Good Afternoon

I have always been interested in all nature and all types of animals in general. I have owned and raised just about every creature there is. Has been awhile since I have got back into the hobby of fish but have deciding to pick it up again since I am now retired and can enjoy life now at a much slower pace with my wife.

My goals as follows:
20 Gallon Freshwater to start with
Will be stocking mainly the tank with guppies I personally have always had good luck with these type of fish in the past. But will be sure to stock only males as I don't want 1 million babies as from past experience lol. The filter will be double the size of the rated tank because I have always had much better luck with a better filtration myself. Three ornaments and one air stone and I prefer gravel rather then sand it has always worked better for me as well.

Since I have always cycled past fish tanks with just pure ammonia cleaner this will be the way I will continue to attempt it once again. I have always had good luck in the past with raising the Ammonia between 5.0 ppm and or 4.0 ppm. The last time I did this it only took approx 4 weeks to have a complete cycled tank. I will be sure to post or ask for any information if need be if I am unable to do so once again. Of course the wife is wanting guppies amazing how so many people still love those guppies Thank You

Hi FISHERMAN,
Welcome to the forum !

Guppies are indeed easy to take care of. Overpopulation is a problem when it comes to livebearers. What you can do to control the population is to have a few other fish (big enough to eat the fry) in the fish tank to control the population.

Gladly you are doing a fishless cycling first. It is the best way to go to ensure the survival of your new fish. If you plan to use the ammonia for cleaning, please make sure there is no other chemical in it.

(08-31-2017, 04:34 PM)Thor Wrote: Hi FISHERMAN,
Welcome to the forum !

Guppies are indeed easy to take care of.  Overpopulation is a problem when it comes to livebearers.   What you can do to control the population is to have a few other fish (big enough to eat the fry) in the fish tank to control the population.  

Gladly you are doing a fishless cycling first.  It is the best way to go to ensure the survival of your new fish.  If you plan to use the ammonia for cleaning, please make sure there is no other chemical in it.

I have did the fishless cycling a few times but looks like I need to get a air stone in that tank as well to help the bacteria in the tank to grow. Ammonia still at 4.0 ppm and nothing showing yet on the nitrites on the API test yet but then again I think it has only been like 4 days. Yeah more then likely we will just be adding male guppies and sum neon tetras and maybe a few feeders that will put it at about 85% pretty much stocked. Thank You

Well the 20 gallon fish less cycling has been going on for 8 days now. I have been checking the readings everyday. Looks like it will take awhile to cycle. I have the heater at 78 and have the air stones wide open for bubbles to help with the bacteria growth when it does show up. Thank You

p h 7.0 ppm
p h 7.4 ppm (High Range)
Ammonia 4.0 ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Nitrates 0 ppm