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	Cycling and the effects of CO2
fry Enthusiast Posts: 243 Kudos: 195 Votes: 3 Registered: 27-Jul-2004	i have two questions: 1. my water condition is good. too good, in fact. NO2 and NO3 are at complete zero, although the tank is set for about a month (i used garden soil as substrate. does it shorten cycling?). how do i know when i can start filling my tank with fish? should i add more fish until i get a nitrite spike? 2. how does CO2 injection change water parameters? right now KH=6, GH is very high, Ph=7.2. how bad will it change?
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:19
Babelfish Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003	Well water conditioner itself isn't going to do anything about ammonia and nitrite, since nitrAte is still reading zero I have to ask what method you used to cycle the tank. Fish? fishless? bacterial starters or gravel from another tank? Without a source of ammonia in the tank, just running it isn't enough to cycle the tank....and since your nitrAtes are reading zero I'd have to say you're not cycled @all. As for CO2, it is likely to drop some, but with high gh and kh you may not see quite that much of a drop. ^_^
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:19
fry Enthusiast Posts: 243 Kudos: 195 Votes: 3 Registered: 27-Jul-2004	i use 2 small rosy barbs in 7G tank. gravel is new, filter was disinfected due to terrible desease. tank is sparsely planted. no bacterial starters were used, but under the gravel i used garden soil as substrate suitable for the plants. either my barbs don't  , or the plants eat the nitrate as fast as it is created.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:19
Babelfish Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003	It is entirely possible for the plants to consume faster than the fish create, in which case it sometimes becomes necessary to suppliment nitrAte in order to prevent some other problems from occuring. I'm assuming you used the rosy barbs only to cycle with, since they get too big and are too active for a 7 gallon tank . ^_^
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:19
fry Enthusiast Posts: 243 Kudos: 195 Votes: 3 Registered: 27-Jul-2004	it was my idea in the first time, using the barbs for cycling, and the shop owner agreed to take them back later, but they seem not to grow too much, and their color scheme is a little different from what i've seen on the net, so maybe it's a smaller variant. anyway, adding nitrate is prety easy: add more fish! because it is a relatively new setup, should i add enough fish to see some nitrite spike, or should i go easier than this?
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:19
Babelfish Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003	I would go slowly on the stocking, and remember that since it is such a small sized tank to stay with very small fish....say 1" or so for the adult lenght, and ones on the less active side. Stocking slowly will let any bacteria that is going to develop grow, and otherwise will allow the tank time to ajust. If you are going to keep the barbs, move them to a larger tank. The one on the top is male, the bottom is a female. ^_^ [/font]
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:19
fry Enthusiast Posts: 243 Kudos: 195 Votes: 3 Registered: 27-Jul-2004	how do you differentiate between male and female? i'll keep them only if they stay small. if i see they grow to big or swim fast on the tank boundries, i'll find them a better home. right now they're about 1" long. for now, they aren't growing too fast, and they seem to be relaxed in the tank (responsive, but not extremely active). for the color scheme, i have one similar to the female, but with some black too, and another with more green hue, and black back (ventral?) fin.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:19


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