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1. I am new to the hobby and believe I've made the classic beginner's error of overstocking my aquarium before it has completed its nitrogen cycle .

I have acquired a 20G tank to which I've introduced 2 cherry barbs, 4 zebra danios and a panda cory. They started the cycling process 2 days ago but after consulting your website and various others I now think I've introduced too many fish at once. What do you think?

2. Once cycling has completed would it be viable (hoping that my current fish survive) to add 2 rams, 6 cardinals and 2 more cories or would this be overstocking ?

Any advice would be helpful.

I agree, you've added too many fish. However, you haven't overstocked it too severely. Just take back the cory and the cherry barbs, and you should be good to go. Zebra danios are very hardy fish, and are well-suited to cycling tanks. Just leave them in there, and they will finish the job for you.

If you go that route, you've got some choices to make once cycling is over. However, I recommend first adding two more zebra danios. They like to be kept in groups, and six is a nice magic number. Panda cories are a great fish and very fun to keep, but I think that you should get at least six of these, not three. They are shoaling fish like the zebra danio, and enjoy being kept in groups of six or more. Plus, they are more energetic when in groups of six. After that, six cardinals sounds nice. They are usually fairly hardy if you treat them well, and are very beautiful. They would certainly be the most attractive fish in that tank!
That should do it for stocking.

Welcome to the site!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Cheers for that, much appreciated.

I've become rather attached to the barbs and the cory. If I don't take them back to the shop what options (in regard to cycling) do I have? Can the fish survive?

Last edited by gmanoz at 05-Jan-2005 17:06

It's very risky. I would return rather than subject them to high ammonia and nitrite levels coming. I would use a bacterial starter like New and Improved Cycle if it is available in the UK. Otherwise, inquire about what other bacterial starters there may be to get the tank cycled sooner.

Also, prognosis for a lone panda in a tank is not good. They are highly sociable fish, doing best in large schools. If you take him back, you can get more pandas later. They are wonderful, comical little guys. I would use no less than 6 pandas due to social issue.

Stocking should be slow and gradual, spread out over weeks, so you can have time to plan out your tank.

Is it a regular 20, or do you know if it is a 20 long? 20 longs allow for more fish because of greater surface area.

If you were in the US and had access to BioSpira, I would say go for it. The tank would cycle in 3 days. Cycle is similar, but not as good. Even low levels of ammonia and nitrite can kill sensitive species. As Sirbooks points out, Danios are quite hardy.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 05-Jan-2005 22:34

Thanks for the advice.

According to my ammonia test kit it states that when the PH of your water is below 7 then the ammonia is present as non-toxic ammonium. The PH in my tank is around the 6.5 mark due to the water in my area being slightly acidic. To what extent does this mean that my fish won't be as susceptible to ammonia poisoning?

Last edited by gmanoz at 06-Jan-2005 10:57