how many can i add at one time?

[Dr. Scroggins..]

my fishless cycle is rounding the bend, and nearly completed. how many fish can i add at one time, and how long do you wait before adding the second round of fish? i ask because my lfs kinda blows.. and i'd have to drive 45min to get to a decent one.. so i am planning on ordering the majority of my stock over the internet. it seems common to stock from the top down, so should i follow that advice and save my shrimp and corys for last? I do have a small bit of managable algea going on right now..

could i start with adding a school of 11 cardinal tetras, wait a week(?), then add a school of 9 rummynose tetras, wait a week, etc..? or could i add more than that at once??

thanks everyone!

 

[HN1]

What ppm level did you fishless cycle to?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

How big is your tank

 

[Andrewz00]

as HN1 implied.... you can only add as much bioload as you cycled for.... so you would need to provide your ppm level....

*** EDIT: and tank size... thanks CAB *****

 

[Crepe]

I would add the cardinals last mate, they are some of the most finicky fish I've ever seen; I've had die offs just with drip acclimating them.

 

[mommytron]

I would add the cardinals last mate, they are some of the most finicky fish I've ever seen; I've had die offs just with drip acclimating them.

i don't mean to thread jack, but are cardinals really that tricky? i was planning on adding a school of them, but i'm only a beginner. i love tetras and found cardinals to be the most colorful. should i do a different kind of tetra?

 

[HN1]

Wild caught cardinals are quite sensitive and difficult to fully acclimate. Captive raised, not so much.

 

[Crepe]

i don't mean to thread jack, but are cardinals really that tricky? i was planning on adding a school of them, but i'm only a beginner. i love tetras and found cardinals to be the most colorful. should i do a different kind of tetra?

Yes and no. I've heard of people keeping them with no problems at all and other times having them die while they were being netted out of the dealer's tank. I think it just depends on how long the tetras have been with the dealer and under what conditions they are kept.

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

sorry everyone, i knew to give specifics too..!

standard 55gal

i started the cycle with the ammonia spike from my aquasoil, and i've been dosing pure ammonia to 2-3ppm since the levels began dropping, about a tsp.

 

[HN1]

In that case, I think you can be fairly aggressive stocking. I'd probably start with the cardinals and cories (depending on type). Then the rest. I tend to stock & filter heavy though. Speaking of which.... what filter(s) are you running?

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

You have a little bit of room for error with a 55, I agree with hn1 about stocking aggressivly.

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

great, thanks for the feedback. i'm thinking of going with one of the dwarf cory species.. i'm running a fluval 305 canister filter.

so you guys think i could add a dozen fish at a time..? let things acclimate, add another dozen down the road?

yay? nay?

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

I'd probably start with the cardinals and cories (depending on type).

as in i'd be okay to start by adding 11 cardinals and 8 cory? too much?