Greetings!

[DaniV]

Hello!  Yet another noob joins the fray!  I decided to give this hobby a whirl after tumbling down the rabbit hole that is Youtube aquarium videos.  Growing up my dad had a big tank with all kinds of fish in it throughout the years, and I'm honestly amazed at how much has changed from that time.  I had no idea about cycling, quarantining, and whatnot, and frankly I don't think my dad did either back then.

I picked up a 20 gallon tank about a month ago, and today I saw that the cycling is nearly complete!  I ended up doing the fish-in method, had no idea about the fishless method until after the fact.  Started with 3 Dalmatian Mollies, and I was told to add more.  I (stupidly) added 6 Corydoras...none of them survived.  Dad said it was because I got some bad fish, I think it's because the nitrites were getting high at the time as part of the cycling process.  I added 3 Swordtails later, and they're going strong with the Mollies!

I'm in the process of gathering everything I need for a quarantine tank.  I don't want to make the same mistake I did with the corys and run any risks hurting what I've got so far!  I put in a sponge filter to begin seeding for the quarantine tank, any idea how long it needs to be in the tank before it's ready to go?

In the future I'd like to add some tetras (thinking Rummynose) and either a Betta or some Gouramis for the centerpiece fish.  I'm a little hesitant to pick up more Corys since I just lost 6, so maybe a snail?  My plant game needs some work too.  For now I'm gonna stick with just this one.  I'm certainly not opposed to getting more tanks, I just don't know where to put them!

And I come with pictures!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by DaniV

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Welcome to the forum @DaniV. Yes Cory are sensitive fish and IMO bottom feeders of any kind need to be added when the tank is very well established. I run 2 sponges in my tanks and always have a spare so I can rotate for QTs (so keep this in mind) I would make sure before you add anything further that the cycle is done and the tank is running another couple of weeks after (I know this is the hard part). In the meantime though if your tank IS indeed cycled put a new filter in there and run it for- I'd be comfortable with a week- then you can put that in your QT- leaving the original filter in the original tank for now. 

As for plants, find yourself an Anubias- a rhizone plant that just needs to be glued to one of your rocks or piece of wood. You won't regret that purchase (also Java ferns can be glued as well). Java and Anubias are very easy plants. 

[DaniV]

Thanks for the tips @xXInkedPhoenixX!  I'll have to hunt down some glue in the future!

[lefty o]

welcome to the forum. id go for a snail, like a nerite. they look nice, and dont multiply (though they do leave single little white eggs wherever they go).

[Jennifer V]

On 11/27/2022 at 8:54 AM, DaniV said:

Thanks for the tips @xXInkedPhoenixX!  I'll have to hunt down some glue in the future!

If you buy your plants from ACO they also sell glue. You can get everything you need in one package! 

[Schuyler]

On 11/26/2022 at 1:52 PM, DaniV said:

In the future I'd like to add some tetras (thinking Rummynose) and either a Betta or some Gouramis for the centerpiece fish.  I'm a little hesitant to pick up more Corys since I just lost 6, so maybe a snail?  My plant game needs some work too. 

Welcome! Getting started is rough and teaches you patience really fast. 

I think most tetras are fast swimmers so they like to have lots of horizontal space in the tank rather that vertical. Gouramis would probably do fine.

I wonder if something like a dwarf aquarium lily would look cool in there with how tall the tank is. Or you may be able to do some tall jungle val to fill things out.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I agree with @lefty o- get a Nerite HOWEVER your tank looks rather clean of algae (probably because it's still pretty new or it's just not showing up on the pic). If that's the case wait for a bit until you start seeing the short algae come in. Nerite snails are pretty notorious for not eating commerical or prepared foods so gotta make sure they have something to munch on. Once you do add one though- they are priceless!!

On 11/27/2022 at 10:17 PM, Schuyler said:

dwarf aquarium lily

I agree, this might be an interesting pick for such a tall tank! Some of the Anubias get rather tall too, like the Barteri. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[DaniV]

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful suggestions!  So glad I signed up on this forum!

As far as algae goes, right now there's maybe a very thin film of green on a few of my rocks, but that's it.  I actually re-arranged the room (which is pretty much a gaming/hangout room) so I wouldn't have the tank near the window just to avoid potential algae issues.  I'll see if I can get a good pic of the rocks when I get home from work.

Edit:  sorry about the low quality, had to zoom in to show off the bit of green on the rock that's resting on the driftwood.  Also one of the rocks has gotten really crusty, anyone know what that's about?

Edited November 28, 2022 by DaniV
Pictures!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@DaniV I'd wait a bit longer before adding a Nerite but when you do, you'll love the little thing they are great tank cleaners. 

When you say crusty, what part of the rock are we talking about? 

What's the crusty part look like?

[DaniV]

@xXInkedPhoenixX  All that white hard stuff on the rock in the above picture.  None of the other rocks in the tank have that and they're all the same kind.  Is that something I should worry about, or is that just rocks being rocks?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I'm personally not seeing anything of concern. If I had my druthers I'd take it out of the tank and take a look at it, try and scrub it off with a brush (like a toothbrush or dishbrush) and see if it budged. It might be rocks just rockin' 🙂 Others might have an idea and post though. 

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea advised me (and I've seen it before but thanks for reminding me friend) that if you have the liquid test kit you can use Nitrate bottle #1 and put a drop on a rock- if it fizzes it's not safe for the tank. 

If you got it at an aquarium supply store it's likely safe anyway but ya never know. I only tested rocks I found out in the "wild". 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

 

Notice the seiryu stone fizzes.  A lot of people use seiryu stone in their tanks.  But what the fizz is indicating is that the rock can change water chemistry. While it probably won't have an immediate effect, over time it will leach something out into the water.

[DaniV]

@xXInkedPhoenixX @Chick-In-Of-TheSea Oh wow, that's a great trick!  1 drop and it started fizzing!  I took it out, so hopefully all should be better in time.  My pH has been a steady 7.5 for most of my water tests this month, and I didn't know that rocks can affect the pH levels.  Good to know!  Should I hold onto the rock for a future tank, or just pitch it?

Just for funsies, here are the results of all of the tests I've been doing this month.  Made and programmed a Google doc just for this!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/27/2022 at 4:18 PM, lefty o said:

welcome to the forum. id go for a snail, like a nerite. they look nice, and dont multiply (though they do leave single little white eggs wherever they go).

Well, you could end up w/ a male nerite.  Seems I picked 3 males because I've yet to see an egg.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Awesome! Yeah I'd leave it out personally. There are lots of other cool rocks out there you can use. Put it in your garden or in a planted pot scape! 🙂 

Love your Google doc! Cool to see your progress yea? Congrats!