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I'm going to try the fishless method of cycling a tank, provided I can find pure ammonia without additives.

Once cycled, this tank will either hold:-

Only harlequin rasboras
Only platys
Or a mixture of harlequines & rasboras

If it was only the harly's, how many could I have?
If it was only the platys, how many could I have?
If a mixture, how many of both?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers
TW

My vote is

8 Harlies
or
3 Platies(All male or 1m/2fm)
or
6 harlies and 2 male platy

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

With the width times the length divided by 12 to get the total inches of fish (25 inches) you can have then you could get:
17 harlies
12 platies
3 platies(1m/2f) and 13 harlies

The list in could go on with the harly/platy combo letting you play around with it. I like harlies, so I would have more harlies than platies (having fry issue=unwanted fish).


kj fishy-finn <*)))><
20 Gallon Album
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That fish inch rule is ok somewhat, but it can be overated. Id go with a mixture just to mix the tank up a bit. I would go with 10 Harlies and 3-5 Platies, I wouldn't worry about fry too much b/c the fish already in the tank will control the population of fry. I would also get 4-5 cories and 3 ottos.

Is Bio-spria not available there TW? Why waste your time messing around with ammonia?


EDIT: Now that I think about it, TW, don't you have at least 3 tanks going now? Seed the new filter with some old filter material, and seed the gravel with some mulm from the other tanks. There really is no reason to screw around with ammonia. It's time consuming, inefficient and out-dated.

As for stocking, will there be plants or not? If so, save some stocking room for a decent amoutn of yamato shrimp, they'll make life much easier.

For fish, harleys are cool, but do you have access to anything more uncommon? What about rasbora espei - LF has them, they're much prettier than regular harleys... same thing with rasbora hengali. There are also micro rasbora that are very pretty.

---

Back in the saddle!

12 platys is a lot

They're a very active and robust fish. I have seen 20 gallon tanks with platies in them and even 5 looked a little cramped.


"With the width times the length divided by 12 to get the total inches of fish "

A 10 gal is 20x10x12. By your rule I would have 16 inches of fish. Which means I could put an Oscar in there, right?
Rules like this way over simplify fishkeeping. I prefer one inch of slim-bodied fish(as a beginniners rule). Slimmer fish produce less waste and novices are less likely to overstock with them.


I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

I love harlies, so I would have alot of those. I would have a big school (10-12) and also have some of the smaller cories on the bottom. Maybe only 6 of them. I have never kept livebearers, and I actually don't really want to. I like schooling fish alot more. Go for the big Harlie school...and if you can find the less common types...go with them./:'

*Kristin*

Thanks everyone for suggestions so far.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, TW, don't you have at least 3 tanks going now? Seed the new filter with some old filter material, and seed the gravel with some mulm from the other tanks. There really is no reason to screw around with ammonia. It's time consuming, inefficient and out-dated.

I did have 2 tanks up & running, but this thread http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/28748.1.htm?2# shows how I pulled one down & steralised it. That is the same 20G tank I'm talking about here. (PS I have a 23.7G just cycled, a new (new for me, but really 2nd hand) 4ft tank sitting empty & we're picking up a 2nd hand 3ft on the weekend). My 43.5G tank was set up Jan 06 & I took 50% of the filter matrix from the 43.5G on 01.05.06 to seed my new 23.7G tank. It was quick - tank cycled in under a week (still don't believe it really). Nervous if I take more media from 43.5G to seed this 20G, that it will be a shock on the 43.5G's good bacteria, when I did the same thing just over a week ago. I had a thread on that question, and light bright told me it would be ok, but still nervous to do it. Do you think it will be ok if I do it again so soon?

I've always used fish to cycle a tank & thought I'd try it the fishless way, as some say it's cruel & hard on the fish. I've never lost a fish during cycling (I've only cycled 3 tanks though, so that's not a lot). But maybe I'll stick to the way I know - the ammonia worries me, maybe I'll add too much or it'll contain additives, etc.

I don't know what Bio-spria is, but is it like Hagen's cycle? If so, I add that daily when cycling a tank.

I'm setting the tank up for hubby and he doesn't want anything other than the harlies and/or platys & not even gentle persuasion will work, so there'll be no corys or ottos at this stage, but it will be a low tech planted tank.

If so, save some stocking room for a decent amoutn of yamato shrimp, they'll make life much easier.

NowherMan6, not for this tank but maybe for my 4ft, can you tell me about these shrimp & what you mean by

they'll make life much easier.

Thanks to all for replies.

Cheers
TW

Hagen's cycle is not even close to Bio-Spira. Hagen can aid in cycling a tank but Bio-Spira is much, much better and faster.

My friend is starting a 20gallon can you tell me how u cycled it and how long it took...Thanx

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

I myself never really cycled a tank before. I know it is actually a good thing to do, and I know how to do it. But I cant remember ever doing so, but i do try and let the tank sit for a few days.

Hi xlinkinparkx

Did you mean this question for me? If so, I'll tell you what I did. These comments are not regarding the 20G tank the subject of this thread (which is empty at the moment & I'm about to cycle) but my other new tank (23.7G). I set the 23.7G tank up on 30.04.06.

LFS told me my new tank would cycle in less than a week if I followed his instructions. I didn't believe him, but it appears he's right.

I took out half the filter matrix from my other established tank & replaced it with new matrix. The old matrix was placed in the filter of the new tank. I filled the new tank with 50% water from the established tank. The other 50% came straight from the tap (appropriate conditioners were used). I had 5 platys in the tank as my cycling fish. I added cycle daily to the new tank. By 03.05.06 my tank was cycled (no measurable ammonia or nitrite).

With my first tank, where I started from scratch with no filter media to pinch from another established tank, this process took me 20 days.

If your question was how to cycle a tank from scratch, this site has good info. Look in the FAQ menu & the Nitrogen Cycle. If starting from scratch, this will tell you basically all you need to know. It's what I used when cycling my 1st tank.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
TW