AboutChris Robbins Expertise I have 25 years of personal experience as a pet store employee and manager in the family pet store business. The main part of our business was Freshwater Fish. I can answer questions on; Fish care, diseases, parasites and fish identification, feeding your fish, breeding and sexing your fish, setting up your aquarium, cleaning your aquarium, and "what`s this weird stuff in my tank/on my fish" questions. I am not an African Cichlid expert, not a Plant expert and not a Brackish setup expert. No Pond or Saltwater Questions Please.
Experience I worked in and managed my family's fish and pet and fish store for 26 years and maintained the 35 aquariums. My experience also has included in-home consultation and aquarium maintenance for my clients.
Question okay I'm still waiting for my fish tank to cycle....
i have a 55 gallon tank almost 2 weeks running with minimal fish to cycle it... i wanted 3 angelfish but i heard it is better to have them in pairs. so would this tank be overstocked when completed....
2 angelfish
1 silver dollar
7 zebra
3 swordtail
4 cory catfish
2 otto catfish
or can you suggest a better stocking combo...
thanks,
rob
Answer Hi Rob;
The combination of fish sounds fine to me.
Your tank will take a few more weeks to be fully "cycled". I actually prefer the term "Break-in Period". Cycling actually happens continuously in an established tank and refers to the nitrogen cycle that occurs in there as the system processes wastes.
Anyway, wait until the ammonia and nitrite are at zero and stay that way. This means it has fully finished the break in. Add just a couple of new fish a week after that so the system can adjust and compensate for each new bio-load. Here's a link to my article on new tanks to help you through it;
