Stock all at once?

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beepboop

Aquarium Advice Regular
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Jan 20, 2011
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Ok, I did a fish-less cycle, levels are good and I added my first two fish on tuesday. I read you should only add two fish at a time, wait at least a week, add two more, repeat. My question is, is that accurate? Should I wait to add more, or since they're schooling fish should I add the rest all at once (just 4 more)?

I have zebra danios in a 10 gallon. I currently have two, the school will be six. No other fish.
 
I cannot speak offhand for the accuracy of the time period. I do know, however, that when new fish are added to a fully cycled tank, it may take a little time for the bacteria to "catch up" to the higher levels of ammonia. This is sometimes called a mini-cycle.

Zebra Danios have a rather low bio-load. The number of fish you can/should add will depend a lot on that. The more bio-load you add to a cycled tank, the higher the ammonia spike will be and the more time you'll need to wait before your biological filter grows to handle the new load.

If you're fully cycled, and we're talking Danios, then I would say you could get away with adding the other four for the sake of having them in a school. Just be sure to continue to monitor your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. I say this as I bought two Danios once, to do the same thing, and had to get rid of one because it was attacking the other--more than just fin nipping. Found out the hard way that they tend to do that if not properly schooled. If your Danios are doing okay and there's no sign of aggression so far, then I recommend playing it safe and adding two more, wait the two weeks (provided there is minimal aggression), then getting the last two. But you could probably get away with adding all four.
 
Well, there was a tiny bit of chasing the first day (less than 1 % of the time), but today they've been good together, exploring their new home and even dancing together (they swim next to each other, facing opposite directions and swim in circles around each other.) It seems like they're playing. They don't look stressed, aren't hiding and aren't fighting, so I think I will wait to add the rest. I don't want to cause an ammonia spike and stress them out.
 
I would agree, since zebra danios have a fairly low bio-load you should be fine to stock the number you want. Depending on how high your ammonia levels were determines the amount of beneficial bacteria in the tank. If it was at about 3-5ppm I believe it is perfectly safe to stock what you want, just keep an eye on the water parameters to be sure.
 
Exactly. And if your Danios are displaying that kind of cooperative behavior, then I think you're safe. There's always going to be the chance for bad apples, just that properly schooling them seems to reduce the chance for aggression like that. Seems you're in good shape so far!

As for waiting it out, I do think that's the safest bet. The amount of ammonia that spikes isn't going to be a whole lot (and not enough to really stress your fish), but waiting for your biological filter to catch up will take a while...

And as always, keep up on your PWCs.
 
The reason to wait is for the filter to get used to all the new poop. Wait minimum of three days. U should be fine
 
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