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[suebob28]

hi i am new to this site i have just brought a 99gal tank and want to put clown loaches and 2 red headed severum and a pair of parrot fish i have set the tank up and it has been going for 2 days with sand plants and hidding places to go what els do i need to do o have done water chech and thats ok filters working well should i be doing anything els please sue

[plaalye]

Hi suebob. First thing you need to do is cycle the tank.
http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16737

This will take a month or so so you'll have plenty of time to research the fish that you want. The dimensions of the tank will be helpful.

[DainBramage1991]

The other thing to think about is whether or not you really want to mix loaches and cichlids in the same tank.

Here is a fantastic article on the subject:
http://www.loaches.com/articles/why-loa ... i-cichlids

As a general rule, loaches and cichlids are so far apart on the spectrum of both care and temperament that putting them together in the same tank usually means trouble for one or the other, and sometimes both.

[Diana]

Here is the fishless cycle. Do this while you are still researching fish ideas.
I sure would not mix Cichlids like you suggest. They can get quite aggressive, and when one species is a lot more aggressive than the other they can kill each other.

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16737

[suebob28]

ok will do this will take time i see but it must be done i will only have clown loaches and tiger barbs in the taks when all this is done thank you so much sue x

[starsplitter7]

Welcome to our forum. The cycle is probably the most important thing you can do for your fish. The ammonia they produce burns their lungs and they suffocate. The cycling process produces a bacteria that eats ammonia. Once you are fully cycled, add your dithers first (those are swimming fish) and keep them 3-6 months before you add the loaches. Add your dithers slowly 1-2 a week over 6 weeks. This gives the bacteria time to grow for the ammonia that new fish will produce.

I think we have all had difficulties putting the right fish together in the beginning. I had a bichir with danios and couldn't figure out where my danios were disappearing to. The LFS told me the bichir ate flake. Ha! Now I have 11 tanks to keep my fish from eating each other or to keep my soft and hard water fish apart. Research up front is the most important thing to do.

[Diana]

An aquarium can be a pretty complete ecosystem, with many species of microorganisms living in balance with each other.

The fishless cycle will grow a big enough population of nitrifying bacteria that you could stock the whole load of fish at one time.
If you have another tank running and share some media from an established tank then that also seeds the tank with all sorts of other beneficial microorganisms, and the new tank becomes a mature tank very quickly.

If you are starting with no other tank to donate filter media all the microorganisms will eventually find the tank, but maybe not quite so fast, so holding off on the stocking of the more delicate fish is a good idea. If the description of the fish suggests 'Mature tank' then those are the ones to wait before stocking. The nitrifying species find the tank fast enough, that even if you start with nothing the fishless cycle can be complete in 3 weeks. It is the other microorganisms that make it a 'mature tank' that we are not sure about. Give them a little longer to sort themselves out.