Neon Cory

[Sunshine]

I'm in the process of cycling a freshwater tank for my grandson. A 46 gal bow front. He wants those neon cory to be the first fish in there. He also wants brown striped barbs and zebras. Will all those fish be OK together ?

[Aquatic Specialists]

I would not start with corys they need to go in when the tank is established and plenty of detritus to eat off the bottom. I would also not get the barbs they are extremely aggressive and will kill everything in the tank including themselves. Zebras are Ok that is what I would use to cycle.

[Sunshine]

After the zebras, what would be OK to get until there is enough detritus for the corys ? He wants small fish so he can have more of them. Are the red tetras alright to put in there ? How long should he wait to get the corys ? I used 2 huge pond fish to cycle it. It's been 2 weeks, ammonia and nitrates haven't come down to 0 yet.

[Jshroom86]

are the pond fish still in there. if so your ammonia is always going to be a little high what kind of filtration you running. there alot of different really hardy I always cycled my tanks with white clouds. If your looking for a really pretty small fish have you looked into cardnial tetras they are really pretty and are a little more hardy then the neons

[Aquatic Specialists]

Yeah, since you are using pond fish to cycle it, the ammonia will probably not come down. Those are really dirty fish and give off a lot of ammonia, it will most likely always have ammonia and nitrate. I would recommend taking those fish out and doing a really big water change, add a high quality bacteria, add a little fish food to feed the bacteria and initiate the nitrogen cycle, wait about three days and then add the zebras. Using this method generally cycles out in about a week. Add the groups of fish slowly, like a shoal a week, this gives the bacteria time to catch-up to the bio-load. The pond fish are going to condition the water to suit their needs, their needs are different than tropical fish. They are cold water fish that require a little higher ph and the fish you are wanting like a lower ph and higher temp. The red tetras (serpae) are generally hardy enough to cycle the tank as well. Not to be such a downer, but you will probably find the zebras to be a problem as well. They are surface dwellers, need to be kept in large groups, and are very fast and "boisterous". They usually end up eating all the food before any of the other mid column or bottom dwellers get any. This in return makes the general populous think they need to throw in more food, then you end up with an end result of ammonia and nitrate. A vicious cycle....If you would like I could show you some really sharp fish that go well together and could still keep the corys with them. A good idea when it comes to fish is to pick a body of water and keep only those creatures that exist together in their proper numbers. Make the set-up as close to their natural habitat as possible, and condition the water with natural trace elements to provide them with what they need to thrive. By doing this you will find that the entire tank will stay cleaner, your fish will have better color, live longer, and act more natural.

[Sunshine]

Well, yeah, this is a downer, he is 5 years old .. lol He wanted the corys, zebras, red tetras and the brown barbs. I can talk him out of the barbs. But, he really wanted the zebras and corys. Mainly just because of the way they look. I didn't know the corys were catfish till I looked them up. I was going to get the 3 zebras first wait 2 weeks than add 3 more of another kind. But, he won't be able to have 3 corys, will he ? I'll take the comets out.

[Aquatic Specialists]

Yeah, corys need to be kept in shoals, 1/5gal. is recommended, you will have a lot more activity out of them if kept this way....lol. If you want the zebras to survive long term in that size of a tank, you will need like 6-8+

[Sunshine]

Oh, so you're saying he needs more than 3 corys ? So, get 6 of each fish he wants ? Oh, and Jshroom, he has a Whisper filter that hangs on the back.

[Aquatic Specialists]

Yes, they are a schooling fish as well. I always suggest you get varied numbers of fish to off set the balance, like 6 zebras, 5 tetras, 9 of another, and so on.

[Sunshine]

yeah, since you are using pond fish to cycle it, the ammonia will probably not come down. Those are really dirty fish

WHAT !!!!!!!!!! :starwars: lol

[Sunshine]

OK, the "Dirty Fish" are out. lol The water is changed. Going to get 6 Zebras this weekend. I looked up the Cardinal Tetras. Cool looking fish, I like them. Never seen them before. Should I change the carbon and clean the sponges ?

[Aquatic Specialists]

OK, the "Dirty Fish" are out. lol The water is changed. Going to get 6 Zebras this weekend. I looked up the Cardinal Tetras. Cool looking fish, I like them. Never seen them before. Should I change the carbon and clean the sponges ?

Oh yeah, change that media. Also, when it comes to the Cardinals, DO NOT ADD them until very last after the tank is well established and add no less than 10....trust me

[Sunshine]

After the Zebras are in for a week, will it be ok to add Red Tetras ? I'm second guessing the Corys. They are kinda pricey. When my daughter (his mother) had her aquarium, she couldn't keep anything alive ... lol I don't want to spend a lot of money on pricey fish until I'm sure they will take care of it.

[Aquatic Specialists]

Yeah that would be fine, corys are part of the clean-up crew. There are cheaper ones.

[Sunshine]

The ones he seen are neon. Yellow, pink, green. They were $7 each.

[Aquatic Specialists]

Those are dyed that color, won't last. Then they just turn crap brown. Take a 1.50 fish and turn into a 7.00 fish with some food coloring and shorten it's life span.

[Sunshine]

So far he has 6 Zebras, 7 Red Tetras and 5 Lemon Tetras. As soon as I put the Lemon's in, they immediately started schooling with the Red Tetras. It was so cool watching them all swim together. I'll get some Catfish next week. After they do a water change, I'll post a pic of it. It is done in Spongebob theme. Great learning experience for a 5 year old.

[ghurlag]

LOL - my son has a 30g goldfish tank with "Bikini Bottom" on the gravel.

[unfortunately] I can't kill fish to save my life... I have been known on numerous occasions to keep fish for over 10 years...

If, however, all these giant goldies die out (or we move into a house where I can build a small pond), I think I'm going to set up a genuine planted tank.

Also, I have to agree with the learning experience. I fondly remember as a very young child getting up in the middle of the night and watching my parents' 10g (yes, then kept the light on ALL the time). By the time I was 13, I had my own tank, and haven't been without at least 1 fish since :D