When to add a (baby) monster?

[bluestarjazz]

I have finally gotten my first real fish tank and it is cycling with a pair of goraumis my question is when can I add the bichir and the pleco and which should I add first?
the tanks instructions said to add the fish 1/3 at a time over the first three weeks if the values are good but don't I need to wait for the tank to finish cycling first or would they be okay if I added one a week ?

 

[Wolf3101]

Add a dose of live biospira to boost things along and then add the pleco. personally I'd wait for the tank to stabolize before adding the bicher.

 

[bluestarjazz]

Is The biospira the same thing as the bactiria in my stress zyme or is is an algae for the pleco?
and thanks for the order thats what i thought
any other helpfull advice for a newbie
every time i think i 've got it figured out i find something else i didn't know

 

[Wolf3101]

No...actully biospira is live benificial bacteria thats kept suspended in lower temperitures. It's a bit expencive but works great for establishing a new tank in reduced time. A new tank can take 6 to 8 weeks to fully stabolize and any changes in the number of fish during that time can make it take a bit longer.

Even though a tanks not fully cycled it can be fish safe for very light bio loads within 2 weeks.

 

[bluestarjazz]

Does the presence of plants alter this timeline in any way?
or what you need to watch for?

 

[Wolf3101]

No..the plants ARE good for water quality but don't affect cycle time. Just keep testing the water every other day and watch for the spikes.

AMMONIA...nitrite....nitrate
ammonia...NITRITE...nitrate
ammonia...nitrite...NITRATE

 

[bluestarjazz]

Thanks, my goraumies are looking good even if they are being shy.
any idea how long it will take to be able to detect the amonia spike?
where can you find the biospira I can't find any?
but I did forget to mention one of the plants is attached to a small driftwood and came from a tank with fish in it will that help any?

alsoI am having trouble deciding which pleco to get does any one have accurate data on how big the following types actually get, on average. even I know common plecos get larger than 12" but have seen them listed at three places as getting 12",20" and 24"

I have seen while looking for the biospiria common,chocolate,royal,spotted highfin, clown and rubber lipped plecos

 

[Merbeast]

Um, how big is the aquarium?

 

[bluestarjazz]

I currently have a 20 gallon I know I will need to upgrade and I do plan on getting a larger one once the fish get bigger . but all the local stores I can find only stock little 2-4" inch birchirs that need to grow before going into to much larger a tank.
actually the only fish i saw bigger were cichlids, common plecos, goldfish and a few clown loaches .
also I only plan on getting one pleco at this time and getting a little one I just need an Idea how big I can expect them to really get

 

[247Plants]

Plants help greatly with a cycle. Not only do they absorb ammonia as a food source, if they came from a different tank they are covered in beneficial bacteria.

One problem with this though. The tank has to have a pretty heavy body mass of plants to eat up a lot of ammonia.

This is one of the reasons a lot of people keep plants in their refugiums and sumps.