Tank Log

Hi and welcome 

Are you following the cycle method on here? It looks to be proceeding well, just make sure you don't add too much ammonia!

You stocking suggestions look good, except for the betta. I wouldn't trust one with cpd's or shrimps. My betta went frantic when I accidentally got a woodlouse in his tank and attacked it till it lay on its back and played dead. He would do the same to shrimps. And cpd's are so small a betta might decide to try and eat them - he probably wouldn't succeed but the cpd's, which are shy fish, could end up harassed to death.

Re the slender harlequins, read up on how to differentiate them foro the two lookalikes. Slenders are Trigonostigma espei and I've seen them called Espei's rasboras, slender rasboras and lambchop rasboras. T. heteromorpha are harlequins and I've never seen them called anything else. T. hengeli are Hengel's rasboras, copper rasboras or pork chop rasboras. I wouldn't trust a shop to get espeis and hengelis labelled correctly.

Hi Steve

Welcome to the forum!
Just a little add-on to Fishcake's post. She's absolutely right, you do need more otos....6 upwards is best, but you might want to wait awhile anyway, as they need a tank that's mature, at least 6 months after cycling. This is because you need to have some algae growing for them to graze on.
Also, when you're ready to get some, sing out, as there are some tips to know to give your otos their best chance of survival.

Meanwhile, good luck with your tank cycling, don't listen to the staff in fish shops and have a look at the community creator on here...it's really useful for seeing what fish are right for your tank, water conditions, and if the ones you want are compatible with each other.

The results from the cycle look like it is proceeding well.

I have recently got a few pieces of redmoor wood, it is very good for tying java fern to and for looping stems of hornwort round  It took about a week for my pieces to sink and they did exude a sort of clear-whitish goo which my amano shrimp made short work of once it went in the tank. (I should have more amanos but this is the last survivor of a group I bought 5 years ago).
Amanos make a good addition to a tank, preferably a group of them. This species is big enough not to get eaten, though they don't breed in fresh water (the larvae need salt water to develop). Cherry shrimp would be fine too; with the size tank you have you can't fit fish big enough to eat the adults (except a betta) though even small fish will eat baby shrimps.
If you do get shrimps, make sure you have a few hiding places for them. Shrimps have to moult to grow and while the new skin hardens, they are very vulnerable.

According to the manufacturer's website, the Aqua Nano 40 is a 40cm cube. I prefer Seriously Fish for tank sizes etc for any given species. According to SF:
5 band barbs need a tank with a 80 x 30cm footprint
checkered barbs need 60 x 30
cherry barbs 60 x 30
ember tetra 45 x 30 - these would fit! But they prefer softer water with lower pH.

How hard is your water? Your water company's website should give a number, though it could be in any of half a dozen units. SF reckons ember tetras are OK up to 179ppm, aka 10 german degrees. And hardness is more important than pH.
I have some ember tetras. In the first tank I put them in, they hid all the time and were pale orange. I moved them to another tank and they came out and are deep orange red.

If your water turns out to be very hard, endlers livebearers would be fine in that water and your tank. Just males as they breed like rabbits. A group of males is a very colourful addition to a tank; there are several different colour types if you look at different shops.


Snails are not that bad for an aquarium, provided there aren't so many of them there is no room for anything else  I have some of those tiny flat spiral ones, I gave up trying to get rid of them years ago. Once you have fish, if you don't over feed the snail numbers will stabilise at something manageable. I would just learn to live with them.

Thank you again for your comments

Latest test results:

24/1/15
PH: 7.8
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite (4:1): 2ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm
Added 1.8ml ammonia

27/1/15
PH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm (??)
Added 1.8ml ammonia

From the above I'm hoping that ammonia will have reduced to zero by tomorrow. Just need to get nitrite eating bacteria built up then I'm all sorted . I'm going for 24 hr dosing of Ammonia unless you disagree Sue?

Any idea why the nitrate has dropped? I repeated the test twice to make sure it wasn't a lie. I'd expect it to have increased.

The water hardness on suppliers website states 12.5 degrees German.

LFS has green neon tetras, which apparently grow much smaller than blue and are suitable for my tank. Has anyone came across this species? They also have Espe Rasbora and Dwarf Rasbora, which look nice .

Steve

Sorry guys been busy!

Latest test results:

28/1/15
Ammonia: 0.2ppm
Nitrite: 5ppm

29/1/15
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 2ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm

30/1/15
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Added 1.8ml ammonia

31/1/15
Ammonia: 0ppm (yeay)
Nitrite: 2ppm
Snails: Around 30 babies roaming the redmoor

1/2/15
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Added 1.8ml ammonia

2/1/15
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 2ppm

3/1/15
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Added 1.6ml ammonia

4/1/15
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm

5/1/15
Added 1.6ml ammonia
Ammonia: 3.5ppm

6/1/15
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm

Sounds like I'm done based on the above. Do you agree?

Sticking wise I'm now thinking:

Espei x6
CPD x6
Red cherry shrimp x6
Assassin x2

How does this sound?

Thanks all