After stock new fish...

[niks93gt]

When you stock new fish, how fast does the bacteria catch up to its new fish. From what I understand, the bacteria doubles every 8 hours. That means in 24 hours, there could potentially be 8 times as much bacteria as there was the day before. So on a fully cycled tank, you could add several fish every other day or so and there will be no ammonia or nitrite bloom correct? How soon should you check for ammonia and nitrite after adding a new batch of fish? I would assume that within 24-48 hours after adding new fish there would be some sort of spike if it was going to happen.... am I correct in assuming this? Just trying to understand the cycle a little better.

Nik

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Usually when adding new fish, you should wait 1-2 weeks between adding. Some only wait a week, but I wait 2 myself, just for the extra security.

Also to add, most people don't just add a couple fish at a time as well. If only adding 1 or 2 fish, smaller ones, then you may be able to get away with 3 or 4 days.

But remember, the reason for the time frame is not due to the way bacteria multiplies. Bioloads generally don't increase instantly, and increases over time. I believe it takes 3-4 days for the bioload to be up to the new stable level, so once this is maintained, add a couple extra days to it and there you go, 1 week. But if adding multiple fish, like a lot of people do, then I'd wait longer for the extra security.

 

[Burks]

I wait 2 weeks as well. Sometimes less but 2 weeks is a good starting point. I'd rather not shock the system with a huge amount of waste.