New 30 gallon, stocking questions

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Okay sorry bout the cycling confusion as i stated earlier - african rule of thumb 1 inch of per 1 gallon of water .....if you ad rusties or whatever.

Personally your limiting your self on abundant color - rusties get about the same size as the saulosi......my math says 7 x 4" is 28 gal's of blue and yellow. Maybe try 5 saulosi and @ 20 gal and 1 aulonocara(peacock)- your wife will luv the peacock.

And your guess-timation on live plants and cycling is absurd bacteria doesn't form in the water it forms on plants, ornaments, filter bags-tubes, etc...In nature god's filtration system is flora.
 
Otherone;2769884; said:
...And your guess-timation on live plants and cycling is absurd bacteria doesn't form in the water it forms on plants, ornaments, filter bags-tubes, etc...In nature god's filtration system is flora.
Click to expand...

The point is... the tank will cycle faster without the plants in it initially, as without the plants in there, there will be nothing to break down the byproducts that are generated. This means that you will hit a higher Ammonia peak and a higher Nitrite peak faster. If the plant was in there, it would be eating up the byproducts and not allowing them to peak as quickly, hence also generate bacteria not as quickly. *This is all theory, but I have read a few forums that explained that plants extend the cycling process* Sure, your levels will be lower throughout the cycle, as the plants will help breakdown all the crap, but it won't cycle as quickly as without the plants.

So, when the tank is done cycling, the surfaces of the biowheel, decorations, gravel etc, will all be covered. If I am getting 0's across the board, maybe a bit of nitrates, then adding the plants will only help with extra biofiltration afterwards. So, basically I get A. Faster cycling B. Extra Biofiltration than before as the tank completed the cycle without the plants in it. I hope that makes some sense.

Thank you for the suggestion on the Peacock cichlid I will check that out. 5 P. Salousi. 5 fish x 3 inches = 15 inches.
 
Wow, thats impressive.... Well that changed my mind, seems I will be going with only P. Saulosi after seeing that. Thanks twice JoeBel, once for suggesting the Saulosi to begin with and now for the image of that tank. That is awesome. Now I can stop researching for a bit and get on with getting things setup. Relief. Hopefully get the tank squared away, make the wife happy, and then continue on with other projects.

Thanks a million to everyone that helped, JoeBel special thanks to you. Going to let this thread sleep now. :)
 
TrueBlack;2770409; said:
Wow, thats impressive.... Well that changed my mind, seems I will be going with only P. Saulosi after seeing that. Thanks twice JoeBel, once for suggesting the Saulosi to begin with and now for the image of that tank. That is awesome. Now I can stop researching for a bit and get on with getting things setup. Relief. Hopefully get the tank squared away, make the wife happy, and then continue on with other projects.

Thanks a million to everyone that helped, JoeBel special thanks to you. Going to let this thread sleep now. :)
Click to expand...

Anytime, check your PM.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom