[AquaticLife] Tropical Community Tank
Just so you know, whether to cycle a tank with fish or without them is a major matter of controversy. Tanks never WERE cycled without fish. We know how to do it now, but if you want ti get your tank going before the end of teh semester you might want to start with fish!
Lennie is VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY big on fishless cycling, and if you let the opinionatedness of people on tropical fish lists get to you, you’ll give up in a day!
However a routine newbie way to invite catastrophe is to start with a tank full of fish, or even several of the prettiest fish in the fish store. Start with two or three hardy fish like danios. There are several other good ones as well. Danios are not the prettiest fish but they are lively, and they’ll survive your nitrogen waste spikes. When your nitrogen waste levels even out a month to six weeks depending on whether you used a bacterial starter, you can add more fish two or three at a time.
Danios come in several varieties. Plain ordinary, larger fins, leopard spotted, pink, and psychedelic colors. I started with the plain ol’ striped ones and now I won’t get anything else (except teh tetras).
You can speed up the process just slightly with a bacterial starter. Their effectiveness varies directly with price and difficulty of obtaining them. Freshwater TLC comes across as a goofy product but works as well as any of the inexpensive ones. I bought one of the expensive refrigerated ones and it didn’t do all that much.
Be sure you do your homework before you select your fish. Fish vary a great deal in water conditions, what fish they get along with, and some of those little fish in the pet store get to be a foot or two long. That’s especially true of goldfish. Don’t know if tha’ts a foot or two long, but they get big, and they also put out an extraordinary amount of waste relative to their size.
Yours, Dora Smith Austin, TX tiggernut24@yahoo.com
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
