New tank - newbie questions about ammonia and stocking

[pixlweaver]

Hello again!

We have a Fluval Spec 5 gallon that we started up almost 2 1/2 weeks ago. Added a heater and added foam over the flow to slow it down. The guy at the fish store told us to use a whole bottle of FritzZyme 7. We did that, and then a week later I did a 50% water change, not knowing that we shouldn't touch it. There are snails that came in on the plants and I thought cleaning out the poop would be a good thing!

The ammonia level has yet to go down. It's maybe around 0.75 or 1 and has been that since my water change. Algae is growing pretty well. Snail poop everywhere. Some of the plants have been showing new growth. Frogbit is SUPER HAPPY.

1) Do I not clean up the poop until the ammonia is at 0? Doesn't the poop add to the ammonia after a while?

2) At what point do new tanks ammonia go down? When is it safe to add fish?

3) My husband would ideally like to have a betta, some neon tetras, and some shrimp. Is that too much for a 5 gallon?

4) When we do get fish, is it ok to just put them all in at once and then use a general cure in the tank? What medicine do you recommend?

Thanks all!

[FLFishChik]

Since it’s a new set up, it hasn’t cycled yet. Beneficial bacteria need to establish and then start converting the ammonia into nitrites. Then, another bacteria will establish to consume the nitrites and turn them into niTRATES. When your ammonia and nitrites start to decrease and your niTRAtes start to increase, your tank is starting to cycle. Once ammonia and niTRItes are a 0ppm and niTRAtes are climbing, your tank is cycled. This can take 4-8 weeks depending.

 In my opinion ( and this is just my opinion)  a Betta and a few shrimp are about all you can safely stock in a 5g tank. Tetra need to be in groups of at least 5-6 and would be too much to keep in a 5g with a Betta and Shrimp. 
 

you can read about the nitrogen cycle here. in the ACO blogs:

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/nitrogen-cycle

Edited August 20, 2022 by FLFishChik

[Flumpweesel]

To give you an idea of time to cycle I would be thinking 4 to 6 weeks if things go well. Pest snails only eating algae shouldn't be producing to much waste unless there are 100s so try to live with the mess until the cycle kicks in. The less you mess the quicker and more stable the cycle. 

Betta and shrimp work pretty well as in my experience Bettas aren't that fussy about hunting down the shrimp tetras can be a bit more focused on rooting things out.

Shrimp like well established tanks so I'd get the Betta first and then after a few months add the shrimp.

 

[Cleveland M]

You could stack a 10gal like that but I agree with FLFishChik that would be too much for a 5gal. Plus your tetras could grow to 1.5inch which makes a 5gal small for just a group of them

[pixlweaver]

Ok thank you all for answering my questions!

[bryanisag]

As for medicine I would say that if you are getting a healthy looking betta and shrimp and snails only, then you shouldn't need any medicine. The Betta has likely been living in a cup alone for a while so he has already quarantined in a way. If he looks healthy and his fins are in great shape then you should be good. Shrimp typically don't get treated unless again you see a specific problem. If your Betta does look sick at all then I would use the med trio that the co-op is known for in the preventative way. That is to say, put one dose of all three meds in the tank and let sit for 1 week. 

What test do you check ammonia with? 

 

[BeeD]

I actually cycle my tanks with pest snails. My most stable tank had nothing but snails and plants for two months. 

I should say all my tanks are stable, I'm not arguing for cycling for two months. But I do think the pest snails are great for the job. They produce a low bio-load and they're tough. They give you just enough to establish some of the bacteria you need, if you have enough of them. Then I just slowly add fish.

[pixlweaver]

Hello again!

It's almost been 2 months now. There's probably about 30 baby ramshorn snails now, and the frogbit takes over really fast. I've had to pull out excess frogbit and trim the roots 3 times already (because they get down into the substrate and make a mess of it). I have not touched the water other than to test it. Ammonia has been 0 for a month, but no sign of rising nitrite or nitrates. Could it be that there's too small of bioload to even make nitrate? And if it is made, it's getting absorbed by the plants?

A couple weeks ago I did read that ph being too low could impact bacteria growth (the tank was lower than 6), so I brought it up to around 6.8 with Seachem Neutral Regulator. Pretty odd that the ph in the tank got so low, because the water from our tap is more like 8.

Should I keep waiting for nitrate before getting fish? What about water changes - do I wait to do those until nitrate rises?

[DaveO]

I do believe your tank is ready for your Betta. Very nice looking tank BTW. I would do a small water change and feed the snails then start shopping for your new Betta.