The Puffer Forum

Hello-

I just finished a fishless cycle on my new 47 gallon tank. I have a few live plants, some lava rock and I've added two ottos and they're doing fine.

Should I be adding freshwater aquarium salt? I'm hoping to bring home a couple dwarf puffers in the new couple of weeks.

and... I was also wondering- now that my cycle is done and I have two little fish in the tank, should I continue adding a little ammonia everyday, or will two little ottos make enough to keep the bacteria going?

you dont need to add ammonia since the ottos will do that
and keep your tank cycled
i dont know about the salt with dwarf puffers?
have you tested your water with a reliable test kit
to make sure your tank has finished cycling?

you really dont need the aquarium salt, only put it in if the fish are sick.

Thanks you guys! Now I just have to wait for my local aquarium store to bring in some dwarf puffers.

I have tested it with a couple different kits (I was kind of obsessive about it at first!).

Thanks again!!

I was also wondering- now that my cycle is done and I have two little fish in the tank, should I continue adding a little ammonia everyday, or will two little ottos make enough to keep the bacteria going?

You're thoughts are correct but not the method. When you fishless cycle, you are making enough bacteria to support a fully-stocked tank. When all you add are 2 small fish, the ammonia they produce is only supporting enough bacteria to "eat" their waste--no more than that. Eventually, the extra bacteria will starve & die off, leaving only enough bacteria to support the fish that are living in that tank right now.

What are your plans for the tank?

Thanks for your replies... you might be wondering why I haven't replied until now. Let me fill you in.

My tank was completely overtaken by string algae... it was everywhere- even growing on the side of the tank and gravel. I tried my best to remove it, but finally out of frustration I moved my ottos into my smaller established tank, and started all over again.

So... now I am back to where I was in November. I cycled the tank with pure ammonia and a bit of gravel from my established tank. This time- I left the light off, to inhibit algae. A few days ago, my nitrites were 0 and my ammonia disappears very quickly. I did a 75% water change yesterday and added some new (very clean without algae!) plants. I didn't do any cleaning or changing mediums in my filter.

So I think things are going well, but there's still a little nitrate showing. My readings this morning were:

47 gallon tank with real plants (java moss covered coconut shell, swords, cryptocoryne) and coarse gravel, a few pieces of red lava rock
24 degrees C
nitrate: between 0-20ppm
Nitrite: 0
total hardness: 150 ppm
chlorine: 0
alkalinity: 80ppm
pH: 7.2-7.8


I'm hesitant to put my ottos in there as the guy at my local pet store was telling me how sensitive ottos are to nitrate. We are planning to get a couple dwarf puffers in the future to go with the ottos.

My question now is... if I keep adding a little ammonia each day, will the bacteria eventually grow to be able to deal better with the nitrate? Or- should I add my ottos now, and monitor really closely and do lots of water changes??

I was also wondering- will my pea puffers want fine sand at the bottom, or will they be okay with the coarse gravel?

Thanks!!

The puffers will be fine with gravel. Also, the bacteria convert ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrate. They don't convert nitrate into anything else. This is what water changes are for

You have to add a specific amount of ammonia, not just "a little":
library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/
library/water-filtration/fishlessconsiderations/

That algae bloom is normal in new tanks. I would have ridden it out.

Got any pics?

I'll try to take some pics when I get home from work today.

I did another water change yesterday and added 3 ottos. They seem to be doing well.

How long do you think I should wait before I add dwarf puffers? Should I wait a couple of months to make sure that the tank is completely cycled and to get through the algae bloom?

If your tank isn't completely cycled, you shouldn't have added any fish. Did you read those articles I linked you to?

Yup- I've read the articles on fishless cycling. They have been very helpful. I actually started the cycle 2 weeks ago, and a few days ago I started getting the 0 nitrite readings. I then did a 75% water change, but still was getting a little nitrates showing up in my water tests, so yesterday I did another 25-30% water change before adding the three ottos. From the articles, I interpreted that the cycle is done when your nitrites are consistently reading as 0. Did I jump the gun?

Only when you have been adding the proper amount of ammonia daily.

At first I added 1/4 cup of ammonia to my 47 gallon tank. That might have been a bit too much as my reading was closer to 7 or 8 ppm. The ammonia started to drop after a few days, so I started adding 4 tsp ammonia each day to bring it up to 4-5 ppm each day. The nitrites spiked, and then dropped to zero a few days after that. What do you think?