish seem to be able to go wherever they want but I am not sure if the flow is tiring them.
3. I'm thinking of getting 5 more Amano shrimp. Would that be overkill for my size of tank?

Tank Specs -
Aquamaxx 22 gal rimless - 36" X 12" X 12"
Fluval 207 Canister Filter
Cobalt Neotherm 100W heater
Fluval 3.0 Light currently set for two three hour photoperiods per day
USB air pump with airstone
Planted with micro swords, anubias nana 'petite', java fern, and scarlet temple. Fertilize with 2 pumps of EZ green per week. No CO2
Photo -

Congratz!
1. I added 3 mollies to start out so you should be fine.
2. I mean if they cannot even swim past the flow then lower it.
3. I would not count shrimp towards stocking just because of their bioload.

 

Hello,
Fishless cycled my tank to achieve 0 ppm ammonia and nitrite within 24 hours when starting out with 3ish ppm ammonia. This took about 4 weeks with Fritz Zyme 7 and liquid ammonia. Did a massive water change yesterday (0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, 20 ppm nitrate). I also added purigen to the canister yesterday. Ordered the following stock from Live Aquaria (the singular LFS in town did not have a great selection). Everything I added to the tank seems to be doing well. The glowlights ate a little bug bites. The shrimp are already doing shrimpy stuff on the driftwood and plants.

7X Amano Shrimp (2 were dead on arrival)
2X Nerite Snail
10X Glowlight Tetra
4X Honey Gourami (Did not receive today because they became back ordered after I put my order in)

Questions -
1. Will I have a minI cycle when the Gouramis arrive because the bioload is very small right now?
2. How do I know if the flow is too high? The fish seem to be able to go wherever they want but I am not sure if the flow is tiring them.
3. I'm thinking of getting 5 more Amano shrimp. Would that be overkill for my size of tank?

Tank Specs -
Aquamaxx 22 gal rimless - 36" X 12" X 12"
Fluval 207 Canister Filter
Cobalt Neotherm 100W heater
Fluval 2.0 Light currently set for two three hour photoperiods per day
USB air pump with airstone
Planted with micro swords, anubias nana 'petite', java fern, and scarlet temple. Fertilize with 2 pumps of EZ green per week. No CO2
Photo -

1. If your tank was processing 3ppm ammonia in 24 hours you shouldn't have any problem adding the gouramis when they arrive as long as they get there in a few days. But test the water ammonia/nitrites weekly for awhile, just to be sure.
2. With the fish you have, flow shouldn't be a problem. The gouramis may want a quiet end of the tank. If you position your filter outflow at one end is the tank rather than right in the middle and direct the nozzle toward the opposite side and down, it will provide for some 'quiet flow' areas in the tank. Just experiment with the outflow nozzle and see how the water moves.
3. You are pushing the limits with the stocking you have but if you keep up with fairly big water changes (alternate 50-75% weekly) and substrate surface vacuuming you should be fine with a few more shrimp.
Oh, congrats on the new tank full of fish and having the patience to do it right! Kudos! Got Pictures???

 

Congratz!
1. I added 3 mollies to start out so you should be fine.
2. I mean if they cannot even swim past the flow then lower it.
3. I would not count shrimp towards stocking just because of their bioload.

3. Mostly I would agree, but ammano shrimp get quite a bit larger than most other common species and they also are more prone to eat algae which pulls nitrates out of water than other shrimp. I consider them about 1/4 of a comparable sized fish. So I would consider it would be like 3 more fish for the 10 shrimp.

 

Momgoose56 Thanks! I have this one picture from before the fish got in - . I do plan on testing the water weekly and coming up with an appropriate weekly water change %.
MrBryan723 The algae - nitrate comparison for shrimp makes sense. I'll keep checking the nitrates and algae growth level weekly for some time before adding more shrimp.

Another question I thought of - I'm currently using two photoperiods because I read it allows the aquarium to build up CO2 through natural gas exchange and aids plant growth. This however, makes the light come on suddenly to full brightness. Will this startle/stress fish? If I switch to one photo period I will be able to use the sunrise and sunset feature on the Fluval 3.0 which basically ramps up the brightness gradually

 

I have been doing the split photoperiod on all my planted tanks for over 2 years to no ill effects.

 

Momgoose56 Thanks! I have this one picture from before the fish got in - . I do plan on testing the water weekly and coming up with an appropriate weekly water change %.
MrBryan723 The algae - nitrate comparison for shrimp makes sense. I'll keep checking the nitrates and algae growth level weekly for some time before adding more shrimp.

Another question I thought of - I'm currently using two photoperiods because I read it allows the aquarium to build up CO2 through natural gas exchange and aids plant growth. This however, makes the light come on suddenly to full brightness. Will this startle/stress fish? If I switch to one photo period I will be able to use the sunrise and sunset feature on the Fluval 3.0 which basically ramps up the brightness gradually

Did you get a lid? The worst thing startled fish can do is jump out. So if you have a lid, you should be okay.

 

You've got a fantastic setup. Great looking tank.

I only have 1 suggestion for your consideration.

I would be concerned with the shrimp or snails making their way into the intake strainer of the filter.

Something like a sponge pre-filter can be used to prevent this.

There are several kinds. Some slip over the intake strainer. Others are a modular assembly that attach to the intake tube after the strainer is removed.

Here is an example of one of the types I use and prefer, an ATI Hydro Max III. I get mine from Kensfish.com.




Here is one attached to a Fluval FX4....

ATI Filter Max III pre-filter on FX4 intake tube

• Islandvic
• Aug 12, 2019

ATI's coarse "pro" sponge, approx 4" tall x 2.75" wide. Larger ATI foam sponges will fit. A...

Here is a pic of an Mbuna tank I set up about 6 weeks ago. I took this pic during the first week, so the rock work has changed now. If you can zoom in toward the left you can see the pre-filter attached to the intake tube of my Hydor canister.

Day 1: 55g Mbuna tank plenum installed

• Islandvic
• Jul 13, 2019
• 1

I've never kept snails before and only ghost shrimp, not the Amano's like yours. So I am not sure of their size or if they are too big to get past the strainer.

I have found that using pre-filters allow catch all the heavy muck, plant leaves and a lot of the uneaten fish food. Fish can go up to it later and pick the food off. This helps slow down the main media inside the canister from getting dirty so quickly.

I have a question, does the new 207's come with a spray bar option?