Virgo
10-07-2020, 02:30 PM
(Edited 10-07-2020, 02:32 PM by Cridders88.)
You mentioned Corydora's, they really are so rewarding, especially if kept in a larger group. Feeding time is very amusing. I have a group of ten peppered ones, here is a pic of some of them chilling
As for your tank, cycling is always a pitfall that I fell victim to aswell when I first set up around 15 years ago. To do it fishless you must add an ammonia source, even if it is liquid ammonia direcrly to the water. I didn't know this and added one of those bottled bacteria quick start things (I was young and naive and trusted bad advice) which half arsed the cycle and when I did add fish it was ammonia spike time. Frequent water changes are the only option in that case, a fish in cycle is hard work but it is doable. I have used ammo lock before too, and with the frequent water changes too I got by without any fish loss until the filter finally matured. Hang on in there, once everything is stable it is plain sailing then generally. I now do a 40% water change once a week, vacumming the gravel to remove the water, and keep on top of the filter maintenance and, touch wood, haven't seen any real problems with ammonia for a good few years now. Plants do really help with the building nitrates you get in more established tanks too. It is a rewarding hobby like you say, as long as you keep on top of things and do research on the fish you want
. Just got to be prepared for deaths every now and again, tropical fish aren't as hardy as they used to be.
Edit: as for the testing kits I used to use API but found the nitrate readings off so I now use NT Labs, which test water hardness and carbonate hardness, another thing to bear in mind when selecting fish.
As for your tank, cycling is always a pitfall that I fell victim to aswell when I first set up around 15 years ago. To do it fishless you must add an ammonia source, even if it is liquid ammonia direcrly to the water. I didn't know this and added one of those bottled bacteria quick start things (I was young and naive and trusted bad advice) which half arsed the cycle and when I did add fish it was ammonia spike time. Frequent water changes are the only option in that case, a fish in cycle is hard work but it is doable. I have used ammo lock before too, and with the frequent water changes too I got by without any fish loss until the filter finally matured. Hang on in there, once everything is stable it is plain sailing then generally. I now do a 40% water change once a week, vacumming the gravel to remove the water, and keep on top of the filter maintenance and, touch wood, haven't seen any real problems with ammonia for a good few years now. Plants do really help with the building nitrates you get in more established tanks too. It is a rewarding hobby like you say, as long as you keep on top of things and do research on the fish you want
. Just got to be prepared for deaths every now and again, tropical fish aren't as hardy as they used to be.Edit: as for the testing kits I used to use API but found the nitrate readings off so I now use NT Labs, which test water hardness and carbonate hardness, another thing to bear in mind when selecting fish.
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