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Hi,

My new 10 gal. has been up and running since Jan 23 this year, with my one male Betta being acclimated on Jan 25. I've also been adding the new and improved Cycle. It's all planted, not heavily though.

Plants are:

1 Anubias
2 small Anacharis
3 small Crypt wendtii 'Mi Oya'
3 small Moneywort
1 small bunch of Marsh Pennywort
3 small Corkscrew Vallisneria

Water pH is 8.0, temp 24^C/75^F, no ammonia, nitrites or nitrates yet. The substrate is a small pea size gravel, lighting is 1 20W Coralife Mini Compact Colormax Lamp (soon two be adding a second 10W same bulb), filtration is a Aqua-Tech 5-15 gal. power filter, and heater.

I'm trying to decide which fish to get to help the cycle. Is it ok to add a few fish like Corydoras, Loaches, and a Pleco or two? I like the Zebra Danios and have heard their a good hardy cycling fish. Any help would be appreciated

Zebra Danio's, their not to pricy and very hardy.

Will the fish be with the betta?

I'm thinking your tank may be cycled its just that the plants are taking up the nitrate, along with some of the ammonia. You may not really see much, if any, spike with all those plants in there . Also, a tank will cycle with a betta in it. You just never see high peaks because they do not produce a lot of waste. I had one alone in a 5 gallon and added biospira. With no plants I never seen ammonia or nitrite and had nitrates a few days later. Cycle isn't as good, but with low waste it shouldn't matter.

If the betta is to remain in there, I think the danios may make him dizzy. They run non-stop, like in hyperactive - basically, the anti-betta

If you keep the temp around 75 or so, you can add White Cloud Mountain Minnows. I have them and they are truly a joy. 5 is a good number, especially if you can get 4 females and 1 male. Males have a yellow tip on the dorsal and are skinnier; females are more plump and have white tipped dorsals. You can see in a link with my pics below. They are coolwater fish, but do well at 75 or so.

I was planning on having the fish with the Betta, but I've read that caution should be used with the Danio's and Betta's. I seen this on a compatibility chart, and there was no reason to use caution (here's the link to that chart for everyone to check out).

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/fwcompatibility_chart.cfm

Maybe it's like you mentioned about the Danio's hyperness, and zippy swimming, might the Betta get stressed?

Those WCMM's are real nice! I could see a school of those ending up in my 10 With my pH being an 8.0 how would they do? They prefer more of an acidic water don't they?

Thanks Di & MR_CICHLID



Last edited by bala shark at 30-Jan-2005 01:15

Just caught the mention of "a pleco or two" i'de say no. Pleco's are specificaly more sensitive to nitrites than other fish, or at least the bristlenose is (may differ for regular plec's) and the amonia can't help either. Plecos are a bad fish for cycling, and well... they get huge, so not good for a 10 gallon.

Clown loaches aren't a great move either- they are native to streams, so amonia and nitrite resistance is probably nothing. Loaches (all i think, if not at least all botia) are scaeless fish as well, so I'de think they would be especialy sensitive to amonia.

Last edited by veteric at 30-Jan-2005 02:15

I forgot to put my link. Here you go. I've noted which white clouds are females. Typically at the lfs they sell them so young it is hard to tell a male from a female. If you should end up with more males than females, it could be a problem as they mature. Its good to have a 2 to 1 ratio of females to males so that any one female can get a rest at some point

Here's that link - "Jaws" is a male and his pic is featured in the ?more photos" section of our WCMM profile. You'll see a female next, followed by an eggbound female.

If you look carefully, you'll notice that his dorsal fin tip is creamy yellow, versus snow white on the female. Also, note his streamlined body versus her plump body. Females in most species tend to be larger and more plump.

My 20 gallon long

EDIT: I will add that WCMM are probably one of the most easily available fish too. They are cycle tolerant as well. Just don't try to keep them at 80F. 75 even 76 is ok.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 30-Jan-2005 09:55

bala shark:

I'm a firm believer in fishless cycling, so my first response would be 'none'.

'cycling fish' can either mean hardy tolerant fish which you plan to keep forever, or inexpensive throw-away fish which will be disposed of after the tank cycles.
What are your intentions with your fish?
If I may, I'd suggest you do the following:

-Identify exactly which species of fish, and how many of each you want to end up with.
-Slowly, over a period of several weeks, add the fish. If you chose schooling fish, it would be best to add them together, rather than a mix of species.

-Since you've done your research ahead of
time, you should have a good idea of which species are the hardiest. Add the more delicate species after your tank has matured.

-Buy ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, hardness (optional) water chemistry test kits. Consider it an investment rather than a purchase. These are your TOOLS for a successful startup.

Go slow and be patient. Patience is one of the hardest things in this hobby, but it does pay off in the end. If you run into problems, don't panic and persevere. Many beginners are overwhelmed and quit early out of frustration.

If something does not work, step back and try to look at the cause-effect. Seemingly complex problems can be broken down into simple easy-to-resolve problems.

The betta does not generate a lot of waste (poop), but rest assured, it is generating something, so your cycling, though probably unobservable right now, is in fact taking place. Without the test kits, you won't know at all. That's why they're important to have right now.

Bettas life in the top portion of the tank. So do zebra danios. Corydoras live in the bottom layer of the tank.
You've not identified any fish for the middle layer to fill out your tank.

Most loaches and pl*cos (depends on the particular species you have in mind) will easily out-grow a 10 g., so not recommended. Of course, as I've said, it depends on the particular species you have in mind. There are some which remain small, which is what you what for a 10 g.

Hope this gives you at least a little bit of guidance. Enjoy your new hobby!

-Wayne