Tanks are cycled!!!!!!

So after the epic failure of my 29G and getting a 10G, I'm sooooooooo excited to say they are cycled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So of course my husband wants to get fish right now. I'd rather wait a bit. I never want to end up in the huge mess I was with my 29G.
So when can I get RCS and CPO's for my 10G?

 

Ahhh that's a great feeling Once you're certain the tank is cycled you can start adding your creatures Slowly. Best of luck!

 

Sounds like you have made a great recovery from the big weekend with toosie. If your water parameters and testing Ok - ammonia = 0, nitrite = 0 and showing some nitrates I can see any reason to not start slowly stocking the tanks. The best advice I can give is start out with just a few and only add a few new one every other week or so. Remember it is always better to be slightly under stock than slightly over stocked.

I would personally start out the stocking with the smaller fish you are wanting to keep. Have you come up with a stocking list yet?

 

Oh yes my lists!!!!! I will be including my current fish in the following lists.

For my 10G:
1 male veiltail betta (Jaws, he's in the 29G right now)
8 neon tetras (I have 2 in the 10G right now)
20 RCS
2 CPO

For my 29G:
10 harlequin rasboras (in the 29G right now)
8 orange flame tetras
6 panda cories
2 sunset platies (in the 10G right now)
1 DG (in the 29G right now)
1 Blue Ram
1 Yellow Ram
1 Albino longfin BN pleco

 

I'm going to have to order my RCS and CPO's as no one around here sells them. So I would be getting all 20 RCS and the 2 CPO's at the same time...to save on shipping costs.
Thoughts on when I can add them?

 

From experience I know that neon tetras can be very sensitive to water params. I have 20 or so in my 120 gallon tank and added them last and made sure params were perfect before adding them. I also did not do a water change before adding them. The water had not been changed for a week. They are one of my favorite fish, so stunning in a school but I have read some sad posts about them dying because of an ammonia spike or a tank not 'seasoned' well enough.

 

The Red CherI Shrimp will not make much of a difference to the bio load so they could be added at anytime. As for the CPO I am not sure the Betta or Neons would be totally safe from them when they sleep. Neons are a faster moving fish but they do sleep like all other fish and I would consider the Betta as a slower moving fish so the CPO might try to get them. I just thought I would put that out there for you so that it wouldn’t be a total surprise if the Neons started to come up missing. I have never kept CPO but from what I have read they are a predatory creature. As far as bio load changes I wouldn’t think that they would make much of a difference ether so I would think that they could be added about any time.

 

Congrats on the cycled tanks! I know you put a ton of work into it. Good job.

 

Ok Bowcrazy...are RCS ok to have with neons and a betta? I can live without the CPO's. My husband saw some ghost shrimp the other day at the pet store and he was said these things are awesome. But I don't like them cause you can't really see them. So I thought RCS would be awesome cause they're small but they have color.
So I can add RCS at anytime?

 

Most shrimp are safe to keep in a tank with just about anything bigger than they are. The biggest problem with shrimp is not what they might eat but who might eat them. As long as you are keeping them with the smaller fish they should be safe and great to watch. As far as Ghost Shrimp go they will darken a bit the older they get. I have a few in my 125 gallon thank and I watch them come out and compete for food at feeding time. They aren’t a bit afraid of the Angelfish or the Gourami because they are now around 1 ½ to 2 inches long so they are too big to be eaten.

You might wait and see if anyone else has a comment on the CPOs before you decide not to get them.

 

I could always get them later.
Will the neons or my betta eat the shrimp? Maybe it's a better idea if I get some extra shrimp...like 30-35 in case some do get eaten.

 

You'd be surprised how fast the shrimp can be.

I have ghosts and RCS in a tank with neons & Tiger Barbs as well as platies & cories. Haven't lost one yet.

All the fish will take a swipe at the shrimp, but I've never seen one not be able to get away.

I made sure I set up a decoration that only the shrimp could get in so they have a safe resting place as well.

Increasing the population density would probably just increase the possibility of shrimp getting harmed or eaten though. Regardless of what you do...the "predators" will thin the population to a level acceptable to them. Just my opinion though. I'm new to the whole shrimp thing myself.

 

The Red CherI Shrimp will not make much of a difference to the bio load so they could be added at anytime. As for the CPO I am not sure the Betta or Neons would be totally safe from them when they sleep. Neons are a faster moving fish but they do sleep like all other fish and I would consider the Betta as a slower moving fish so the CPO might try to get them. I just thought I would put that out there for you so that it wouldn’t be a total surprise if the Neons started to come up missing. I have never kept CPO but from what I have read they are a predatory creature. As far as bio load changes I wouldn’t think that they would make much of a difference ether so I would think that they could be added about any time.

CPOs will not eat your betta or your neons. They only grow up to two inches max. CPOs are peaceful and can be kept in communities. Id be more scared for the CPO getting attacked and eaten by the betta from what I have read.

A few shrimp will most likely be eaten but if you have enough hiding places (I recommend java moss. Great plant for shrimp and can survive with low light) your shrimp population will not die. I would actually add the shrimp first (to a cycled stable tank of course) and let them colonize a bit before adding other fish. Give them a head start sort of speak. There are some people on this forum that sell RCS for a decent price. I would check the b/s/t section of the forum before ordering from a company. Good luck!

 

So now I don't know what to do. I'm pretty sure I'll get 30 RCS. I love how the little CPO's look - bright orange! Love it! But I don't want them to get eaten since they're a bit on the expensive side for such a little invert. But I guess there's no way to guarantee anything when you have a betta and inverts together. My betta is very laid back, but you never know.