Questions from the newbie
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Hi all im new to the forum and more importantly new to fishkeeping. I have however done lots and lots of research (about a years worth :lol: ) so im clued up in regards to water quality, nitrogen cycles etc and ready to start setting up a tank. However after looking into fish i wanted to keep CPD’s are the ones i would love to go for so im looking for as much advice as you guys can give me.
Im looking at getting a nano (30 litre) and also having the CPD’s in a species tank and would like to know if this is advisable and if so what parameters etc would you recomend?
Sorry its alot of questions but i think knowledge from you guys would be the best i can get
Hi GOOSE_SP2, welcome to the forum!
I think a 30 litre species tank with CPD’s is a great idea. I keep my breeders in unheated 5.5 gallon, (21 litre) tanks and they are happy enough that they supply me with plenty of fry.
I set-up the tanks with neutral water in the 6.8-7.2 pH range. I like to keep the TDS around 160 ppm, (fairly soft). I use a small sponge filter with just slight water movement and give them a good sized portion of moss to play in, (about 25% of the tank volume). For fish, I usually put 5 or 6 in these little tanks. Don’t overfeed and do weekly water changes and you’ll have a great little set-up.
Keep us posted on your progress!
Dennis
Thanks im very pleased to hear some of that info, im going to do a fishless cycle (obviously) and the LFS kept telling me to start with other fish (like pygmy Rasboras) as the CPD’S wounld’t cope as a 1st fish even if the tank was correctly cycled and the parameters were spot on?
I was concerned as i only wanted CPD’S if possible and only having 30 litres felt it would be overcrowded with another species in there.I will keep you posted for sure, just another question what temperature do you find they do best at?
They appear to like it best when it’s below 75F, (24C). It swings from 65F in the dead of winter to the mid 80’sF in the heat of the summer.
Dennis
Just an update im still waiting to set up my tank mainly due to the fact that still trying to gain as much info as possible…especially regards to maturing the filter (from scratch) enough to house some CPD’s as first fish. Im hoping this is possible as people seem to be persueding me to get much larger tanks and go for other fish. I know ive sort of asked this question before but any advice from more experienced people is more than welcome.
Hi GOOSE_SP2.
IF you are going to have some live plants, and IF you only put 6 or 8 CPD’s in your 30 litre, I really wouldn’t worry about trying to mature the filter before hand.
The live plants will already have good bacteria growing on them, and they will also use the ammonia that the fish produce. Also with only 6 or 8 fish you will have a very small bio-load to begin with. You will want to monitor your water quality, but you would want to do that with any new set-up. If your water tests detect any ammonia or nitrite in the tank a water change will quickly take care of the problem.
I don’t know how many times I’ve set-up a perfectly clean, (as in not mature), 5.5 gallon breeder tanks for CPD’s with new filter, new substrate, and a good sized portion of moss without having any problems with water quality. I believe the live plants and small bio-load are the key points.
Dennis
I have to agree with Ballaquatics here, but if you are really concerned about it see if you can get some gravel and a small chunk of sponge from a mature tank. If the gravel is a different color then yours, put it in some cheese cloth and place it in your tank. The sponge can be put in this bag as well or if there is room in your filter place it in there. Once your tank has matured you can remove these. A good place to start looking for this stuff would be your lfs or a friend that has a long running tank.
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