stocking question - when to introduce neons?

[mikemou]

Hi, I have a sparsely planted 55 gal that's cycled for 1 month now. I currently have 7 zebra danios, 4 male fancy guppies, 2 algae eaters and 1 small tiger barbs. I added 3 koi angels last night.

I plan to add about 10 neons to the mix, but based on what I've gathered on this board and my own experience, neons has high mortality rate so it's better to wait until the tank is 'established' to add them. What are the indicators that my tank is finally established and is ready for neons???
Thanks!

 

[flipz]

Well I don't know anything about adding neons, but when someone says the tank is "established" it generally just means that the cycle is complete, and there aren't flucuations in anything. Temperature, ph, nitrates, nitrites, ammonias, etc. It's established when it's stable.

But I don't know anything specifically about neons so hopefully someone else can help!

-brent

 

[Deitta]

Please quarantine the neons before they go in! I make sure any fish has been in QT for at least 10 days of disease free. At least I do now... I didn't and lost so many fish! Some lessons are very hard learned indeed!

 

[oscarbreeder]

Thats good advice Deitta.
You should QT all your new fish.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

Doesn't your tiger barb feel lonly? Mine used to do that when they were a group of four, I can't imagine a tigerbarb by itself... Just curious.

 

[mikemou]

thanks brent for clearing that up. so i guess i'll keep track of all params for a couple more weeks to make sure they don't fluctuate. it's hard to keep the temp. stable tho in this heat, daytime and nighttime difference is 3-5 degrees.

Deitta & oscarbreeder, I don't have a QT but I only buy from a trusted (and pricier) LFS that Q all fishes for 1 week before selling. So far so good....

Bioworldmaker I had 5 tiger barbs but 1 was so out-of-control and killed 2 of them so I sent them away. I keep this last one in there because he's peaceful. I guess you can say he's lonely, but I don't know well enough to tell if a fish feels lonely and how differently it behaves.

 

[shawmutt]

What are the indicators that my tank is finally established and is ready for neons???

IME, with cardinal tetras (that are wild caught and supposedly more delicate than neons) I had the best luck when my tank had been up and running for about six months. That's six months without major issues, of course.

HTH!

 

[flipz]

it's hard to keep the temp. stable tho in this heat, daytime and nighttime difference is 3-5 degrees.

That's not bad at all. A change of 3-5 degrees won't effect the fish if it's just spread throughout the day because of the sun going up and down. Granted you want to make sure those 5 degrees aren't making the tank too hot or cold, but the flucuation is fine.

-Brent

 

[BrianNY]

mikemou may have a very valid point about it not being necessary to QT his new neons. IF ALL of his fish came from the same lfs, and that lfs uses a central filtering system QTing would be useless.

Being that you just added the 3 angels last night mikemou, watch the ammonia level for 1 week. If you don't see a rise in ammonia by then, go ahead and add the neons. If the ammonia spikes even a bit, DO NOT add any more fish until the mini cycle has completed.

HTH

 

[RocketSeason]

I would wait a week and see that everything remains stable. Then I would add the Neons. I wouldnt add any less than 6 since they are a schooling fish and I would also think about getting your Tiger barb a couple of friends. He will calm down alot that way and will be nicer to your Neons.

 

[mikemou]

thanks everyone for the advices.

i tried shoal 5 of them but one killed the other 2. so i'm actually going to send the lone tiger barb back to the store before adding neons. i'm very new at this and want to avoid as much stress for everyone(in this case the tiger and the new neons) as possible. treating sick fishes is too big a challenge for me.

will post again in a couple of weeks and let you know how the new neons will be doing!

BTW, i think the magic neon number i'm going to go for is: 11.

 

[RocketSeason]

You can go with a couple of rosey barbs. those guys are a nice medium size and not nearly as agressive as tiger barbs are. (plus they are very hardy.) I just like barbs is all. :|

 

[lyquidphyre]

I don't know much about koi angels but I thought an angel will eat anything thats smaller than an inch.... unless the neons are bigger than an inch?

or am i completly off?

 

[Hypostomus]

Angels eat things that fit in their mouths.

So yeah, a one inch, really skinny fish might work. I feed mine juvenile guppies on occasion.

But neons that aren't starving to death have fairly plump bodies, and once they're adults they're rather larger than 1".

 

[mikemou]

my angels are relatively small, one is about quarter size the other 2 about nickle size so they have small mouths. plus i have a male guppy that's only about 1/2 inch and he's live and well.
i'm going to get bigger neons anyway because i had terrible luck with small neons.

 

[RocketSeason]

you wont have any problems with those little angels messing with your neons.