yes... another cycling thread, + a little more

[dlee9707]

i dont think it has a water softener, as far as i know atleast. to the best of my knowlege water softeners need to be changed every once in a while, and out well systems in all the houses we've owned have been next to maintinance free (other than having to have it bleeched to kill the e-coli)

i got an idea... i have pool test strips somewhere around here that tell harness, i'll toss one in a cup of water. <this is the part where i get up out of my chair to get the strips and test the water.>

a quick test showed a no free or total clorine (i expect thats good) a ph of 8.0 (a little high?) and a hardness of 50 ppm

and thinking about it, due to the reality that there are most likely living things in my well (hopefully not in the final water) maybe its already naturally cycled... that would be incredible.

Can anyone interprate these test results? as far as the pool tester says the hardness is way low, but thats for a pool pump

[Loman]

dlee9707,
I think that is roughly correct in that the water is moderately hard. I would not be too concerned with the things like calcium that are in the water. If I had any concerns it would be the other trace minerals but I would proably not worry too much unless you see signs of a problem developing. My water is from a municiple supply and it is much harder than that out of the tap. A water softner/conditioner would require salt so if you do not know about one then I suspect it is not there (or at least not functioning)

[dlee9707]

ok, sounds good, i just got an appointment to go see a guy in baltimore about a 55 gallon tank. 55 gal. aquarium w/stand,fish and all accessories
seams like a decent deal, nothing incredible. only concern would be the light problem, anyone know what that could be about?

I'd also just like to thanks people who responded to my questions, its good to be on a forum thats got few enough people to get to know what they do but enough people who know what their doing to give help. thx

also the guy im buying it from wont sell it to me unless i promise to keep his fish alive, so looks like im gunna have to base it off what hes already got "Even comes with 7 very healthy community fish" w/e that means.

community fish means 100% non agressive?

i wanta have fish that dont have to eat little flakes, hope i dont get stuck with herbovours or i could always put e'm in a blender

can anyone tell what they are from the picture? i didnt really go into detail about the type of fish with him stupidly

also, whats the most efficient way to go about water changes... i was thinking about sticking a bilge pump to a 9 volt car battery, stupid? and getting fittings to attach a hose to my sink from a plumbing supply store, also stupid?

thanks in advance

[Loman]

Looks like a nice set up. I doubt the light situation is too bad. It could just need new flourescent tubes. The filter looks decent etc. I can not see the fish very well but they may be a couple tiger barbs. If that is the case they are what I would consider semi agressive and would work well with other fish that are medium to large. I would hold off on the blender at least for a while . Just glad I do not stop over to your place for drinks, who knows what all that blender has seen .

[fishuz]

make sure everything is grounded and that you don't use brass fittings. Plus you will want to treat the water before pumping it into the tank.
Sorry I cant tell by the picture what kind of fish they are. yeah maybe they are tiger barbs or a couple of Red Tail tinfoil barbs

[dlee9707]

i was thinking they were tiger barbs but wasnt sure atall due to my limited knowlege of fish. would mixing barbs and cichlids be a bad thing?

thanks for advice on brass fittings, i'll be sure to make sure i dont get any.

im curious what you mean by treating the water... what would be wrong with well water?

[Loman]

Generally Chcilids are kept in a species tank with just chichilids. I would not mix them. There are several compatibility charts on line that you can look at and see what others think too. In many cases it is clear that they are or are not compatible but in many more it is not so clear so different people and sources may differ in their opinion. In the end you have to choose based on everything you hear and read.

On the water in general all you need to do is dechlorinate it. this can be done via chemical process or simply leaving the water open to age. In the case of setting up a big tank I would probably opt for the chemical but you will want to find a holding tank somewhere that you can let water age for normal water changes.

[Tommy Gun]

Not to go against Loman here as he certainly has the right idea about mixing most 'community' type fish with cichlids, but I have tiger barbs in my cichlid tank and they actually do a particular job in that they are big enough, fast enough, and school so that the cichlids are more apt to stay in view as well as this helps to spread aggression out among the tank residents so that one is not singled out.

However, when mixing fish like this, you have to keep in mind the size ratios between the cichlids and other fish so that they do not get eaten. You also want to keep schooling community fish with cichlids since there is 'power in numbers' as well as wanting to have very active schooling fish so that they are not an easy target. I really like the tiger barbs for all of these reasons as well as their tendancy to 'fight back' a bit. I have heard other people who use giant danios and even some mollies or platties since they get pretty big over all and can move quick. Although I wouldnt suggest getting any of the longer finned varieties such as lyretail or sailfin types.

As far as considerations for well water, chlorine is not usually prevalant in it since this is usually added to city or processed water in order to keep it more sanitary. The main issues for well water would be the hardness of the water and if the water goes through a water softener or not. This can affect your Ph which is a consideration for many fish. Personally, I have had great success with keeping fish that need different Ph in the same tank as long as I am able to maintain a more constant Ph rather than one spacific number.

[Loman]

dlee9707,
As I mentioned there are no hard and fast rules. However, after reading Tommy's post I think his advice is probably more acurate than mine in this case. I was not thinking about the well water when I mentioned chlorine but that is certainly correct. He also has a lot more experiance with Chichilds than I do so if he has mixed them I would ffeel pretty comfortable doing likewise.

[fishuz]

I have cichlids with Barbs right now and tetras danios....They all get along fine you just have to make sure that what ever you keep with the cichlids are fast swimmers. Also keep the cichlid's fed well so they don't get any ideas.
(My fish get along well no problems at dinner time and they have been together for about a year now )