How Many Fish At a Time?

[Mr.Fish]

Hey all(long time no see ),
I was just wondring how many fish would u guys add at a time?
My tank is 40gal and I would like to add guppies?but how much do u think? (I dont want to see any ammonia or nitrite spike )

 

[tkos]

Have you considered a fishless cycle. This will allow you to build a full load of bacteria and then add all of your fish at once. Otherwise you must be willing to do water changes constantly to make sure that there is never any buildup of ammonia and nitrite that will harm your fish. I have found that guppies are not that hardy during a cycle and will probably die or get damaged.

 

[Mr.Fish]

I think I was NOT clear in the first place.
My tnak is fully cycled.I have two angels and 7 mollies and I was going to add some guppies but I was not sure how much to add at a time ?

 

[dralarms]

You may have a small spike when adding fish anyway, It's depends on the size of tank (40 gal is pretty good size), and how many fish you add at a time, with guppies I would add 6 and see what happens. I'm still a newbe at this so someone may come along and correct me but If you have a tank that is completly cycled, and you add fish then you change the "bio load", and you will see a small amount (may even be very small) of ammonia until the system catches up with the change.
HTH

 

[webmoose]

are you going all male with your guppys? If not remember to keep the female to male ratio at least 2 female : 1 male.. The males are pesky to the females.

 

[captainGregor]

Also remember as with any livebearers they will start multiplying like rabbits and you will have to control the population somehow.

 

[TankGirl]

I think you could add about 4-5 male guppies so you won't have babies, since you already have the mollies (assuming you have males and females of them) and are in for a population explosion. Your tank will be pretty well stocked after the addition of guppies. I would be cautious about the guppies if the angels are adult, but if they are small it should be okay.

 

[Mr.Fish]

The angels are still young but they are growing really fast.Wont I be able to keep them when they get larger?
One of the angels keep hitting the other one(bossing?).Is that ok?

 

[tkos]

When the angels get larger they will eat the guppies. Of course it is also a good way to keep the baby population down. In the wild Angels eat fish the size of neon tetras. So guppies really fall into that category. Get lots of plants and you should do fine.

 

[silvi-p]

hi mr. fish,
I don't think the angels will feel well in a 40gal-tank when they get bigger... remember, they can get as high as 10" _if_you_let_them_.
they need some space to move up and down, and normally in a 40gal, height is not sufficient (at least not with the standard measures I think of).

and yes, I think bossing is normal. these guys are pretty *naughty* in behaviour, if you're unlucky you got two males, and one now bosses the other one around. which is really not cool at all for the other one.

regards,
silvia

 

[silvi-p]

hi mr. fish,
I don't think the angels will feel well in a 40gal-tank when they get bigger... remember, they can get as high as 10" _if_you_let_them_.
they need some space to move up and down, and normally in a 40gal, height is not sufficient (at least not with the standard measures I think of).

and yes, I think bossing is normal. these guys are pretty *naughty* in behaviour, if you're unlucky you got two males, and one now bosses the other one around. which is really not cool at all for the other one.

regards,
silvia

 

[Mr.Fish]

Thanks guys,
I will move the angels then(I really like guppies )
Is there any other fish that will live safely with my guppies + keep the baby population down?

 

[tkos]

Most fish will munch down on some guppy fry. Since you have anice size tank perhaps some gouramis would be a nice addition.

 

[TankGirl]

I am with Silvi-p on this one. Most of the 40-gal or 44-gal tend to be rather "short" but it may not be the case for you. You will probably do fine for about a year if the angels are very small. They are cichlids and definitely will get nippy with each other. I used to have 2 spawning pairs and one male killed his mate, then the othe male tried to kill the leftover male before I removed him. Now I have only one male adult angel and he is nippy with the dwarf gourami, but no damage is done. He was raised with a school of white cloud minnows so he does not even notice them, nor does he notice the serpae tetras, but if I placed some new guppies in there I think they would be gone. If you raise the angels with the guppies things might be okay, and you will not have a problem with the babies overpopulating the tank