Should I add new fish now or wait (dumb newbie question)....

[Citicricket]

Ok, I have a new (2 mos) 45 with a great big filter and lots of air. I have 3 platys, 1 molly, 2 veil tail tetras and 5 neons that have survived the dreaded "new tank syndrome" and a bout of ich thanks to the veil tail tetras. It has been 3 weeks since I added Coppersafe and bumped my temp to 83. The carbon in the filter was aged 4 weeks when I added the med. I changed 20 % of the water and now everyone is fine and happy and ich free for about a week. So (finally) the question is should I add the 2 gouramis and clown loach that I would like now while the meds are still in the water (only thing close is PetSmart or Petco and of course they aren't always the cleanest fish anyway) to guard against another outbreak of ich or should I put new carbon filters in and get the meds out before I add a few more fish?

 

[Scottw68TN]

Then loaches will be prone to ich so wait on them. They would need to be in a minimum of three. I was going to get 2 last month and the forum here was hands down in favor of 3. I got the yo yo loaches instead they don't grow as large.

 

[TankGirl]

I agree that the loaches like to have company but they would outgrow your tank after a while, so maybe the yoyos are a better choice. I would wait another good week before adding new fish. You can go ahead and remove the meds with the carbon, since the meds only kill the ich when it is free swimming, which it would not be if it was hitching a ride on new fish (this is why a quarrantine tank is such a very good idea).

 

[LondonGman]

I read somewhere in the article http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html that ich can be caused by stress. I will wait till the fishes “mellow out” and come to terms with there new environment. Adding more fishes into the neighbourhood can create more friction, then stress then ich

 

[coolkidthatlike]

i also was told by this site that 3 would be better. (CERTAINLY NOT DISSING ON THIS SITE, IT IS GREAT) I couldnt add another to my tank because it is a little crowded. However, i have 2 and they are doing just fine. They are very timid fish, however.

 

[Scottw68TN]

My 3 loaches are far from timid always out and seem to ignore me.

 

[Allivymar]

My 3 loaches are somewhat timid as well; they are always out n about, but if I move quickly past the tank they run n hide. If I just sit and watch, they ignore me and zip about the tank throwing gravel all over the place in search of goodies (if you've never seen a clown loach throw gravel around with his mouth watch carefully, its hilarious *grin*).

As for ich being caused by stress, let me just elaborate. Ich can be subclinical, and not apparent or at levels which are problematic. If a fish's immune system is strong enough it can keep ich from becoming an infestation. But stress can depress a fish's immune system, and if there is any ich in the system, chances are it will take advantage and your fish will become ill. For example: I have 3 clown loaches. They all spent 3 weeks in QT and did fine. They were moved into a 25g and did fine. Then everyone moved into a 55g this summer; the plec took over their driftwood cave and stressed the loaches out something awful. Sure enough, they broke out with ich spots.

 

[TankGirl]

Yes, I agree with that. During the 6 days without power recently my entire 55-gal community/angel tank did great with periodically running the filter on a generator. However, one of my adult angels came down with ich, whereas the rest of the tank shows no sign of it. The temperature drop semed to really stress her out in particular (I think that is what it was) or her mate was abusive during the stressful period.

 

[Citicricket]

Thanks for the great advice! I think I will wait awhile but wonder if I should make sure all the meds are out of the water or it shouldn't be a problem if there is still some coppersafe in the tank? I love this place! Thanks to all of you for taking time to help me out.

 

[TankGirl]

If you wait a few weeks, doing several water changes with gravel vacs in the meantime and run carbon in your filter, you should be good to go.

 

[guppylove]

i am new to this game i have had my tank for about 9months but i made a big mistak buy not quaratine my fish when i got them from the shop i lost my tank it was a very bad day for my.....so all i can say is make sure you quaratine all new fish......god luck with your fishkeeping