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re: tank cycling question
>
>1) I'm going to use Black Sailfin Mollies for break-in. Mollies like
>brackish water. I intend to add some salt. Will my plants have problem
>with this?
I tried black sailfin mollies a couple of months ago to see if I could lower my
then persistent beard algae problem. They *really* didn't like my tank at all.
I didn't want to add salt because of my cardinals, so I took them back and
traded 4 mollies for 8 ottos. I still have seven of the eight.
>
>2) Can I use any Black Mollies to control algae, like Black Lyretail
>Mollies or it has to be a Sailfin.
>
The Dupla book shows pictures of black Lyretail mollies in their recommendation
on algae-eating fish.
>5) Can I add coolie (kuhli) loach to a plant tank? Will they uproot my
>plants.
>
I have two adult k.loaches in my tank. When they were young, they liked to
swim all over the place and frequently wound up in my trickle filter sump. Now
that they're full-size, they pretty much only come out at feeding time and at
night. I have a piece of bogwood that forms a cup on the bottom. They stay
under the wood and only come out if disturbed.
Many of my plants are planted in rock wool, although some aren't. The loaches
have never disturbed any of my plants, although I've heard of them doing so.
Note: This may make a difference. I have a two-layer substrate. 2" of coarse
gravel (1 cm) with 1/2" of blasting quartz on top. It wasn't originally
planned this way, but my tank wasn't originally planned to be a plant tank, and
I haven't torn it down and set it up "right" yet. I added the blasting sand to
help with the algae. My reasoning was: the coarse gravel was trapping debris
and providing a good site for algae growth, and my corys couldn't move the
coarse gravel. So far, the blasting sand has made my substrate surface easier
to keep clean, and my corys turn it over often enough to keep the algae down.
>Thanks in advance for the help. Hope I can get some answer by tomorrow.
>
I hope this is useful.
Dave
dwebb at ti_com