Tank cycled and new additions

[chbix]

Tank finished cycle last Wednesday...


Today got 2 clownfish, 2 camel shrimp and 2 snails.

Went to the local big box and was impressed with the size of their fish section, all tanks were clean and fish looked good. When I asked for the fish the clerk asked if it was a new or established...asked how long the tank was up and what my parameters were...very impressed.

Got them all home. Drip acclimated...and then placed them in the tank.

They immediately hid and the snails buried. Got flake food, seaweed and brine shrimp. After an hour I dropped in a brine shrimp cube and the clowns and shrimp ate it up....

So going to wait and see how things go and will maybe add a crab or 2 in the next week or so.

 

[NicoleIsStoked]

You shouldn't feed or turn on the lights for at least 12 hours after adding new livestock.

 

[h8z2luze]

Never heard about leaving the light off.... I have never done that.

 

[Psychocircus91]

Never heard about leaving the light off.... I have never done that.

i've heard of leaving the light off to not shock the new fish or coral.. although i've heard 1-2 hours.

 

[Earlgrey23]

In an established tank with a set schedule it would seem detrimental to turn the lights off and mess with everything in there. You could just plan to add the new live stock during the night cycle.

 

[Psychocircus91]

In an established tank with a set schedule it would seem detrimental to turn the lights off and mess with everything in there. You could just plan to add the new live stock during the night cycle.

that can be pretty difficult to plan depending on when you aquire your livestock. If you use a QT tank that's another story.

 

[Sniperhank]

Sounds solid. In terms of the lighting, this is more of an issue if your livestock is being shipped to you. After spending 24 hours in a styrofoam box without any light, just having the box opened is shocking! The level of this is debatable, some companies use blackened bags where others don't. Some say to even turn the lights off in the room for fresh shipments!

In my experience, and this is of a reef tank that is almost fully stocked from overnight orders, most of this is blown out of preportions. I have tons of coral that only went into the tank with lights out for an hour before they came back on without any issue.

Though fish can be startled by lights coming on at odd hours they aren't used to, there shouldn't be a need for them to be acclimated in a dark out besides knowing how it personally feels to go from a dark room into a bright one.