How often/frequently is it safe to buy new fish?

[zero2dash]

Subject says it all...

I think this go-around I'm not buying more than 3-4 fish at a time (I've done 10 at once before, uh that ended up with a 9-fish ich casualty), but how many fish is a safe bet to buy at once, and how often?

3-4 fish once every week? Two weeks? Etc.
What do you guys/girls think?

Thanks in advance

 

[lyquidphyre]

You never want to overload your tank at once because you will have an ammonia spike and what not

Sometimes it depends on what it is and how many you want

I bought 8 serpea tetras all at once (because they are schooling fish) and 2 yellow barbs (they were on sale) and checked my water, did more water changes etc

I would do it more by species... if you want a school of something buy them all together. If you want just one angel fish, then buy just one and no more... instead of one angel, a school of fish, some barbs, cories and a pleco

Also, it can depend on the size of your tank. If you have a 10 gal, you might not want to buy a school of 10 all at once




and yah...now im babbling

 

[Jchillin]

Lyquid is absolutely right. The other thing that you would have to consider is a qt tank. You can place the new fish in and check over a couple of weeks for any problems.

 

[zero2dash]

I've got a 55gal and I'm not really sure of what I'll get next...I'm looking for some good colorful community fish...I thought originally it'd be a bad idea to put cichlids in a community tank (like electric blue/yellow) but after the cichlid q thread I'm not so sure...?

I thought about getting a couple kuhli loaches, maybe a few angels but other than that I'm open to suggestions for tankmates

 

[FishLover14]

Maybe you could get a Krib-3 Zebra Loaches and a school of tetras, If you like cichlids from what i have found you can keep some peaceful ones in a good size tank like you have some peaceful cichlids might do okay.

JMHO

 

[FancyGuppyGuy]

exactly! having a tank for just new fish is the way togo.

I would get 1 or 2 fish every 2 weeks. Place the new fish in the seperate tank for a couple weeks if everything goes well then introduce them to your main tank ( PRAYS at theis point 8O ) and watch things carefully as to how the fish interact with each other. Keep a close eye out for the dreaded carrier fish that doesnt get sick but gives it to everyone else.

As a matter of fact I might even wait longer than 2 weeks and introduce one of my fish into the other tank to see if the new fish is a carrier. Still risky but on a smaller scale than testing it out on your whole main tank.

Some people give new fish formalin baths and other treatments before introducing them into their main tanks. Its up to you on how much your willing to risk with your stable tank. I have found out the hard way what buying just one fish and putting it into your main tank can do. Its not worth the risk if you can help it.

 

[QTOFFER]

It depends on your tank size, current occupants, filtration, and how long it's been cycled. You don't want to introduce too many new fish at once because it will overwhelm your biofilter. You need to give the good bacterial colony time to grow, so it will be able to handle the additional bioload. The greatest virtue you can develop in this hobby is patience.

I quarrantine new acquisitions for 3 weeks, so I can introduce them to my show tanks at a leisurely pace. I highly recommend quarrantining newly purchased fish and plants for at least 3 weeks. Again, patience is key.

In an established tank, I wouldn't introduce an additional bioload that was more than 50% of the existing bioload. So, for example you have a 50 gal tank with 10 one inch fish. I would add no more than 5 inches of fish, wait a week or two, and add 8 inches of fish, and so on. Now to be honest with you, I just pulled these numbers out of the air, but it has worked well for me in the past. My losses have mostly occurred in quarrantine - the fish were probably sick when I bought them, or the stress of transport was too much. Once the fish go into the established show tanks, they have done very well, for the most part.

 

[Jchillin]

Are you considering the large angels (ie: flame) or the junior ones? Do you have any now? Are you looking for a combo of colors and activity?

 

[zero2dash]

Thanks for the ideas everyone -
Jchillin: I figured on probably the regular/junior angels, like silver zebra angels I guess (the standard ones which are primarily black and white/silver splotched)...nothing fancy and/or too expensive. Those are the only kind of angels I've ever had, but no I don't have any right now.

I guess right now I'm primarily concerned with my male (?) blue gourami picking on the female (?) I bought yesterday. She's about 1" smaller and she's got plenty of places to hide, but I'm hoping this is a behavior that will (hopefully) go away.

Unfortunately I don't have a quarantine tank, so I know I'm being risky adding any fish whatsoever at any time; I have 2 10gal aquariums in our shed that were used for hamsters which aren't being used at this time but I don't really think I've got enough to set one (or both) up as qt tanks...I'd basically have to purchase hood/light combos and filters for one/both in addition to filters and plants. Ideally sure I'd like to have a qt tank but I don't think it's in the works right now unfortunately. I've been fortunate enough though, my entire life in this hobby I've only had 1 outbreak of ich and that was when I added the 10 fish at one time (and I think that's what did it). I'm not saying I'm impervious or don't need a qt tank but I guess "keeping my fingers crossed" is an understatement for me.

 

[Jchillin]

Good choice...not that I'm biased or anything I didn't have a qt until it was recommended here at AA! I don't have the answer regarding the gouramies. I would recommended in the absence of the qt, don't purchase "brand new" fish from the LFS. Try to find some that have been around awhile. Most of the time, it's new arrivals at the LFS that are prone to ich or other diseases. There's no guarantee with this, but it is certainly better. Those 10gal tanks are perfectly suited for qt. You don't need as much equipment for them as your reg tank (no substrate, decorations...etc.) just the filter and heater. Give it some thought...members will provide help in setting it up.

 

[BASSNMAN]

You don't need to get fancy with a QT tank. For 1 of your 10s, you would need a 50 watt heater , a sponge filter and air pump to run it. You can get a glass top for a 10 gal from foster & smith for $7.99 plus shipping and any kind of small flourescent light, even a little desk lamp would work. Don't use substrate. Plastic plants are OK. You can be in business for about $25.00. Could save you a lot in fish dollars in the future.