How long to wait

[mitche8359]

How long do you guys and gals wait in between adding fish? Say you added two fish to your tank yesterday. How long until you add more?

• 
  What do you mean wait?
  2 days
  4 days
  a week
  two weeks

The reason I ask is cause the lfs is having a 50% fish and plants sale until end of January. Since I lost several fish in late December due to adding too many too quickly, I'd like to get a few fish. I picked up two Corydoras Juliis last Monday and want to get some this weekend. Thoughts?

 

[Somethingfishy]

I probably do it incorrect, but I generally wait about 2 days or so, just to let them settle, but saying that you should be putting them in a Q tank for a week or so first? Depends on how many you were planning on adding?

 

[fishfreek]

I would say it depends on your bio bed. If you had an established bio bed you can add more faster. If your bio bed is not up to speed then you should add less at a slower pace.

IF you lost a bunch of fish in December for adding to many to quickly then I think you have an idea on how many not to add at a time.

If you keep an eye on your ammonia you can add more fish every X days assuming you have no ammonia. Once you start seeing the slightest bit of ammonia I would discontinue adding fish till this ammonia was gone.

 

[mitche8359]

Yes I agree. And I forgot that I can set up the ten gallon and put a couple of fish in there if I don't want to shock the 55 all at once. While my primary concern is ammonia spikes, a second is the fish bringing something with them like ich

 

[Guest]

Use the quarantine tank!

While my primary concern is ammonia spikes, a second is the fish bringing something with them like ich

Precisely the reason you should use the Q tank. I'm paying the price right now for just adding new fish to the tank, and it was well-established.

 

[Bearfan]

I actually set up my new tanks with at least 50% water from my main tank. This helps the new tank setup quickly. I have had no problems with this method to date.

 

[Magician]

If you check the ammonia/nitrate levels twice daily, and perform water changes as needed(twice, sometimes three times daily), you can add alot of fish at once , some would disagree, but I've done it 3 or 4 times now for the same reasons. Mind you the tank will take forever to cycle on its own this way, so make sure you committed

 

[fishfreek]

I actually set up my new tanks with at least 50% water from my main tank. This helps the new tank setup quickly. I have had no problems with this method to date.

In my view the best way to quickly cycle a new tank is if you can get ahold of a few cups of gravel from another established tank.

The bulk of your ammonia bacteria will be in the substrate or in the filter media.

 

[Bearfan]

Oh yeah, I do include some gravel from my established aquarium. I usually let it run for a day and then bury it since I tend to use different gravel colors in each of my tanks.

 

[mitche8359]

Good ideas. I think I'll use a combination of both. I'll set up the 10g tonight with some water and gravel from the 55g and get the tank ready for some fish. In addition, I'll go ahead and stick a few newbies in the 55g. That way I can maybe get away with six new additions, which is really all that I want. For now...

Think a week is long enough in the quarantine tank to spot ICH or the like?

 

[Guest]

Think a week is long enough in the quarantine tank to spot ICH or the like?

I believe 2 weeks is reccomended. my latest disease didn't show in main tank
(no Quarantine) for over a week.

Try to keep conditions in q tank as close as possible to main tank.

 

[mitche8359]

My tetra got ich after being in the main tank for 4 weeks. Nothing added to the tank during that time. I can't see keeping fish in a quarantine tank for four weeks.

I'll try for two weeks, but I suspect that temptation will win out and the fish will be moved over before the two weeks expire.

 

[Jack]

If everything is running properly, your biological filter should be in equilibrium with your bioload. Adding a small additional bioload is fine and the filter can quickly recover. However, adding a large bioload can cause problems. If you've recently added fish, you can probably add a small bioload (one or two small fish), with little problem. However, if you are wanting to add a larger bioload, you should probably wait a couple of weeks to let the biological filter catch up. Eventually, if you continued to add bioload your biological media would become saturated with bacteria and unable to accommodate more fish. At this point you would be overstocked.

Adding plants should not greatly affect your bioload (actually, plants should help remove unwanted nutrients from your system). Therefore, you should be able to add plants, as often as you wish.