New to the hobby. Looking for feedback on first aquascape

[shangman]

Hi all,

That is really it and it works 100% of the time, it just takes <"any ambiguity"> out of <"cycling">.

Perfect, I may add it to my signature, if that is all right?
I was thinking of <"Why have morals, when you can have money?"> but this would be much more appropriate.

cheers Darrel

Of course you can! I learnt that lesson from you 🙂

Sound advice which I will take to heart. But this does raise a question for my limited understanding of the nitrogen cycle. My reasoning behind getting fish soonish is to sustain the cycle with a trace source of waste/ammonia. I did the dark start only with the Amazonia soil. It’s been running for 6 weeks now so the ammonia should be about done leeching. So I figured that fish would the perfect replacement to sustain the bacteria colony. What would be the recommendation if I postpone the fish for another couple of weeks (or even months)? Leave some of the uneaten shrimp food in? Don’t think I need to feed them tho..

Now after finishing the startup I might consider a centrepiece fish besides the Corrys. Maybe two honey gouramis? So I will definitely take the advice of minimum amount of corrys with me but I don’t think I will go the amount of 20.

The cycle is a misleading concept, it leads many beginners into a false sense of security (including me once upon a time 🙁 )- if the chemistry set says its fine, then we think it is, but an aquarium is so much more than basic chemistry, and ammonia is an incredibly potent chemical which isn't found in large amounts in healthy ecosystems. It's better to think of the set-up of your tank as a maturation of an ecosystem - a complex mix and balance of bacteria, biofilm, microfauna, plants (roots, leaves and all), etc. The waste from your plants as they grow and decay will be enough to sustain and grow the ecosystem in your aquarium, and when you add fish it will be able to handle them just fine.

I would postpone adding the fish for a few weeks, and let the tank mature just a little more, let the shrimp settle in and see if they might start breeding. It's much easier to grow a shrimp population without any fish. You probably don't need to feed them, but I like to feed mine once a week or so with a special shrimp food to ensure they're growing well and will have lots of baby shrimplets. And then there is time to dream about a centrepiece fish! There are all sorts of lovely fish out there too explore...